Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Super.... as a home inspector since 1989 I have inspected thousands of homes, many of them with whirlpool tubs (rough guess, maybe 5,000 whirlpool tubs).
I have found the GFCI re-set in the following locations...
1. At the outlet under the tub (inside the access panel) where the pump plugs in.
2. At a GFCI breaker in the main electrical panel.
3. At a GFCI breaker in a sub panel.
4. At the GFCI outlet near the bathroom sink (on the wall).
4. Somewhere in the general area of the bathroom where the whirlpool is located. Sometimes the master bedroom closet, sometimes the small toilet room (next to the tub), sometimes on the wall near the tub.
As a home inspector I am required to, 1. make sure the whirlpool pump is protected by a GFCI, and 2. locate where it is. It is sometimes a challenge to locate the re-sets for GFCI's, since there isn't a standard for the locations.
I have found GFGCI resets for bathrooms in the following locations....
1. In each bathroom
2. One bathroom that controls all others, or some others.
3. In the garage where that GFCI may control the garage, exterior and the bathroom outlets.
4. At a GFCI breaker(s) in an electrical panel.
5. Or in one bathroom that trips another GFCI in another bathroom, so both have to be re-set for them to work again.
My 5,000 trumps your 7. :-)
My neighbor lost power to the wall plugs in his garage. Electric garage door opener worked fine. Rest all breakers. Pulled our hair out trying to locate the issue.
Finally found a GFCI had "let go" in an unused, upstairs bathroom. Reset it and garage fine...WTF...
I think maybe electricians have an odd way of doing things sometimes, or they are just plain wicked/devious.
I have spent countless hours trying to find the re-set in homes I'm inspecting.
I once spent 45 minutes trying to find the re-set for the bathrooms in a house. After going to all the normal places, I started looking behind furniture for the outlet. After I had checked every single outlet in the house, except one, I checked behind the refrigerator. Yep, the bathroom circuit was on the refrigerator circuit, and it had a GFCI. Talk about WTF! Talk about an idiot for an electrician.
Homeowners should think about the wiring when they are planning to build a home. More often than not, they simply let the architects and/or electricians figure it all out. That's how you end up with stuff in weird locations. When I did office buildouts, I was a stickler about the wiring. I know I drove people crazy returning drawings for changes, but it's not going to be the way you want it if it's not on the drawings the way you want it.
Specification Grade - Dead-Front/Blank Face GFCI is UL Listed, fully compliant with all latest UL 943 (4th edition) Class A GFCI, UL 498 requirements and UL 508 for motor control switch horsepower rating. ShockSentry lock-out function protects from miswired line-load connections and GFCI circuitry damage. Compact design provides maximum wiring room in “grounded box” applications. Device and wallplate mounting screws are captive, speeding installation time. Includes standard size unbreakable wallplate.
SUPERSPARKLE, you were quoting me on the previous page, offering your take on what I was describing as a swimilar switch, which I said was as a sort of electrical overload indicator switch, which I simply remember from about five years ago, we had an electrician come out because we needed several things done and that light had come on and some of our lights were out, is the way I recall the situation, altho I'm not sure about lights being out, I just recall it was glowing red. I also think there may be many versions thereof, brands and whatnot, which mine doesn't look exactly like the original poster's, but close enough, in particular as relates to the one just posted [but ours has two plug-in places, with those two buttons on top of each other and the green glowing window part to the side], it is yet another version of the same thing, whatever the heck it is.
So, husband and I sat in this bathroom with this electrician, which when husband is there I tune out becuz he knows more about all this stuff than I do, and the electrician was explaining it all to him, how it would glow (yes, from within, a light) and was acting as a circuit breaker or some such, and my husband became just a tad unglued becuz he's a smart man and knows a bunch of stuff, and what this electrician was telling him seemed so counterintuitive. Even the electrician almost lost his confidence, and I surely had no earthly idea what they were discussing, but husband reluctantly accepted the electrician's explanation, and I think we all remained calm because the electrician looked like he was related to husband. Smile. In fact, we talked more about that than the problem at hand. [Isn't this just fascinating??!? Well, this is how a woman's mind works. We may not know what is going on, but we'll remember every detail of how things looked and felt for eternity... probably becuz while you guys were out slaying the great mammoth, we were studying the edges of pathways for certain plants and tiny berries that would help feed the tribe, which we also tried very hard to hold together, with total respect given to the woman who did the best job of it, and ripping the hair out of any that did not.]
ANYHOOOO, I was just saying what I vaguely remember about that type of switch. And in fact, BARKING SPIDER seems to have a handle on this very thing, I just don't know the proper abbreviations for such, but I think he's talking about what I was trying to express. I REALLY don't know what the hell the thing is for, I just know that if something goes wrong or if it were to turn red again, husband would know what to do. By the way, the electrician did work on that little gizmo for several minutes there, unscrewed it and did something or other to it, and screwed it back in, so I think I'll not look into the bowels of that electrical panel, SUPERSPRINKLE, unless you were thinking maybe the original poster should. I think the OP should just plain get an electrician over there.
