We bought the oldest house I have owned in October. It's redeeming property is the back yard - a large lake. We also got it at a good price for a lake property but that was because it is 46 years old and not much is up-to-date. That includes a total lack of GFCI outlets. I've installed them before but that was for a new circuit. So I know they go first. When I opened the box for the first outlet, I read the instructions and found out that I needed to figure out which of the wires coming to the old outlet fed power in. I did that. So I hooked the wires of power coming in to the "line" terminals and the other wires to the "load" terminals of the GFCI. When I turned the circuit back on, it would not reset. The instructions say that would be because the line and load are reversed. So I took off what I thought was the line and wired it back to the old outlet. I plugged in the lamp I was using to test the circuit and turned the circuit back on. The lamp was lit. So I wired it correctly.
So what do I do? Do GFCI's only work if they are the first outlet in a circuit? That isn't what the instructions said but I know that is what is intended. Finding the first outlet will not be simple. I already know of one circuit that powers things on both floors of the house, including a bathroom. So there is no telling what all is on that circuit. And finding the first outlet would be a challenge. I'd have to take outlets out, one at a time, until I find the first one. That will take a lot of time and a lot of walking to the circuit breaker box. And if I miss one...
Any ideas?
So what do I do? Do GFCI's only work if they are the first outlet in a circuit? That isn't what the instructions said but I know that is what is intended. Finding the first outlet will not be simple. I already know of one circuit that powers things on both floors of the house, including a bathroom. So there is no telling what all is on that circuit. And finding the first outlet would be a challenge. I'd have to take outlets out, one at a time, until I find the first one. That will take a lot of time and a lot of walking to the circuit breaker box. And if I miss one...
Any ideas?
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