Why Is My GFCI Outlet Not Working?

By James – Master Electrician, 29 years of experience

Ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets are power outlets with a mini circuit breaker built directly into them.

If your GFCI outlet has suddenly stopped working, there could be a few reasons as to why, which we’ll discuss in detail in this article. Among the most likely culprits are: a loose connection somewhere in the circuit, water intrusion, oversensitivity, or power fluctuations.

GFCI outlets are useful in places with water sources (like bathrooms, kitchens, outdoors, etc.) where the potential for getting shocked (or even electrocuted) is a bit higher.

You’ll generally know your outlet is GFCI-equipped if it has built-in reset and test buttons. The exception to this is an AFCI outlet (for detecting arc faults), which also has a reset and test button. But these are rare and are covered in another article.

We’re going to show you exactly how to troubleshoot a tripped GFCI outlet, so you aren’t left guessing at how to approach it. Also, we’ll go over other things you may want to know about GFCI outlets in the FAQ section at the end.

Before we get started though, I don’t want to take anything for granted. If you haven’t already tried to reset the GFCI, do so now.
There is a “RESET” button on the GFCI outlet. Press this button firmly all the way in. You should hear a click and power should be restored to the outlet. If not, continue reading this article.

How Do GFCI Outlets Work?

GFCI outlets are specifically designed to protect people from getting shocked or electrocuted. This is in contrast with fuses and circuit breakers, which are intended to prevent electrical fire damage within your home. Fuses and breakers aren’t designed to provide the same kind of personal safety protection that GFCI outlets do.

When you plug a device into a GFCI outlet, it monitors the electrical current flowing to and from the device. If it senses even a small difference—indicating that electricity may be leaking to the ground—it quickly shuts off power to prevent shock and potential injury.

One thing that sets a GFCI outlet apart from a fuse or breaker is how quickly it reacts. A GFCI can shut off power in about 1/30 of a second if it detects even a small difference between the current flowing into and out of a device.

Exposure to just 10 milliamps of current can cause muscles to contract uncontrollably, sometimes making it impossible to release the source of the shock. If that level of current continues for more than a couple of seconds, it can be fatal.

GFCI outlets are designed to detect current imbalances as small as 4 to 5 milliamps and disconnect power almost instantly—fast enough to prevent serious injury. In contrast, fuses often take several seconds to blow, making GFCIs far more effective at protecting against electric shock.

What Makes a GFCI Outlet Trip?

We know that GFCI outlets shut themselves off when they detect that the current flowing through them is out of specs, but what can cause this to happen? There are a few situations that can lead to this.

As their name suggests, GFCI outlets are usually tripped by a ground fault. Put simply, a ground fault occurs when a live (“hot”) part of a circuit comes into contact with anything that is grounded.

There are four main reasons a GFCI will trip:

1. Circuit is faulty or has water intrusion

If there’s a problem in the wiring, such as a damaged wire or loose connection, the GFCI may detect an unsafe condition and shut off power. Water that has made its way inside an outlet box or conduit can also cause current to leak, which the GFCI sees as a ground fault.

This often happens in outdoor, kitchen, or bathroom circuits. The GFCI trips to prevent a possible shock or fire.

2. Appliance is faulty or has water intrusion

Sometimes, the problem isn’t the outlet but the thing you plugged into it. If an appliance has internal damage or moisture inside, it can leak electricity to the ground.

This leakage triggers the GFCI to trip, cutting off power to the appliance. Unplugging the appliance and resetting the outlet can help you isolate the issue.

3. Power Surge

A sudden spike in electrical voltage—like from a lightning strike or utility issue—can cause a GFCI to trip. These surges confuse the sensor inside the outlet, making it think there’s a ground fault.

This is a safety response to protect both people and devices. After a surge, the GFCI may need to be manually reset.

4. GFCI outlet is malfunctioning

Like any electrical device, a GFCI outlet can wear out and get weaker over time. When that happens, it might trip without any real ground fault.

If resetting doesn’t work or it trips repeatedly with nothing plugged in, the outlet itself might be bad. Replacing the GFCI is usually the fix in this case.

How to Troubleshoot a GFCI Outlet

So, how do you know which culprit is causing your particular issue?

Fortunately, troubleshooting a GFCI outlet is usually pretty easy and doesn’t typically require any kind of special electrical knowledge or fancy tools.

Here’s what you should do if you’re trying to determine whether your GFCI outlet is malfunctioning, and if so, what the cause of the problem is:

1. Inspect Your Circuit Breakers/Fuses

Odds are, your home has circuit breakers to protect its wiring. But if it’s an older home then it may have fuses instead. We’ll go over how to check both circuit breakers and fuses in this section.

Circuit Breakers

To check your circuit breakers, find the circuit breaker panel in your home and see if any of the breakers have been tripped.

Note the positions of the breaker handles, and look for any that aren’t lined up with the others; if you see this, it likely means the breaker for that handle has been tripped. Depending on your breaker brand, the handle may be in the fully off position, or else in the middle, between off and on.

To reset a tripped breaker, flip the breaker switch to its “off” position and then back again to its “on” position. If the switch immediately flips back to its tripped position, however, it means that there’s a problem with something connected to that circuit or the wiring within that circuit.

