GFCI

 I had a contrator put in a BBQ area and pergola for me. A couple of weeks
ago the lights stopped working. The contractor sent the electrician who did
the original electrical installation to fix it. He pressed the GFCI button
and the lights work again. I asked him what the cause of the GFCI resetting
and he said "they do that". I think it was just a symptom of another
problem, possibly related to the heavy rain that we have had recently (as is
usual in Texas).

Is GFCI designed to spontaneously reset? If not, what is the cause of this?

Thanks!

 
No, they reset when you push the reset button.  They will trip if water
gets into the wireing.

--
Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com    + 1 770 321 6507
Eastern time.  N6LRT  I speak for myself & my dogs only.   VM'er since CP-67
Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky                   Owner:Chinook-L
Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/  Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

 

Sometimes they do that.

Could have even been excessive moisture from the rains.

 

Umm, no, they do NOT do that "sometimes" if everything
is installed correctly.  Sorry, don't mean to sound
confrontational, but a GFCI tripping is an indication
that something went wrong whether it was water or
whatever that caused it to trip.  They don't "just do
that" for no reason.  They would be useless in such a
case.

Since this is a new installation, and assuming the user
did nothing to cause the problem, that electrician
needs to check out his work, or possibly an inspector.
   It does make sense that it was posibly water getting
in somewhere, but it shouldn't have done so.  "They do
that" is an unacceptable resonse from the electrician.
   It's quite likely that if you don't call him on it
now, you may well be calling him later, like after he
won't warranty the work any longer due to time.
   Even if he says there's nothign he can do, by
submitting a complaint, he's been put on notice so that
when the problem IS aboe to be solved, he'll still be
responsible for doing so.
   And actually, if he's worth his salt, there is
something he can do.

HTH,

PopS

 

As I pointed out.  Sure, there was a reason, but the conditions may have
changed ten minutes later and the real cause is never found.  Excessive
moisture across a plug can do it.  That means it is working as it should.