I replaced a gfi outlet in the kitchen now it pops when I plug something in.?

Question

If I plug in a low wattage night lite the plug stays on, but if I plug in anything else it trips? Is the plug bad? I checked the ground and its secure. Please help.

Answer 1

Did you replace an existing GFCI?  If you replaced another GFCI that was tripping, that almost certainly says that there's a wiring problem (open ground, most likely) somewhere upstream of this point.

Get a plug-in circuit tester - it's a small plug with 3 LED's on the back - under $10 at Lowes/HD.  Plug the tester into your GFCI and it will tell you if you've got good ground and neutral, and if hot and neutral or ground and neutral are reversed

If there are otther receptacles downstream of the GFCI (you have two black and white wires attached), you might have switched the load and source wires, which could also make the GFCI trip.  Turn of the breaker for that circuit, remove the black and white from the terminals marked "load", and put wire nuts on them (individually, not together!) to protect the exposed wires.  Turn the breaker back on.  If you've got power to the receptacle, it's wired correctly.  If it's dead, you have the load and source switched -- disconnect the remaining black and white, connect them to the "load" terminals, and connect the two wires you first disconnected to the "source" terminals.

Answer 2

You could have a short between the neutral and ground (or that happened when you replaced the unit).  Because GFCIs are so fat, it is possible your white neutral connection/wire is leaning against the metal box.

This is something you can't measure with an ohmmeter, because the neutral and ground ARE connected at the panel box, but upsets the current sensing function of the GFCI.

Answer 3

Why did you replace the original? Was it doing the same thing? If not then it is the gfi outlet. Sometimes these are bad out of the box. Are there any other appliances hooked into the circuit?