I am switching my kitchen receptacle to a GFI; it has 3 wires. I'm pretty sure I have to break the bar between the two hot screws, thus making the top and bottom on a separate circuit. What is the reason for this way of wiring? The outlet is not feeding anything else, it's on its own circuit with a double pole 15amp breaker. Seems a little useless to me. The house was built in 1978.
Asked
Active
Viewed 2,438 times
2
-
3It sounds like you're describing a multi wire branch circuit. You cannot connect a normal GFCI receptacle as you're describing because you'll effectively have a shared neutral with one of the hots on the gfci. See How do I install a GFCI receptacle with two hot wires and common neutral? and Is this a “shared neutral” situation? – BMitch Sep 15 '13 at 00:23
-
1What are the colors of the three wires? Do you know if the same circuit breaker currently controls both the upper and lower outlets? – bib Sep 15 '13 at 00:29
-
2This almost sounds like the outlet under a kitchen sink, where there is a single duplex receptacle with one circuit for a dishwasher and a second circuit for a garbage disposal. – Stefan Lasiewski Sep 15 '13 at 00:55