[Shop-talk] GFCI Question

[Steven Trovato]

Just buy an outlet tester.  There are some things that just aren't 
worth doing yourself.  I'm sorry.  I can't believe I just said 
that.  If you can suppress the construction urge, they're like 6 
bucks at Amazon.  Search for GFCI tester.  Also available at HD, 
Lowes and about a thousand other places.


At 11:27 AM 2/2/2008, Randall wrote:
> > Maybe only the test button itself was
> > bad and they were actually still working, but why take a chance?
>
>I agree entirely.  But if you wanted to find out, it would be easy enough to
>rig a dummy plug with a leak to safety ground in it.  Start with a
>replacement 3-prong plug from HD and add a 10-15K 1 watt resistor from Radio
>Shack between the hot & ground pins.  Plugging it into a working GFCI should
>trip the GFCI instantly.  A second plug with ground shorted to neutral would
>test the other function.