Fuses

Fuses, on the other hand, can’t be reset and need to be replaced if they burn out. You can spot a dead fuse by looking through the glass cover at the filament inside; if the filament is broken or the glass looks charred, you’ve found your burnt-out fuse.

One way to be sure, is to temporarily swap out the fuse with a known good one from another circuit. It doesn’t even need to be the same size rating as long as it is only briefly for testing purposes. But never leave an oversized fuse in place permanently!

Also Read: Why Does My Circuit Breaker Keep Tripping?

2. Check Your GFCI Outlet and Other Connected Outlets

If you’ve determined that a tripped breaker or a blown fuse isn’t the problem, you should check your outlets themselves to see if they are what’s causing the issue.

Image source: The Spruce

GFCI Outlet

As mentioned above, the GFCI outlet has two buttons on it: “RESET” and “TEST”. If pressing the reset button does not restore power to the outlet, we’ll have to dig a little deeper.

First, notice whether or not there are any lights on the GFCI outlet. Most GFCIs these days have small LED lights on them.

There is no standard LED usage across brands. Some have an amber LED that lights when the outlet is tripped (Cooper). Others have a green LED that is on normally, and then goes out upon tripping (Leviton). Still other brands use a red LED upon tripping (Hubble).

If you do see an LED lit, that means you have power getting to the outlet. That’s good, because now you know where to start your troubleshooting.

If there is no LED glowing, it doesn’t necessarily tell you anything for certain. It could indicate either no power to the outlet, a tripped outlet, or a bad outlet.

However, no matter what brand you have, the test and reset buttons all operate the same way. Don’t let the LEDs confuse you.

What happens when you press the reset button?

1. If it won’t stay in, and pops right back out, there is likely a direct fault.
2. If, rather, it stays in for a moment or two before it pops back out (trips), it is more likely a water or connection issue.
3. If it stays in, power resumes, but then it trips again at some “random” later time, then it is probably an appliance problem. This could also be an intermittent water or connection issue, which we’ll talk more about below.
4. Lastly, if it stays in, but there is no power at , it is a defective GFCI outlet. Replace it.

We’ll come back to troubleshoot each of these in a moment. First, let’s take a look at other outlets that may be part of the picture.

Other Outlets

Since the outlets in your home are mostly wired in parallel, a tripped GFCI outlet can easily cause multiple connected outlets to stop working as well.

Most GFCI outlets are the “pass-through” type. This means their ground fault protection passes through to other outlets downstream on the circuit. If the GFCI trips, all protected outlets will also lose power.

To test your other outlets, you can use a voltage tester, or just plug an appliance like a lamp into the outlet and see if it works. If you discover any dead outlets, make sure to unplug any appliances from them while you’re testing.

Sometimes, the installer will have placed a label on GFCI-protected outlets, making them easier to identify. However, don’t assume those labels are correct. Outlet plates can easily get swapped around (like when painting). Make sure by using a tester or lamp.

If you find that one or more other outlets are not working, and they are in the same general area, there’s a good chance they are on the same circuit as the GFCI.

3. Check Your Electrical Connections

If nothing else works, you might want to try seeing if there’s a loose connection leading to or from the GFCI outlet. Luckily, this is pretty easy in most cases.

Start by turning off the main breaker for the house, and then unscrew the outlet you want to look at from the wall. There may be a loose terminal screw, a loose stab-in connection, or a wire connector with one or more loose wires.

If you do discover a loose connection, you should probably have the outlet replaced. Loose connections create a lot of heat, which can end up damaging the outlet. If you want to avoid the possibility of future problems from the outlet, replacing it is your best bet.     

FAQs

Now, let’s quickly go over a few of the common questions that people tend to have about GFCI outlets that can’t be reset.

Why won’t my GFCI outlet reset?

If your GFCI outlet won’t reset, it’s likely that there is a ground fault somewhere along the circuit that the outlet is connected to. It’s also possible that the outlet itself isn’t receiving power. In some instances, the GFCI itself can break, but this is pretty rare and is usually the result of another issue anyways.

Why won’t my GFCI outlet reset after it rains?

If your GFCI outlet gets tripped during or after a rainstorm and can’t be reset afterwards, it’s likely that moisture has gotten inside the outlet. This is obviously far more likely to happen with a GFCI outlet that is outside.

The outlet should dry out on its own given enough time, but if you want to speed up the process you can disconnect the outlet from its power supply, open the outlet up, and use a hairdryer to get rid of any water inside. You may also want to seal the outer edges of the outlet with silicone to prevent water from getting inside in the future.

My GFCI outlet won’t reset and the red light is on, what is the problem?

Some GFCI outlets come with status indicator lights to let you know if there’s a problem. A green light means everything is fine, a blank light means the outlet has been tripped and needs to be reset, and a red light means that something serious is up that requires your attention.

If your GFCI outlet can’t be reset and you see either a solid or a blinking red light, it means there’s a most likely unfixable problem with the outlet. A red light generally means that the outlet will have to be replaced.

Why won’t the GFCI outlet on my generator reset?

If the GFCI outlet on your generator won’t reset, it means that there’s probably a ground fault within the generator that will need to be fixed first. These ground faults can be very tricky to track down and might take some patience.