DIY: Normal Receptical to GFCI

hillius31

hillius31

Member
Ok I did the swap today on my outlet that is behind my fish tank. I figured a GFCI would be a little safer and I already had the power off doing a ceiling fan in the same room. So I figured I would make a little diary to help some one else out down the line. One thing off the bat, dont let electricity scare you... Ok lets get started. Step One Shut power off at the circuit breaker to the room you want to do the install. If your circuits are not labeled you can always plug a light or something into the outlet you dont want power to and flip one breaker at a time tell the light goes off.
Step Two
Now that you dont have any power at the outlet it is now safe to work on. So remove the

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holding the cover on. On mine it was in the center as you can see in the picture.

Step Three
Ok now it should look like the picture below. Next you want to remove the two screws holding the outlet into the wall socket. These are in the green circles.

Step Four
Ok now you want to pull the outlet and the wires out of the wall box just enough to work on it. Ok now what I did was made a mental note that the white wires were on the right hand side and the black wires were on the left hand side. The wires will be installed the same way on the new GFCI unit. Now my original outlet was installed upside down so I need to swap my mental note with the wire colors. So remove the screws holding the wires in place. Marked on the picture below.. The Green circles are the screws im talking about, the blue dots mean theres screws holding the black wires on but you cant see them. And in the red is a green

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which is where the BARE copper wire goes. I already removed mine.

More to come in a few......
 
hillius31

hillius31

Member
Step Five
Ok the old outlet is removed. Now comes the install of the new GFCI. Theres alot of different style GFCI units out there. The ones that I use you strip the wire to the length that is on the back of the outlet. This is indicated by the blue line. Then you insert it into the hole. This is indicated by the pink dot. (If you made the mental note from above just insert the wire on the side it was and you will be fine). Ok and the red arrow is showing where the green

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is for the bare copper wire.

After you have strip all your wires to the right length and inserted them in to the right side of the out let it should look like this....

Step Six
Now insert the new outlet into the wall socket again and install the two mounting screws. Then install the one

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and the cover on it. Now you can turn your breaker back on and see if it works...Mine has a green light on it to tell me that it is working fine.

Well I hope this doesnt scare any one. Its very simple to do, and very cheap. Any extra info any one else has feel free to post it.
thanks,
Justin
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Well done! There is one thing I noticed that I'll post.
Anyone installing one in a middle of the run scenario (where you have two black and two white wires attaching to the existing outlet, just like the pictures here) needs to figure out which wire is the line and which is the load.
If it's wired backwards, you won't have any protection.
There are two ways to go about this...
First, after you remove the outlet, you can identify the wire pairing. Look inside the box where the wires enter the box. You'll see the outer jacket on the cables coming in. Identify a black wire and a white wire going to the outlet that came from the same cable. Disconnect them from the outlet, but leave the other black, white, and ground connected.
Next, Pull the wires you disconnected up and out of the way so they are well clear of everything, including each other, most importantly, that the bare ends are clear of everything. You can also slip a wire nut or a bit of electrical tape over the ends for extra safety if you desire.
Then, position the outlet so it also is clear of anything it might come into contact with. Go find a table lamp. Plug it into another circuit and verify that the switch is turned ON so it lights up. Then unplug it, take it to your project area, and plug it into the hanging socket.
Ensure that no family members or pets are anywhere near the outlet, verify that all the wires are positioned so they are not touching anything or each other. Then go turn on the power. Have a helper call back if the light comes on, or go verify it yourself. Beware, there are live exposed wires here. There should be no reason to even approach the receptacle during this test.
Turn the power back off.
If the light came on, then the two wires connected to the old receptacle is your "Line" wires. If not, then the two wires you disconnected are your "line" wires. The remaining set is your "load" set.
Obviously any time you have bare exposed wires, you need to be very, very careful, but this step is necessary to ensure that you wire the receptacle correctly.
The second way is easier for those who are not comfortable with the above test, but takes longer to fix if it's backwards. The other way is simply to wire everything up and reassemble. When the power comes back on, trip the GFI by pushing the test button. If it does not trip, or if the power does not shut off to the outlets when it does trip, then you need to start over and reverse the two pairs of wires.
If you have only one set of wires connecting to your original receptacle, then those go to the line terminals, and the load terminals remain unconnected.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Originally Posted by hillius31
http:///forum/post/2585657
Oh yes thanks SCSInet. I was going to mention that but totally spaced it. Thanks again.
Justin
I hope I didn't steal your thunder... just thought it was a good thing to mention.
 
scopus tang

scopus tang

Active Member
One thing I would add; even if breakers are labeled, don't assume! Plug something in to insure that power has actually been cut to outlet! Labeling in breaker boxes is not always accurate; sometimes outlets and lights are on different circuits, and sometimes outlets (such as my reef system) have a dedicated breaker. Double check before beginning to remove outlet. Nothing makes your hair stand on end, like feeling that first tell-tale zap when changing an outlet you thought was dead.
 
hillius31

hillius31

Member
Nope you didnt steal my thunder. Every one has added awesome things for people to check. Thats why I posted it is to get it started

Justin
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
One thing to add that I didn't see in the thread-depending on how the branch circuit is wired, outlets downstream of the GFCI outlet can also be protected. I like to put a piece of electrical tape on the screws and wires-even though they are recessed, it's an extra bit of protection from touching the ground wire or the metal box, if you have one.
I like to use a NCV (also called an idiot stick
) to tell which wire is hot-they only cost about 10-15 bucks.
 
alohami

alohami

Member
I just dug up this thread so I can try to fix mine. I only have one set of wires, and they are currently attached to the left and right upper screws on the new GFCI. The copper wire is attached to a s-c-r-e-w on the bottom edge of the GFCI. I have a green indicator light, but the outlet doesn't work. Any idea what is wrong?
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Look on the back of the receptacle. Are the wires attached to the "LINE" or "LOAD" terminals?
They need to be attached to "LINE."
Also, be sure your ground is securely connected. If all is well and the GFI does not trip when the test button is depressed, then you probably have a bad receptacle and need to replace it.
 
alohami

alohami

Member
Ah, I think that's my problem! I didn't even realize that they're labeled until I just looked at it just now, and I see that they are hooked up to the load end. I will try switching them around, and let you know. Hopefully that will take care of it. Thanks!
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Originally Posted by AlohaMI
http:///forum/post/2616727
Ah, I think that's my problem! I didn't even realize that they're labeled until I just looked at it just now, and I see that they are hooked up to the load end. I will try switching them around, and let you know. Hopefully that will take care of it. Thanks!
It should.
 
alohami

alohami

Member
WooHoo! I'm back in business! I went and got a new GFCI just to be sure, and I only pinched myself with the needle nosed pliers three times, but it works perfectly now! I really appreciate the help. It saved me from having to hire someone to do it. THANK YOU!!!
 
veni vidi vici

veni vidi vici

Active Member
Might i add that a little black electrical tape wrapped around the new outlet to protect the nice shinny new terminals from accidentally making contact with anything that its not supposed to.
 
alohami

alohami

Member
Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
http:///forum/post/2620316
Might i add that a little black electrical tape wrapped around the new outlet to protect the nice shinny new terminals from accidentally making contact with anything that its not supposed to.
Yep, I did that too, but it's definitely a good thing to mention. Actually, mine turned out looking quite professional, if I do say so myself!
 
shiby1510

shiby1510

Member
I know this is kinda old but thanks a bunch for this!
I was going to pay an electrician to do this for me. May have a little project tomorrow!
 
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