Do you have a whirlpool tub?? Might be the GFCI for the tub.
This^^^^^^^ is the correct answer.
Some of those other "shot-in-the-dark" answers are WTF's!
And some were pretty funny.
I used to have an electrician that did that- put the GFCI in water closet- generally it was because the W/C would be next to the tub and the access panel would be in the W/C also.
Later on I switched electricians and this one did something different. It was time to mandate a location!
Now it is with the gangbox for the light(s) of the bathroom- regardless of model/plan of house or how far from the tub/pump motor.
I think maybe electricians have an odd way of doing things sometimes, or they are just plain wicked/devious.
I have spent countless hours trying to find the re-set in homes I'm inspecting.
I once spent 45 minutes trying to find the re-set for the bathrooms in a house. After going to all the normal places, I started looking behind furniture for the outlet. After I had checked every single outlet in the house, except one, I checked behind the refrigerator. Yep, the bathroom circuit was on the refrigerator circuit, and it had a GFCI. Talk about WTF! Talk about an idiot for an electrician.
I saw the worst things in my 2nd house (and it wasn't cheap)....
1). They didn't know how to properly wire a 3-way switch (you know, so you end up with one switch overriding the other ) That was an easy fix.
2). They wired a switch to control two outdoor lights (one high up on the house, one on the porch. Let's see... in the switch 'up' position the upper light was on, and in the 'down' position, the lower light was on . Their solution was to balance the switch in the middle. Again, another easy fix.
3). They maximized their 'convenience factor' by wiring in, from a single feed, all outlets/switches/boxes closest to the feed.
4). There were 2 switches I never did figure out, but I was going to move anyway. (A Triplett Fox and Hound is your friend)
5). I don't believe that the ceiling lights in a room should be connected to the same circuit as the wall outlets... you overload the wall outlets, and the room goes black.
6). Of course we can't forget the wonderful junction-box-behind-wallboard trick.
7). They had no concept of ground loops.
8). Running wires across the joists and insulation in the attic (no staples, etc) is sloppy.
After that, I personally wired my next two houses (with perodic inspection by a master electrician friend, which was required by law). Electricians you hire are in it for the job... shortest amount of time, lowest overall cost. I did it myself because I could guarantee it was done right, had no schedule, and an open-ended budget, and the overall cost is a very small fraction of contracting it out (though copper is out of this world, and commercial outlets and switches aren't cheap anymore).
The best one I saw was on an old house, where there was an outdoor light on the porch behind the kitchen, and an extension cord came out from under the wallpaper in the kitchen, and the plug went into an outlet about 6" away. Classic (Obviously no electrician did that).
In one home I had built the only workmen I met that spoke english as a native tongue were the electricians and the HVAC guys.
The most screwed up job in the house was the electrical. Phantom switches, switches to nowhere that caused breakers to break, etc.
Had an HVAC problem and called the HVAC company. The HVAC guy found the problem was in the electrical panel. He knew what it was and how to fix it but said he was not allowed to touch it. Well I know how it works and I understood the wiring error. I said what if I fix it. He said you are the homeowner and I cannot stop you. I fixed the issue right then and there.
Even in my newly built home, I have had to tighten connections to switches and plugs.
Last edited by accufitgolf; 02-06-2012 at 02:31 PM..
I've enjoyed all the wild stories in here so much. I would like, tho, for someone to tell me what GFCI stands for? I've heard hot tub. Maybe it means General Fire Conflagration Ignition switch? Also, I apologize for my silly post a little earlier, what I find charming and funny are, well, a distraction in a forum where some highly trained and educated folk are trying to help out homeowners with all the wierdo stuff they find going on in their house. But I recall now when my switch similar to the OP's and the one up higher on this page turned red, there was an outdoor outlet that some workmen were using some sort of power tool that required too much amperage, and it blew out and that switch inside near it turned red.
I've enjoyed all the wild stories in here so much. I would like, tho, for someone to tell me what GFCI stands for? I've heard hot tub. Maybe it means General Fire Conflagration Ignition switch? Also, I apologize for my silly post a little earlier, what I find charming and funny are, well, a distraction in a forum where some highly trained and educated folk are trying to help out homeowners with all the wierdo stuff they find going on in their house. But I recall now when my switch similar to the OP's and the one up higher on this page turned red, there was an outdoor outlet that some workmen were using some sort of power tool that required too much amperage, and it blew out and that switch inside near it turned red.
ground fault circuit interrupter
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) That was an easy fix.
. Their solution was to balance the switch in the middle. 
