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GFCI Wont Reset - Result of Lightning Strike

10,793 Views | 5 Replies | Last: 14 yr ago by Greendale 87
caugustine
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I posted this under the Home Improvement board, but I thought I would give you Houstonian's a holler on this one:

Lightning struck somewhere VERY close to my home yesterday. It burned up a few of my electronics and tripped several of the GFCI's in my home.

I was able to reset all of them fine with the exception of one. The reset button simply will not work on that one (my garage). I made sure everything was unplugged from all of the outlets it covers and still nothing. I checked the breaker box and nothing is tripped there as well.

Is there something else that I can try?
wessimo
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AG
sorry to be a smart ass, but you can try replacing it.
terradactylexpress
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just replace it, they are only a couple bucks
cheeky
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AG
I had a similar problem, and it turned out to be the pump on my mosquito spray system that was tripping the circuit. Dang hard to locate because each time it tripped, the digital clock on the system reset and it wouldn't trip again until it tried to run the program. Cost me a fortune before they figured it out!

Reader's Digest version: check everything outside the house that draws current.
YellAg2004
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AG
GFCIs do go bad as they have sensitive circuitry in them. If you took a lightening hit, it could be fried. I wouldn't drive myself nuts trying to figure it out until I tried replacing it first. Only a few bucks that could solve the problem or at least rule out the easiest fix.
YellAg2004
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AG
If you do replace it, be sure to note which wires are going to the "line" terminals and which are going to the "load" terminals. It will be labeled on the back of the receptacle, but I'm not sure if the configuration is the same on all brands of GFCIs. It needs to be hooked up in the same line/load configuration to provide protection for all the other receptacles downstream from it.
Greendale 87
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AG
The GFCI in my garage will not reset unless I also reset another GFCI in my utility room. I though my garage GFCI was toast as well until I discovered this seldom used utility room GFCI was thrown. Once that one was reset, the garage one reset just fine.

So I suspect in my situation I have two GFCIs on the same circuit. I was about ready to replace the garage GFCI as well, but fortunately figured out this 'quirk' in my wiring.
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