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GFCI randomly trips (very infrequently)- can I replace it with a regular outlet?

Home Improvement Asked on July 7, 2021

I have a GFCI outlet in a bedroom that I use as an office that randomly trips. This is very infrequent, maybe once a month and doesn’t seem to be connected to electricity usage on the circuit (computer off, lights off, only the internet box running is the most often situation). It’s behind a bookcase and it’s a pain when it shuts off and we are trying to use the internet elsewhere in the house.

I’m assuming that the current GFCI is faulty due to the infrequent random nature of the issue, and I feel comfortable replacing the outlet, but I don’t see a reason that it should be a GFCI. As stated, it’s in a bedroom with no running water or water of any kind. There are a couple of floor mounted outlets in the room so I wondered if that was the reason for the GFCI but that’s the only thing I could think of. There is a bathroom on the other side of the wall which I believe may be on the same circuit, but the only outlet in that room is a GFCI, and it never has issues.

One Answer

Are you sure it is a GFCI or could it be an AFCI (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter) outlet? They look the same on the outside, although some responsible mfrs do put the letters "AFCI" or "AFCI/GFCI" on the face so that you know. GFCIs have no place in a bedroom, but starting with the 1999 code (2002 in Canada), AFCIs are now required in all bedroom outlets. Most of the time this is being done with AFCI breakers, but if your house was older and someone had to bring it up to code because of a renovation, it may have been simpler and cheaper to use AFCI outlets, especially if it's just the first outlet in a string.

One of the potential drawbacks of early AFCIs has been a tendency for them to falsely trip when electronic devices are plugged into them (which is now virtually everything). More recent releases have addressed these issues and are a lot more reliable, so replacing it with a newer AFCI receptacle may be something to consider.

Answered by JRaef on July 7, 2021

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