Joshua Peterson with Peterson Electric, we are here in Boulder. Today, I am here looking at an inspection report to fix. One thing that came up on the punch list for selling their house was the garage did not have a GFCI receptacle. Most people saying, “What does that mean?” In slang, it is called GFI, but the true term is GFCI, ground fault circuit interruptor. Basically, what it does from a normal outlet is that it trips. Right here is a normal tester, that you can get at Home Depot or Lowes, for $9.00. If you go with a nicer brand, like I did probably $14.00. The bottom line for a normal home owner, you can get it and plug it in. Hit the bottom on the top and t will trip the GFCI right here. You can test it yourself, but that is not the proper way to do it. You want to set it and re-set it and test. What it is doing is tripping. If I took a wire and trip it between the ground and the neutral, just to dead short it. It is not going to arch because it is not the hot, it would trip it. What it is trying to sense right here is if there is any hair dryer or a radio into a sink in the bathroom, it would trip. Keep in mind, GFCI when they go bad they will not trip and if they are wired wrong, they will not trip at all. There is a proper way to do those and they are fairly difficult. If you have any questions, you can call me and we will do it for you. Other thing to keep in mind is these GFCIs have to be in certain areas. In the code book, it states in article 210.8 that you have to be in areas of a home, such as kitchens, bathrooms, wet & mud sink areas, wet bar sinks, garage areas that are unfinished, attics, crawl spaces, front & back outlets outside, eves, anywhere where they is damp, wet, or water.
