birdog1960 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 i'll start by saying i know very little about wiring/electrical stuff. my house was hit about 2 weeks ago. or maybe it was the single power pole out front (we live in the country). anyway, the fuse at the pole was blown and had to be replaced by the power co. when the power returned we had no internet and that had to be fixed at the box on the outside of the house. a bank of outlets in my basement was dead but i found that one (that has a fridge plugged in) had the cgfi breaker blown at the outlet. i reset that and all the other outlets are fine. seems weird to me that an outlet breaker controls all those other outlets but i guess it works like a breaker in the actual breaker box? do i need an electrician to check this out or is that how it's supposed to work? fortunately, there were alot of stereo components plugged into the "dead" bank of outlets (through a surge suppressor that wasn't tripped) and all escaped damage except a wii that will no longer read discs. was working about a week before but kids were playing with it at a party and it could just be a dirty laser but it's prolly fried the driver. only other thing ruined was the vonage box that they replaced for free. i guess i got off pretty light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Birddog... A GFCI at an outlet box will protect all outlets downstream. It is overkill if you see more GFCI's downstream of the run. Conversely, if the GCFI is the last one (end run) in the circuit, that outlet will only be protected. Since your fridge was plugged into the GCFI and that outlet was protecting the others... When the fridge went out, so did the others. Anway... A fridge and say a microwave/convection... SHOULD really be on their own 20 amp (12 gauge wire too!) circuit. Also, you don't want to plug something like a sump pump into a GFCI... I know it is in a wet location, BUT you do not want nusance trips which would cause flooding if not noticed... My house is a bit old at 17 years, but fridges don't have GFCI outlets... Again, don't want nusance trips. It is in the NEC (code) FWIW. Nusance trips in wet locations (sump/fridge) = Floods, spoiled food and other major damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 (edited) Birddog... A GFCI at an outlet box will protect all outlets downstream. It is overkill if you see more GFCI's downstream of the run. Conversely, if the GCFI is the last one (end run) in the circuit, that outlet will only be protected. Since your fridge was plugged into the GCFI and that outlet was protecting the others... When the fridge went out, so did the others. Anway... A fridge and say a microwave/convection... SHOULD really be on their own 20 amp (12 gauge wire too!) circuit. Also, you don't want to plug something like a sump pump into a GFCI... I know it is in a wet location, BUT you do not want nusance trips which would cause flooding if not noticed... My house is a bit old at 17 years, but fridges don't have GFCI outlets... Again, don't want nusance trips. It is in the NEC (code) FWIW. Nusance trips in wet locations (sump/fridge) = Floods, spoiled food and other major damage. thanks. we did lose some food before i figured it out. i'm not sure why the previous owner wired it this way but he had stereo stuff in the same outlets so i guess to protect them. i think he had a fridge in the same outlet though. with that kind of hit and so little damage, i guess i can assume my house is grounded well? the fuse at the telephone pole was a pretty big cylindrical thing so i imagine that takes quite a bit to be blown. Edited July 22, 2012 by birdog1960 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 thanks. we did lose some food before i figured it out. i'm not sure why the previous owner wired it this way but he had stereo stuff in the same outlets so i guess to protect them. i think he had a fridge in the same outlet though. with that kind of hit and so little damage, i guess i can assume my house is grounded well? the fuse at the telephone pole was a pretty big cylindrical thing so i imagine that takes quite a bit to be blown. Sounds like it is wired okay... That isn't your primary fridge is it? If you could get the frideg off that circuit and to its own... You should be golden. The house is grounded... That is a good thing it picked up the fault... Those things are hypersensitive. Are you getting nusance trips? If so, either the GFCI is getting flaky or somewhere you are picking up a ground fault... Motor going bad on an old fridge?? Again, always best to get an appliance like that on its own circuit... Such a a heavy demand, especially when the compressor kicks in... Then again, the age of the fridge is a big consideration too! Old ones are such hogs! Good luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Living in CA we very rarely have any kind of electrical storms. We were back east visiting a few years ago. Late one night a thunder storm was working it's way towards my mom's house where we were staying. First it was just the "heat" lightening, flashes of lightening in the distance with no thunder. Then it was getting closer and closer. Thunder was louder, wind was picking up and it began to rain. Then there was a flash of lightening right outside the house. There was a flash, a loud zap and thunder all simultaneously. Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Living in CA we very rarely have any kind of electrical storms. We were back east visiting a few years ago. Late one night a thunder storm was working it's way towards my mom's house where we were staying. First it was just the "heat" lightening, flashes of lightening in the distance with no thunder. Then it was getting closer and closer. Thunder was louder, wind was picking up and it began to rain. Then there was a flash of lightening right outside the house. There was a flash, a loud zap and thunder all simultaneously. Very cool. Then what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAWNDO Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Wow, glad nobody was hurt and there was no serious damage. My Dad's house was hit a couple years ago and it fried his phone line. A few years ago, at least 2 cuz it was before I quit smoking, I was outside my apartment smoking a cigarette during a storm. All of a sudden my body got really tingly. I don't mean Chris Matthews watching Obama tingly. Just electric tingly numb all over, it felt really weird Then I see this blue thing rising up from the ground a few feet away from me. It wasn't a bolt it was almost like watching a tree grow in slow motion. Then all of a sudden it just shot up into the sky and I heard the loudest thunder I've ever heard That was freaky Damn man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Living in CA we very rarely have any kind of electrical storms. We were back east visiting a few years ago. Late one night a thunder storm was working it's way towards my mom's house where we were staying. First it was just the "heat" lightening, flashes of lightening in the distance with no thunder. Then it was getting closer and closer. Thunder was louder, wind was picking up and it began to rain. Then there was a flash of lightening right outside the house. There was a flash, a loud zap and thunder all simultaneously. Very cool. Then what happened? Wow, glad nobody was hurt and there was no serious damage. My Dad's house was hit a couple years ago and it fried his phone line. A few years ago, at least 2 cuz it was before I quit smoking, I was outside my apartment smoking a cigarette during a storm. All of a sudden my body got really tingly. I don't mean Chris Matthews watching Obama tingly. Just electric tingly numb all over, it felt really weird Then I see this blue thing rising up from the ground a few feet away from me. It wasn't a bolt it was almost like watching a tree grow in slow motion. Then all of a sudden it just shot up into the sky and I heard the loudest thunder I've ever heard That was freaky Is that why that damn toad is glowing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Then what happened? We went back to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Sounds like it is wired okay... That isn't your primary fridge is it? If you could get the frideg off that circuit and to its own... You should be golden. The house is grounded... That is a good thing it picked up the fault... Those things are hypersensitive. Are you getting nusance trips? If so, either the GFCI is getting flaky or somewhere you are picking up a ground fault... Motor going bad on an old fridge?? Again, always best to get an appliance like that on its own circuit... Such a a heavy demand, especially when the compressor kicks in... Then again, the age of the fridge is a big consideration too! Old ones are such hogs! Good luck!!! thanks again for your advice. it's a brand new small secondary fridge set up with cold drinks right near my neon Bills sign and my projector tv....all ready for the season. it does have a small freezer and that's where we lost some stuff. the secondary breaker box for the basement has a breaker marked fridge but obviously it doesn't correspond to this oputlet. it's in the obvious space at the bar however. i'll take a closer look for an alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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