I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?

[yos9694]

But it could read induced voltage which will make it seem you have a hot wire when you don't. Maybe the new ones are better.
With meters so cheap I would never use a pen.

This is correct. And a basic multimeter can be had for <$10 which is practically the same (cost) as a voltage pen. Obviously Harbor Freight, but even Amazon has low priced ones

ETA: for example https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B081YQNSRJ/

[David R]

This is correct. And a basic multimeter can be had for <$10 which is practically the same (cost) as a voltage pen. Obviously Harbor Freight, but even Amazon has low priced ones

ETA: for example https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B081YQNSRJ/

The one I got from Harbor Freight was free with a coupon from a local circular.

[yos9694]

Having an issue with a GFCI that I'm installing now. When the outlet is screwed into the electrical box, anything I plug into it trips the circuit breaker. But when I pull the outlet out of the box and let it dangle, everything works fine. I'm guessing that means it wasn't wired wrong, but rather the box is too overcrowded and some wires are touching. Does that sound right? If so, covering all the bare wires with tape should resolve it?

[Yo ssi]

Having an issue with a GFCI that I'm installing now. When the outlet is screwed into the electrical box, anything I plug into it trips the circuit breaker. But when I pull the outlet out of the box and let it dangle, everything works fine. I'm guessing that means it wasn't wired wrong, but rather the box is too overcrowded and some wires are touching. Does that sound right? If so, covering all the bare wires with tape should resolve it?

Sounds right to me. You shouldn't have bare wires at all!

[yos9694]

The only bare wires are the ground. I meant the small sections of stripped wire that are on the terminals

[Yo ssi]

The only bare wires are the ground. I meant the small sections of stripped wire that are on the terminals

I believe it's good practice to cover the terminals on plugs and switches. Just put tape over it like so:

[yos9694]

I believe it's good practice to cover the terminals on plugs and switches. Just put tape over it like so:

Thanks. I've done that but it didn't solve the problem. The box seems very crowded, and I'll try to find a bigger box- but I just don't understand what the issue is now that there's definitely no exposed wires that could be touching

[yos9694]

Maybe describing the set up will help-

I needed to add an outdoor outlet, and the easiest location to connect it to power was to tap into a parallel indoor outlet, which is mid-run.

The outdoor outlet is weather resistant but not GFCI, so I swapped the indoor outlet for a GFCI and have connected the outdoor one to its terminals so that it's protected downstream.

I don't want any of the other outlets to be downstream from the GFCI. So in the box, I joined the mid-stream wires with wire nuts, and added a pigtail to feed the GFCI. This should make it wired in parallel, so the rest of the room should have power even if the GFCI is left in "test"

This seems to make sense in theory. But now there are a lot of wires in the box, and there's less room overall because a GFCI receptacle is bigger than an ordinary outlet. In total, there are 3 groups of wires (one coming from the breaker, one going to the other outlets in the room, and one going to the outdoor outlet) plus the pigtails. Only 2 wire nuts though, one joining 3 black wires and one joining 3 white wires. The 4 grounds wires are twist joined. Anything sound wrong about this?

[CountValentine]

Having an issue with a GFCI that I'm installing now. When the outlet is screwed into the electrical box, anything I plug into it trips the circuit breaker. But when I pull the outlet out of the box and let it dangle, everything works fine. I'm guessing that means it wasn't wired wrong, but rather the box is too overcrowded and some wires are touching. Does that sound right? If so, covering all the bare wires with tape should resolve it?

No and no.
Is there a ground wire attached on your GFCI?

[yos9694]

No and no.
Is there a ground wire attached on your GFCI?

There's a ground screw terminal. I attached a pigtail ground wire to it

[CountValentine]

There's a ground screw terminal. I attached a pigtail ground wire to it

Ok that is how it should be. Check and make sure your neutral and hot are not reversed on the GCFI.

[yos9694]

It's working now. I added more tape and trimmed some of the wires so that there would be less to stuff into the box. Thanks! I appreciate that the two of you took the time to critique my setup, much cheaper than paying an electrician to check my work 🙂

[Yo ssi]

No and no.
Is there a ground wire attached on your GFCI?

Ok that is how it should be. Check and make sure your neutral and hot are not reversed on the GCFI.

If it's working when dangling it should mean it's wired properly.

It's working now. I added more tape and trimmed some of the wires so that there would be less to stuff into the box. Thanks! I appreciate that the two of you took the time to critique my setup, much cheaper than paying an electrician to check my work 🙂

BH glad you got it working.

[CountValentine]

How would that make a difference if the plug is in or out?

Was just thinking of things that could be wrong. Not sure how it would act.
Having a crowded box doesn't matter unless something is touching that shouldn't be.

[Yo ssi]

Was just thinking of things that could be wrong. Not sure how it would act.
Having a crowded box doesn't matter unless something is touching that shouldn't be.

Updated my post to make myself clear.

That's why the assumption that something is touching is the first thing that comes to mind, curious why you said no earlier.

[CountValentine]

That's why the assumption that something is touching is the first thing that comes to mind, curious why you said no earlier.

My two no's were to wiring and adding tape. I see I wasn't clear.
It could have been wired wrong and tape will not help that situation.

[yos9694]

Something touching was easily the best place to start troubleshooting but I just couldn't see anyplace that was happening.

Maybe the ground wires were touching the white wire terminals though. Def not the black terminals

[CountValentine]

Maybe the ground wires were touching the white wire terminals though. Def not the black terminals

Exactly.
Can it be possible is was a bad connection? Did you retighten the screw terminals or wire nuts?

[yos9694]

Exactly.
Can it be possible is was a bad connection? Did you retighten the screw terminals or wire nuts?

No it wasn't a bad connection. But the ground wires were long and might have popped forward .

Why would ground touching neutral cause the breaker to trip?

[Yo ssi]

Speaking of GFCI, it happened to me twice recently where someone asked me why their outlet stopped working, I checked the breaker asked him what happened and couldn't figure it out, then I decided to follow the wiring and found a plug on the wall that was GFCI (in a random spot) that got set.
It's very annoying. I've no clue why they'd wire it like that, especially annoying is when it randomly gets triggered.