Although electricity has become the mainstay of our civilization, it comes with its dangers. One such danger is associated with the ground fault that can electrify every appliance at home and might even cause short circuits to hurt people.
Thus, it would help if you took proper cautions against the ground fault and people use GFCI circuit breakers. It ensures excellent electrical safety at home and industrial workplaces.
However, people often don’t know how to wire a GFCI outlet with 2 hot wires. Thankfully, the process is straightforward and can be accomplished within minutes.
So, let’s jump into the wiring procedure of the GFCI outlet with the 2 hot wires.
Wiring A GFCI Outlet with Two Hot Wires:
GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter. The protective circuit-breaking device will tip over the circuit to stop the current flow whenever it finds any imbalance between the outgoing and incoming electricity at its installation point.
But, how do you connect the two hot wires with the GFCI outlet?
Firstly, find the brass-colored terminal screw and connect the black wire. After that, find the terminal screw with silver color and connect the white wire. Then, fold back the wires in their box. Finally, find the outlet box and press the GFI right into it. Also, fasten the GFI receptacle with the screw to secure the connection.
As you see the process, it brings two important questions in front of us. These are:
- Why are there two hot wires in the GFCI outlet?
- What’s the difference between GFCI and GFI we are talking about here?
Let’s answer these questions before we jump into the step-by-step guideline of wiring a GFCI outlet with the hot wires.
One wire will feed the second wire to connect with the power supply line. The secondary wire will transmute the voltage to different devices linked with following a series. Also, GFI refers to the outlet of the ground fault interrupting system. On the other side, GFCI refers to the circuit interrupter of the ground fault occurrence.
Now, let’s jump into the main discussion of connecting the GFCI outlet.
Step 1: Examine your home.
You should start with checking all the electrical outlets at home. Is there any GFCI or interrupter for ground fault pre-installed in your home electrical system?
In most cases, you should find one or multiple GFCI outlets in wet locations of your home. It includes kitchen, garage, basement, laundry. Builders pre-install it as part of the federal and state building codes for electricity safety.
The GFCI device at home is a built-in and high-performing circuit breaker. It can sense any short circuit, abnormality in the electricity line, and faults. Thus, it will fall and stop the current flow to stop the shock and short circuits.
Thus, it stops damage to the home appliances due to ground faults and short circuits. Also, it saves people at home from electric shocks.
Read Next: How to Wire a 220v Hot Water Heater
Step 2: Shut off power in-home electricity line
Find the circuit breaker of the fuse box close to the GFCI outlet. Now, power it off appropriately. For better safety, you can shut off the entire electricity line for the time being. If you find it hard to locate the right fuse, you can quickly connect a lamp with the GFCI outlet and find the circuit breaker.
As you shut off the fuse, mark it so that you can turn it on once you have wired the GFCI outlet.
Step 3:Remove the existing outlet
Now, it’s your turn to remove the existing outlet of the installed system. Firstly, carefully pry off the cover plate of the outlet. Use a circuit tester to check that you have shut off the line properly before taking off the cover plate.
Remove the screws from the GFCI outlet as you remove the outlet from its housing. When you have unscrewed the outlet, disconnect the wires from it. You will find three wiring with the outlet. However, for GFCI outlets, there will be two hot wires. In this case, the outlet will supply the electricity in the entire connecting circuit at its point.
Carefully find the wire that supplies electricity to the main circuit of the outlet point. For this, you need to apply the circuit tester device. Once you find it, spread both sides of the wire to disconnect its strings. Once you remove the strings, the wire will stay in its position and won’t touch the electric supply line until reconnected.
Use the masking tape to identify the different wires for working convenience. Always ensure that you have shut off the electricity supply before proceeding to the next step.
Step 4: Install and wire the GFCI outlet
As you look at the GFCI, you will find two pre-installed wires with it. These are marked as load and line wiring. The line is a hot wire that supplies the incoming electricity. On the other side, the load wiring set works to redistribute the supplied power to other devices through a series of outlets. These outlets are in the same circuit.
Now, find the supply line labeled with the masking tape in the previous step. After that, connect it with the two hot wires of GFCI. Connect the white masking tape labeled wire with the load set. Be careful to connect the same color wire: black wire with blacks and white ones with whites. Fasten the connection with the wire nuts.
Finally, secure the wiring connection with the electrical masking tape. Also, put the entire GFCI outlet back in the housing and remount it appropriately. Don’t forget to reapply the cover plate.
Step 5: Check the GFCI outlet
When you have mounted the GFCI outlet, turn on its power supply. Plug the lamp into the GFCI outlet to check for proper electricity supply in the outlet. At times the power might not work. You need to press the switch to help the power supply work properly.
Press the button to shut off the supply line and check that the GFCI works perfectly. When you are 100% sure that the outlet has been mounted and working properly, press the red button to reset its power supply.
Also Read: How to Connect Two Wires with a Connector?
Conclusion
This is how to wire a GFCI outlet with 2 hot wires. The appropriate connection is necessary to secure your home appliances from unwanted ground faults and short circuits. It will also protect you from electrical hazards.
In this regard, this guideline on wiring the GFCI outlet will be useful. We have narrated it with five easy steps so that even a regular homeowner can conveniently install the GFCI outlet. So, you shouldn’t face any problem wiring the outlet.
I’m James. The author of Electricalaffairs.com. It’s been my passion to deal with power tools and gears. This website is mainly to talk about electrical wirings, lighting, various power source tools and accessories. I want to explore tackles and help people to grow their basic knowledge about electrical things. I would also like to help people to pick the right power tool for their daily needs.