New GFI breaker trips when anything is plugged into it?

Question

This is new wiring with new recepticles on outside walls. The main panel has the neuteral bonded to the frame as per code. Even if I plug in a light blub (two prong) it trips the breaker. I lifted the neuteral from the breaker and it works just fine. I always used GFI recpts on my curcuits and never had any problems.

Answer 1

You've mis-wired it somewhere.

When you 'lifted the neutral', you disabled the GFI protection.

You should also have broken the circuit.

Did you share that neutral anywhere on your circuit?

Did you connect the circuit neutral to the breaker?

(It should NOT go to the neutral buss in the panel.)

GF breakers require an unbroken, unshared neutral

to work properly.

The neutral connection for the circuit should be ONLY

through the breaker via that white wlre on the breaker to the neutral bar.

(The system neutral should be bonded to ground

at one point only.

If the panel is not your service equipment,

the neutral should  not be bonded there.)

Answer 2

It sounds more like you installed it incorrectly.  The neutral coming from the outlet connects to the breaker, not the frame.  Here's an article on installation:  http://www.cornerhardware.com/howto/ht06...

Answer 3

Just verifying that it is wired correctly-- The white coiled wire from the breaker should go to the neutral bar.  The white from the wire coming in from the top of the panel must go to the breaker not the neutral bar.  The black from wire coming in from the top of the panel must go to brass s***w on the breaker.  And the ground to the ground bar.  If this is how it is wired then you probably don't have all of the neutrals isolated to just that one circuit.  To find this I would look in multi-gang boxes where the circuit you are trying to protect is feeding a switch where other circuits are present.  Hope that helps.

Answer 4

Lets get this out of the way first. You say you hooked up the GFI black to brass s***w, white to silver and ground to the green. Now in the breaker box you have black to the square D, White to the neutral bar and ground to the ground bar?

If this is the way you have it it is correct. Do the wires in the GFI box keep going somewhere else? maybe the problem is with a continuation to another outlet that is wired opposite the way it is on the GFI ? I think a simple fault tester might tell you a lot for a few bucks. They usually have three lights red,yellow,green and when inserted give you an indication of the fault.

I noted in the article from "Wired" that if it is a two prong with no ground and you plug in a three prong it would trip.

Answer 5

Sounds like your sharing the neutral with some other circuit in your house.  GFCI's trip when there is an imbalance of current of at least 4 milli-amps in the circuit.  That's .004 amps.  So from all the information given, there's only one possible conclusion.  There's a neutral from another circuit tied to your GFCI neutral, creating an imbalance of current in the circuit if something in the other circuit is on. Try turning off all your breakers except your main and the GFI breaker and see if it works.  If it does work, this really tells you that the neutral is being shared by another circuit.

...so Jim, did u try turning everything off except for the main and the GFI? Did the light stay on? I'm curious. Thanks

Answer 6

Could be a defective GFI.