Outdoor Wiring for a GFCI Outlet
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How to Install Electrical Wiring for a GFCI Outlet in an Outdoor Location: The Most Common Method for Installing Electrical Cable and Wiring for Outdoor GFCI Outlets. |
Installing the Right Electrical Wiring for a GFCI Outlet
[ad#block]Electrical Question: A leaky fountain fried my GFCI outlet.
- I need to install the new GFCI outlet. Everything is ready to go. The wire that connected the original GFCI outlet has me confused.
- The wire consists of two separate cables molded together. One cable consists of 4 small wires: black, blue, brown, and red.
- The other cable consists of three small wires: black, red, and clear with what appears to be copper inside.
- I have zero clue of how to attach these seven wires to my new standard GFCI outlet (Taymac Non-Metallic GFCI Outlet Box Kit).
- While it did appear that both cables consisting of the seven wires did attach to the original GFCI outlet, the outlet was so fried I have no idea if this absolutely was the case.
- The original outlet and fountain worked perfectly well from 2001 to 2011 until the crack in the fountain drenched and shorted the system.
This electrical question came from: Lloyd, from Goose Pimple Junction, Virginia.
See more about Home Wiring for Virginia
Dave’s Reply:
Thanks for your electrical question Lloyd.
How to Install Electrical Wiring for a GFCI Outlet
Install the Correct Electrical Cable for GFCI Outlets
- The photos that I received revealed an unfortunate problem. The wiring that was installed was not an approved electrical cable, so the wiring to the location of the GFCI had to be replaced.
- The valuable lesson here is to make sure that the electrical cable or conduit and wiring that is being installed is according to code which will ensure that the project is done right and prevent any problems in the future.
The Most Common Method for Installing Electrical Cable and Wiring for Outdoor GFCI Outlets
- Electrical Wiring for a Outside GFCI Outlets
- Type UF Direct Burial Cable: The depth of the trench will depend on where the GFCI is located. A trench 24 inches deep is required for Type UF cable when the GFCI is located in the outdoor access location.
- PVC Electrical Conduit: Trench depth of 18 inches is required for PVC conduit which provides Type THWN electrical wiring to the GFCI outlet location.
GFCI Wiring
This list of articles will help you learn about the features and benefits provided by GFI and GFCI Receptacles and how they are wired.
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The Quickest Way to Check for Faulty Electrical Wiring!The Plug-In Outlet TesterThis is the first tool I grab to troubleshoot a problem with outlet circuit wiring. This popular tester is also used by most inspectors to test for power and check the polarity of circuit wiring. It detects probable improper wiring conditions in standard 110-125 VAC outlets Provides 6 probable wiring conditions that are quick and easy to read for ultimate efficiency Lights indicate if wiring is correct and indicator light chart is included Tests standard 3-wire outlets UL Listed Light indicates if wiring is incorrect Very handy and easy to use.
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I am Putting in outside GFCI circuit on post to power new fish pond equipment.
I found and tapped into the buried UF cable that is feeding my storage shed which is a dedicated circuit that has two 10 or 20 amp breakers in the basement for the greenhouse where one is listed as lights and one listed as plugs.
The existing UF wire has Red, black, white and ground wires. This new GFCI outlet is now the new first stop along the way to the shed which has 3 GFCI’s and a ceiling fan/light combo. I used a new section of UF wire of a lesser thickness to wire up the new circuit and tie into the existing one.
I think I understand the line and load parts of the receptacle, but what to do with the red wire.
To learn more, I opened the first outlet at the service entrance in the shed to see how they were treating the red wire and found a normally wired GFCI outlet and they just have pig tailed the red wire to another red wire and it goes off to another circuit. My theory was that they were using the red wire for lights in the shed as the second circuit. So I just pig tailed the old red and new red together and hooked up my new GFCI with the traditional wiring config including pigtail to ground in the metal outlet box.
However when I energized the circuit last night- I got red and green lights on the GFCI receptacle (power was at least getting to it…) but the reset button would not go in and the light I had plugged into the new GFCI outlet would not work- nor would any of the shed lights- so I don’t think power was making it to there, i.e the circuit was not complete somehow.
Is the red wire something that has to be put into the first GFCI outlet to complete the circuit? If so where or how is it connected?
Hi Allen,
From what you have described, I will identify a few points for you to consider:
A circuit cable that has a red, black, white and ground wire is typically referred to as a multi wire circuit, which has two circuits that share the same white and ground wires. When wired correctly at the panel a voltage reading between the black and red wire produces 220 volts. Therefore the circuit should be tested to make sure the configuration is correct to ensure the connections to the GFCI outlets are correct.
When tapping into any electrical circuit wiring, the tap should be done inside an approved enclosure that is rated for outdoor weatherproof conditions, and the wire size must be the same throughout all of the circuit wiring.
Electrical wiring to a home pond must be GFCI protected, which can be provided by a GFCI circuit breaker at the panel or a GFCI outlet.
The UF Cable must be installed according to code.
From the position of safety and to make sure your project is wired correctly, I strongly suggest that you consider having a licensed electrician assist you with your project first hand where all the elements may be carefully evaluated.
I hope this helps,
Dave