GFCI Receptical, DIY or Electrician?

handbanana

handbanana

Member
I want to put in a GFCI outlet on my aquarium wall since all my outlets in my apartment are from like 1965. Is this something I should be able to do myself? Im no Electrician but I have a fundamental knowlege of the Principals of electricity. Is it just a matter of cutting the breaker, taking out the old plug and putting in the GFCI or is there some re-wireing involved? Thanks for any help in advance. Dont want to burn my apt down.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
A couple assumptions...
- You are replacing a receptacle that already exists, not installing a receptacle where there is not one currently
- Your landlord is okay with you doing this, or you know you shouldn't, don't care, and are doing it anyway.
Whether or not this is a DIY project is all a matter of your comfort level. I would never encourage anyone to mess with electricity if they do not feel they can safely take it on.
That said, replacing an existing receptacle with a GFI is not a difficult task, and the GFI will come with instructions detailing the process. It is, as you said, a matter of cutting off the breaker, and basically swapping the receptacle out.
Where it can get tricky is if the receptacle is middle of the run - where there is a cable coming in feeding power, and another going out to feed additional receptacles down the line. With a GFI, it does matter which set of wires is feeding power and which is feeding additional downstream outlets/lights. I and others can easily walk you through that process if you decide to take it on.
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
Thanks SCSI, My landlord is not exactly concerned with the well being of the inside of the apartment. Its that kind of Neighborhood.
Anyhow I would be replacing an Exsisting receptical. I have a Digital multimeter and wire cutters and connectors, is there a High voltage Soldier i should invest in or should the twist on connectors be enough?
Also will the wire connections be Evident? ( all coming in one side and going out the other)because im sure the next plug is connected to the plug in question. If you could help me with this SCSI i would be Extreamly grateful

Unfortunatly my breakers are unlabeled too! pop them all I say!
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Identifying the breaker should not be a huge issue. Just plug a radio or vacuum (anything that makes noise) into the outlet and work your way down until you knock it out. Of course the downside is resetting clocks all over the place...
Once you have the power out, unscrew the receptacle and pull it forward. You'll see either one set of wires (black and white most likely) or two pairs, two black and one white.
Now for the GFI... when you purchase one, open the box at the store and make sure the back looks like the attached photo. Most, but not all, GFIs look like this... behind each screw terminal, there are two holes. That's the style you want. It makes the wiring much easier.
Notice that this GFI has one set of terminals covered by a label. More on that in a bit.
The existing outlet will have it's wires pushed into locking holes in the back, or wrapped around screw terminals. In either case, I'd recommend cutting the wires and stripping them again to expose new wire.
If you have one set of wires, simply slide the exposed wire into the appropriate hole (back for hot, white for neutral/white) and tighten the respective screw.
If you have two sets, it gets trickier. The first thing you need to do is make a decision. There are two ways you can wire it.
A) You can have just that outlet be GFI protected
B) You can have that outlet, and any outlets on the same circuit that are "further down the line" be protected.
If you want just that outlet protected, simply slide both black wires into the two holes provided (do NOT connect to the terminals under the label), and two whites into the two white/neutral holes, and tighten the screws.
If you want the other outlets protected, let me know and I'll peck out those instructions.
The only other step is to firmly connect the bare ground lead to the screw terminal provided on the top or bottom of the GFI, and install. Some GFIs can only be mounted one way up or they will not function properly. Check the metal "ears" as they may be labeled with "this end up" or something similar. If so, make sure you mount appropriately.
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
EXECELLENT!! thank you! I plan on only wireing this outlet to be GFCI protected. Lot easier then i imagined. I guess i should wait untill i get this done before i say that. I Would have figured there would be a ground wire to connect as well. Is the receptical grounded by the outlets framework? ... the metal box it sits in?
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
No there should be a ground lead as well. I mentioned it right at the end of my post.
It's located on the side and doesn't use the same type of terminal as the other wires, so it's not visible in the picture. You'll actually have to use a pliers to form a loop and wrap it around the ground screw. The original receptacle will have the same, so you can probably disconnect the ground wire without distrubing the loop and connect it right up to the GFI.
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
Thanks fellas, Im ready to do this now! hopefully the plug on my powerstrip and Backup battery will stop falling out of the wall with the GFCI in place.
Thanks a bunch SCSI and Global
 
chrisnif

chrisnif

Member
I am an electrician and yes it is a DIY, second if you do not have a ground and the old outlet is 2 prong (no ground hole in the receptical) dont worry, in older homes before all outlets were grounded we do many conversions so people can plug in their 3 prong devices. What happens with a GFI outlet without a ground hooked up it actually functions just the same as if there were a ground. If the outlet detects any voltage over a certain threshold (I think Leviton are the best, like 1 volt, 1 mA threshold, less than a watch battery) it shuts off power to the outlets. The second function a GFI outlet does is it compares how much power goes out to the devices on the hot wire, and then compares it to the power coming back on the neutral. If they are unequal then the power not coming back is going elsewhere (i.e. if you have a ground probe and a pump that is 'leaking" power you might have 50 watts go to the pump and only 45 go back to the wall, the other 5 is leaking into the water and going out your ground probe,) In this case the GFI will also cut power. So basically, if you have a 3 prong pump and power gets to teh ground prong due to an internal short, pop, power cut, way before your breaker would cut the power. Another case where it'll protect you is lets say your heater cracks, the moment you put your hand in the tank you ground it and power isnt going to be going back on the neutral, its using your body instead
pop power's off. Leviton is also one of the fastest, like 1/10th of a second to turn off the juice, and trust me when you're zapping that's 1/10th too long :)
Best luck :)
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
didnt mean to leave ya out Rig, sorry bout that, thanks man. and thanks Chris. Extreamly helpful. Now im not so worried about Electrocuting myself.
 
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