OP
LD1
Epic Contributor
Some pretty smart fellas on here.
Here is what it turned out to be:
Yes, the neutral connection at the switched recp. is strange. It is like it was wired so it could either be a direct outlet like the rest, OR switched. Thats the only reason I can think that they wired it like that. Yes, circuit 26 wires pass through that box. Maybe it was meant to be ran like that, but supposed to have separate neutrals and when the time came, they just tied the whites together cause they forgot.
But that in itself wasnt the only problem. CobyRupert hit it spot on. A neutral connection in the spare bedroom outlet came loose. Thus when the closet light was turned on, forced the current to seek the neutral path back through circuit 27 thus the 240v potential in that workbox.
MY guess, with the neutrals tied together in the switched recep, the GFI never worked from day one. Thus the amatuer that wired the house back in 1995-1996 never had anything on the load side of the GFI otherwise it would pop.
So my fix was to separate the neutral circuits in the switched box, and fix the loose neutral in the spare bedroom box. Pretty simple fix. Just took some time to figure out what is going on. I basically pulled the covers off and outlets/switches out of every box and started tracing the circuit.
Cause imagine this: If I didnt include the diagram, and all I told you was this:
when turning on the closet light on circuit 26, the GFI trips on circuit 27 taking out both circuits and allowing potential for 240v @ the GFI box, how confusing is that. And to top it off, the main cause was a loose wire in the spare beroom:confused2: Cause that is all I had to go on this morning until I started unwiring things and tracing it out.
Here is what it turned out to be:
Yes, the neutral connection at the switched recp. is strange. It is like it was wired so it could either be a direct outlet like the rest, OR switched. Thats the only reason I can think that they wired it like that. Yes, circuit 26 wires pass through that box. Maybe it was meant to be ran like that, but supposed to have separate neutrals and when the time came, they just tied the whites together cause they forgot.
But that in itself wasnt the only problem. CobyRupert hit it spot on. A neutral connection in the spare bedroom outlet came loose. Thus when the closet light was turned on, forced the current to seek the neutral path back through circuit 27 thus the 240v potential in that workbox.
MY guess, with the neutrals tied together in the switched recep, the GFI never worked from day one. Thus the amatuer that wired the house back in 1995-1996 never had anything on the load side of the GFI otherwise it would pop.
So my fix was to separate the neutral circuits in the switched box, and fix the loose neutral in the spare bedroom box. Pretty simple fix. Just took some time to figure out what is going on. I basically pulled the covers off and outlets/switches out of every box and started tracing the circuit.
Cause imagine this: If I didnt include the diagram, and all I told you was this:
when turning on the closet light on circuit 26, the GFI trips on circuit 27 taking out both circuits and allowing potential for 240v @ the GFI box, how confusing is that. And to top it off, the main cause was a loose wire in the spare beroom:confused2: Cause that is all I had to go on this morning until I started unwiring things and tracing it out.
