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I am remodeling my bathroom and have a gfi socket on the wall. I replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on the socket sparked but did not trip the breaker. I shut off the breaker immediately. I took the socket out of the box and checked to make sure that everything was hooked up correctly and it was. I assume that somehow something touched to metal box causing the spark. So I pulled the socket out far enough to make sure no wires were touching. But with the new socket attached and even with the breaker flipped off every time my furnace or fridge or anything turned on all the lights in my house would get dim. So I took the new socket off and put the old socket back on but did not put it back in the box so I knew no wires were touching. With that sockets breaker still flipped off my lights do not dim anymore but now flicker every time something turns on. They flicker about every 5 to 10 seconds while something is running such as my furnace or fridge but they are fine when nothing is running. I cannot seem to pin point what I did or what is causing the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
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gfi & box
when the gfci sparked you can rest assure that something got pinched between the gfi and the metal box. if you know the breaker location, shut it off and pull the gfi out of the box. now examine all the black wires. there could be a pin hole in the insulation where it arced. quite possible that the wire seperated within the insulation too. pull on each black wire. if the wire is busted inside the wire should break where the hole it. re-splice with a wirenut and put everything back in the box carefully so nothing gets pinched. turn on the breaker. -
Thank you for the reply. Do you think if insulation on the wire is messed up it could cause my lights in my house to flicker even with that breaker shut off? I am having someone come out today to try and help me figure this situation out. I just want it fixed and am hoping its nothing major!Comment
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dimming lights
I would be cautious about the wiring. If copper wasn't used, then more-less it was copper clad aluminum wire. I would check the neutrals, white wires, for looseness within the splices. aluminum has no "bounce-back" when its stressed, as in the spring pressure in a wirenut. also the screws used to fasten a wire to a socket receptacle squishes the wire but because of no bounce-back will loosen up over time.
This causes a heating at the terminal and a high resistance which will eventually burn your house down.Comment
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