Any Electricians in the house

[JetFixxxer]

My house was hit by lighting the other day. It traveled along my dogs invisible fence wire into the unit which was plugged into the GFCI's circuit, it blew the unit and the unit's transformer up. Now the when I go reset the GFCI you can hear the relay the clatter inside but it won't reset. There's 3 GFCI's sockets and 2 out the 3 won't reset. The Unit was plugged into the GFCI coming off of the C/B Panel.

[joelayres]

Sounds like you need to replace the two GFCI's. What puzzles me is that if the GFCI's are on the same circuit, there should only be one GFCI - the downline outlet can be simply piggybacked from the first GFCI and will trip that unit if a ground fault occurs. A single GFCI receptacle can protect up to six downline receptacles.

[RobRR]

Joe is right... there only really needs to be once gfci outlet in the circuit, but it has to be first in the chain to protect the rest. Either way, replace that outlet, it did what it was supposed to do!

[JetFixxxer]

A single GFCI receptacle can protect up to six downline receptacles.

That's the only reason I knew that the GFCI was tripped. All other sockets are live except one in the bathroom which the GFCI Socket (off the c/b panel) controls and the other GFCI that won't reset.

Can GFCI socket be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot?

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

yes .. bought one a at home repo last month. make sure you get the right ampage. most are 15 or 20, so check yours so you wont need a second trip.

[Spivonious]

Can GFCI socket be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot?

Yep.

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

oh, and make sure you wire it right. should be marked Line In on it so the relay will work, or it will just keep tripping

[Rsmacker]

My house was hit by lighting the other day. It traveled along my dogs invisible fence wire into the unit which was plugged into the GFCI's circuit, it blew the unit and the unit's transformer up. Now the when I go reset the GFCI you can hear the relay the clatter inside but it won't reset. There's 3 GFCI's sockets and 2 out the 3 won't reset. The Unit was plugged into the GFCI coming off of the C/B Panel.

I'm a qualified sparky, and I understand the bit in red, but after that.........lost me totally! Is it just an ocean that separates our countries, or space and time too??? :ROTF:

[JetFixxxer]

Is it just an ocean that separates our countries, or space and time too??? :ROTF:

Nope just the dumb ass behind the keyboard trying to explain what happened

I replaced them both.. It's not the wiring that bothers me it's just AC in general that makes my asshole pucker, even though I open the c/b and triple check to make sure there was no power to the receptacle itself. Maybe because I don't do it often enough. I get no pucker factor (I respect it) when working on aircraft electrical systems but I've been doing that for 20 years.

[Rsmacker]

May be the dumbass trying to understand the problem! :ROTF:

I do understand the pucker factor though, and it's a good thing when working with AC, it's very easy to get zapped. Remember "familiarity breeds contempt", when you skip your checks, that's when you make fatal errors. Also if you never know what some clown has done to an installation beforehand, you isolate, but then you find out there's another switch no-one has told you about. Stupidity knows no boundaries. Take the circuit breaker out and put it in your pocket, it's not going to get switched back on by mistake then, or padlock it off, keep key in pocket.

Now, should I get the pucker factor when I'm sitting in a plane, thinking "What's that electrical burning smell?" I hope you are very good at your job!!

[JetFixxxer]

Now, should I get the pucker factor when I'm sitting in a plane, thinking "What's that electrical burning smell?" I hope you are very good at your job!!

I'm good at my job.. I'm very anal and don't take shortcuts.

[RobRR]

I took a real good hit the other day taking apart a 2 way dimmer switch... someone decided to wire it wrong AND use the quick connect holes which arent code here in NJ. I didnt realize the one wire was hot, and to get the fuckers out of the quick disconnect you have to use a tiny screw driver in the slot... the screw driver was all metal and I was holding the grounded switch body with my other hand... whoo that was a good one, havent got hit that hard in a while.

I would have just cut the damn wires off the switch but they were short as it is. Was my own fault, was at the end of the day in a hurry to get home and didnt bother to test it. Doh!

[joelayres]

You know its a good hit when you taste copper for a couple hours afterward!

[Rsmacker]

Or when people don't take the piss out of you as normal but keep asking if you are OK.

(Like when I slipped with a drill and nicked an incoming 400v 160A 3 phase cable........I was blind for the first couple of minutes, then realised that despite the smell of burning, I wasn't actually in Hell, it was the sleeve of my fleece which was all crispy . No damage to the drill, though drill bit was history, no damage to me, 1 pair of underpants well and truly pebble-dashed. Another lesson learned - don't even put the tiniest pressure on the drill if it binds in metal conduit, stop, take it out and try again!)

It's the little things, the dimmer switches etc, that are more dangerous. Some woman asks if you can sort her dodgy switch out, you heroically say "No problem, 2 minute job, it'll cost you a smile and a cup of tea", you don't bother knocking the breaker off because it'll take more time to find it than do the job. As she watches her hero from the doorway, you then succeed in blowing the end off the screwdriver, unheroically screeching and yelping like a fucking schoolgirl, and plunging the place into darkness, leaving you crawling about looking for your torch and then the consumer unit. Chance of pulling the woman afterwards - Zero.



Ummmmm, the only time I think I have had a coppery taste in my mouth is ermmmmm, well, come on, y'know........I'm ashamed to say it in case you think I'm a dirty bastard! Let's just say "Red Wings".

[JetFixxxer]

Or when people don't take the piss out of you as normal but keep asking if you are OK.

(Like when I slipped with a drill and nicked an incoming 400v 160A 3 phase cable........I was blind for the first couple of minutes, then realised that despite the smell of burning, I wasn't actually in Hell, it was the sleeve of my fleece which was all crispy . No damage to the drill, though drill bit was history, no damage to me, 1 pair of underpants well and truly pebble-dashed. Another lesson learned - don't even put the tiniest pressure on the drill if it binds in metal conduit, stop, take it out and try again!)

It's the little things, the dimmer switches etc, that are more dangerous. Some woman asks if you can sort her dodgy switch out, you heroically say "No problem, 2 minute job, it'll cost you a smile and a cup of tea", you don't bother knocking the breaker off because it'll take more time to find it than do the job. As she watches her hero from the doorway, you then succeed in blowing the end off the screwdriver, unheroically screeching and yelping like a fucking schoolgirl, and plunging the place into darkness, leaving you crawling about looking for your torch and then the consumer unit. Chance of pulling the woman afterwards - Zero.



Ummmmm, the only time I think I have had a coppery taste in my mouth is ermmmmm, well, come on, y'know........I'm ashamed to say it in case you think I'm a dirty bastard! Let's just say "Red Wings".

I can't stop laughing..
It's always nice to be able to laugh at yourself.. whats even better is when you can make someone laugh so hard it hurts..