Most GFCI (GFI) receptacles have 8 holes, or locations, to install wires to on a device. Confusing to an amateur installing or changing one out. A common mistake is wiring the power line to the ‘load’ side of the device.
Most GFCI (GFI) receptacles have 8 holes, or locations, to install wires to on a device.
Confusing to an amateur installing or changing one out.
A common mistake is wiring the power line to the ‘load’ side of the device.
First locate ‘Line’ and ‘Load’ on the back of the device.
Line is for power line that is feeding 120 volts to operate the receptacle.
The ‘Load’ half is there to feed plugs downstream that you want controlled (protected) by this device. A very handy feature when wiring say a garage wall.
If the first device is a GFCI you can feed the rest of the downstream plugs from the ‘Load’ output and one GFCI will protect them all.
There are brass colored screws on one side of the device and silver colored screws on the other.
The brass screw is for the ‘black’ (or hot wire) and the silver screw is for the white (or neutral wire).
Hot wires can be different colors, but never white and neutral wires are always white.
This last statement is for 90% of the household wiring and any unsure homeowners are encouraged to check with a licensed contractor if there is any doubt.