Load side/reverse polarity?

[Kenneth R. Malone]

A friend of mine just had a home inspection done on a rental property for his buyer. The inspector said all of the GFCI outlets have the load on the wrong side. My friend asked if they had reverse polarity. The inspector said no that he had to switch the load wires. What? This did not make sense to me. Does anyone know what the inspector was refering to?

[Jim Port]

GFI receptacles have 2 sets of terminals, LINE and LOAD. Line is for the incoming power, LOAD would be used to protect other receptacles downstream of the GFI receptacle.

[Michael R. Boyett]

From www.ecmweb.com :

Line-load terminals. All GFCI receptacles have two sets of terminals having screws or wire leads. One set is typically identified as "LINE," the other as "LOAD," again as shown in Fig. 2. Conductors from the branch circuit overcurrent device are intended to be connected to the "LINE" terminals, and conductors feeding other downstream receptacles or loads (if intended to be protected) are connected to the set of terminals marked "LOAD."

Note that the receptacle outlets integral with the GFCI receptacle are on the load side of the current interrupting contacts and thus protected by the GFCI when properly wired. If the "LINE" conductors are connected to the "LOAD" terminals (essentially back-feeding the GFCI receptacle), then note that the integral receptacles are in the circuit before the current-interrupting contacts and are therefore not protected. If the GFCI is miswired and the "test" button is pushed, the 6mA differential current will still flow as before and the GFCI will trip, even though protection will not have been provided to the receptacles integral with the GFCI. Downstream receptacles, however, will be protected because they are on the protected side of the circuit-interrupting contacts. Therefore, it's important that you follow manufacturer's wiring instructions explicitly.

[Jeffrey R. Wicklander]

Originally Posted by kmalone

A friend of mine just had a home inspection done on a rental property for his buyer. The inspector said all of the GFCI outlets have the load on the wrong side. My friend asked if they had reverse polarity. The inspector said no that he had to switch the load wires. What? This did not make sense to me. Does anyone know what the inspector was refering to?

Do not confuse load wiring with the 'hot' conductors. As Michael stated, the line wires (coming in) were put into the load terminals (going out) and vice versa. Also, make sure that when the hots are switched around, that the neutrals are switched around, too (assuming they are also incorrect).

Jeff

[Kenneth R. Malone]

Can this be detected with a simple 3 light testor or do you need an Ideal sure test? Thanks, Ken

[brian winkle]

Originally Posted by kmalone

Can this be detected with a simple 3 light testor or do you need an Ideal sure test? Thanks, Ken

It can be detected simply by pushing the GFCI test button. On an older GFCI, if it remains powered when tripped, line/load is reversed, or it is defective. On a newer GFCI, it will not function at all if line/load is reversed.

[Kenneth R. Malone]

Thanks guys...

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Also lets not all forget to mention to our clients to test these GFCI devices on a monthly basis. Some older ones do fail in the closed position which creates a hazard they the consumer may not be aware of. I believe all GFCI devices produced after 2003-2004 UL 943 corrected this problem. However, their are still alot of the old ones still out their...some with SHOT MOV's as well and offer no functional protection at all.