As promised - here is some documentation on how I replaced standard outlet with a GFCI outlet. It's actually very easy to do, and it takes me about 15-20 minutes to do one.
Just as a disclaimer: Be very careful when working with electrocute. This post is not meant to be instructions on how to actually do it. You should follow the instruction that comes with your GFCI switch. If you are uncomfortable working with electricity, please hire an electrician to do it for you. (Sorry - just needed a CYA.)
Your installation may vary. Please read the instruction that comes with your GFCI outlet.
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Here is a list of tools I used: Needle nose plier, screwdriver (flat head), GFCI switch (Leviton are good brands), a outlet cover for the GFCI switch, GFCI outlet tester (the red plug thing - optional), and multimeter (optional). You can pick all of these stuff up at Home Depot. The GFCI switch will costs about $15, the cover is $2, GFCI tester $10, cheap multimeter $20-30. Note that there is a difference between a GFCI outlet tester and a plain old outlet tester. The GFCI outlet tester has a push button on top that allows you to test trip any outlet to see if it is GFCI protected. I stronly recommend a GFCI tester. You can use it to verify that an outlet is GFCI protected.
1. Verify that power is working on the outlet. I just plugged in my GFCI outlet tester. The light on the tester indicates that there is power, and that the wiring is done correctly. If you don't have a GFCI tester, simply plug in a light and verify there is power.
2. Go to your fuse box, and find the fuse for that outlet. Turn it off. Most of the time, the switch is turned off by moving the handle from one side to the other. Below is my circuit box. All the handle are in the up position. If I want to turn off a circuit, I pull the handle into the down position. Switch one switch at a time until you find the right switch for outlet you are working on. This may involve running from your circuit box to your outlet several times to find the right switch. I knew I found the right switch when the light on my GFCI tester was off.
As a safety precaution, once you turn off your fuse, put a note on the circuit box so that someone else does not think the circuit tripped and turn it back on while you are working!
2. Once you have confirmed that power to the outlet is off - remove the front faceplate to the outlet you are replacing. You only need to remove one screw.
3. Remove the outlet. The outlet will be held in with two screws - one on the top and one on the bottom. Just unscrew them.
4. Pull the outlet out. You will notice a bunch of wires attached to the outlet. You will have black (hot), white (neutral), and one green (ground) wires. You may have multiple black and white wires. Please note that in my wiring, my yellow wiring is the ground wire. Now is a good time to take a look at your outlet. You should noticed that the black wire is attached to one side of the outlet, and the white is attached to the other side. Also take note that the screws (brass color) that hold the black wires in is a different color than the screws (silver) that hold in the white wires. The screw that hold in the ground wire (green wire) is green. I remember it as the light color screw goes to light colored wire, and the dark color screw goes to dark color wire. For ever black wire, you will have a white wire. Please note that one set of black and white wire is feed LINE. A set is defined as one black and one white wire. The feed line is the line that provides electricity to the outlet. The other set will be called the load. The load provides power to additional outlet. If you only have one set of line, then it has to be the feed line.
Just as a disclaimer: Be very careful when working with electrocute. This post is not meant to be instructions on how to actually do it. You should follow the instruction that comes with your GFCI switch. If you are uncomfortable working with electricity, please hire an electrician to do it for you. (Sorry - just needed a CYA.)
Your installation may vary. Please read the instruction that comes with your GFCI outlet.
---------------------------------------------
Here is a list of tools I used: Needle nose plier, screwdriver (flat head), GFCI switch (Leviton are good brands), a outlet cover for the GFCI switch, GFCI outlet tester (the red plug thing - optional), and multimeter (optional). You can pick all of these stuff up at Home Depot. The GFCI switch will costs about $15, the cover is $2, GFCI tester $10, cheap multimeter $20-30. Note that there is a difference between a GFCI outlet tester and a plain old outlet tester. The GFCI outlet tester has a push button on top that allows you to test trip any outlet to see if it is GFCI protected. I stronly recommend a GFCI tester. You can use it to verify that an outlet is GFCI protected.
1. Verify that power is working on the outlet. I just plugged in my GFCI outlet tester. The light on the tester indicates that there is power, and that the wiring is done correctly. If you don't have a GFCI tester, simply plug in a light and verify there is power.
2. Go to your fuse box, and find the fuse for that outlet. Turn it off. Most of the time, the switch is turned off by moving the handle from one side to the other. Below is my circuit box. All the handle are in the up position. If I want to turn off a circuit, I pull the handle into the down position. Switch one switch at a time until you find the right switch for outlet you are working on. This may involve running from your circuit box to your outlet several times to find the right switch. I knew I found the right switch when the light on my GFCI tester was off.
As a safety precaution, once you turn off your fuse, put a note on the circuit box so that someone else does not think the circuit tripped and turn it back on while you are working!
2. Once you have confirmed that power to the outlet is off - remove the front faceplate to the outlet you are replacing. You only need to remove one screw.
3. Remove the outlet. The outlet will be held in with two screws - one on the top and one on the bottom. Just unscrew them.
4. Pull the outlet out. You will notice a bunch of wires attached to the outlet. You will have black (hot), white (neutral), and one green (ground) wires. You may have multiple black and white wires. Please note that in my wiring, my yellow wiring is the ground wire. Now is a good time to take a look at your outlet. You should noticed that the black wire is attached to one side of the outlet, and the white is attached to the other side. Also take note that the screws (brass color) that hold the black wires in is a different color than the screws (silver) that hold in the white wires. The screw that hold in the ground wire (green wire) is green. I remember it as the light color screw goes to light colored wire, and the dark color screw goes to dark color wire. For ever black wire, you will have a white wire. Please note that one set of black and white wire is feed LINE. A set is defined as one black and one white wire. The feed line is the line that provides electricity to the outlet. The other set will be called the load. The load provides power to additional outlet. If you only have one set of line, then it has to be the feed line.
