Any ideas what is wrong with GFI?

SCVJeff said:

I have never once needed to reset a GFI either in the RV nor the house tripped from a power loss.

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nor have I but neither of mine (I have two) will RESET without power.. Once reset you can turn power off and on no problem..

SCVJeff said:

And he went away and left us hangin?...

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Yeah, but he's got 1200-some posts, so odds are he'll be back sooner or later.  It's the one's with 1 or 2 posts that seem to drop off the edge of the world.

SCVJeff said:

actually it will reset with no power, but certinaly won?t stay that way IF powered and in a fault

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It will not reset without power.

Well folks, this is what I have done and still having problems.  I replaced the GFI with a new one, unplug everything, and spray a CRC lubricant that supposedly helps with moisture.  It worked for a couple days when it was warm, but last night it was cold 38 degrees and this morning was not working.  Someone told me it can be the cold temp as it is connected to an outside outlet. However, the outlet has a cover.  Any ideas what else to try?

I am not nearly as qualified as some of the others here, but I do have a couple thoughts.
-I have heated water buckets for chickens, etc that sit outside all winter that are protected by GFCI?s and cold weather in of itself has no effect on them. Now, condensation due to temperature change could potentially cause one to trip.
-You said nothing else is plugged in to this circuit. Are you positive? The primary GFCI will have two wires coming in, then two wires going out that go to the next receptacle. There will also be a bare copper or green ground wire, but that is irrelevant for this part of the troubleshooting.The GFCI protects all the receptacles downstream from it. The very last receptacle will only have two wires, so you know that is the last one in line. If you take the cover plates off all the receptacles that you believe are on this circuit and all of them have four wires connected, this tells you the circuit is going somewhere else you might not be aware of.
-It?s interesting that it worked and then didn?t when it got cold. Are you sure there isn?t some thermostatically controlled device on this circuit you are aware of? Heat trace, etc.
-I have an older refrigerator in the pole part that trips the GFCI every time, even though my ohm meter shows no problem. I have to run it on a non-GFCI circuit. Some older motors bleed just enough current across the windings to cause a GFCI to trip.
This will be tough to troubleshoot further without isolating the circuit and testing with an volt/ohm meter. Any electrician worth his/her salt can resolve this very quickly and be worth the money. Good luck to you.

RVRAC said:

My unit's two GFI are not working.  The red light is on in the main one.  I try to reset it but it doesn't do it.  Usually it could be done pushing the reset button but does not click and stay in.  Nothing is plugged in.  Any ideas what is wrong?

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There are no lights on GFI devices. What do you mean by "Main one"? There are only two types. A breaker GFI and an outlet GFI. Both are not working? Outlet style will not reset without power. Breaker version must be turned off then back on. Where are you plugged in? If shore power it must not be into a GFI circuit.

cavie said:

There are no lights on GFI devices. What do you mean by "Main one"? There are only two types. A breaker GFI and an outlet GFI. Both are not working? Outlet style will not reset without power. Breaker version must be turned off then back on. Where are you plugged in? If shore power it must not be into a GFI circuit.

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At home, all my GFCI receptacles have lights which tells me which one has tripped.

https://www.amazon.com/ESD-Tech-GFCI-Outlet-Receptacle/dp/B07GZM3D7R/ref=asc_df_B07CNMQFKX/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=242027088707&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13217390434209248987&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012166&hvtargid=pla-446821462006&th=1

THose outside outlets sometimes the seal cracks between the cover and the body. then the thing fills with rain and ... You have done a fair job of describing the result.  The GFCI  CIs. due to the GF. just like it is supposed to. page 2

ALso I heard of an RV with a slide.. Now I have a GFCI protected outlet in my main slide. Under the slide are two junction boxes  Connected by an articulated arm (It folds) the wire between them is stranded. and before the 1st and past the 2nd Solid.. this is so the slide can slide.

Well one RVer one of those boxes was full of water.. Same reslut.


I too wonder at your use of "MAIN" GFCI. Now I have two But I'd not use the word "MAIN" to describe either one

But both of my GFCI's also protect at least ONE other outlet  Is the "other" GFCI one that has no buttons of any kind. JUST a Sticker that says GFCI.. If so then you have only the one GFCI and this is a "Down-line" GFCI Protected outlet  Same as I have on both circuits.

(The 2nd GFCI in my RV was added after market).

RVRAC said:

Well folks, this is what I have done and still having problems.  I replaced the GFI with a new one, unplug everything, and spray a CRC lubricant that supposedly helps with moisture.  It worked for a couple days when it was warm, but last night it was cold 38 degrees and this morning was not working.  Someone told me it can be the cold temp as it is connected to an outside outlet. However, the outlet has a cover.  Any ideas what else to try?

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That's nonsense. You are plugged into a GFI circuit. 2 GFI's in series don't play nice. To test this plug into a non GFI outlet.

Sorry for the confusion. The unit only has one GFI.  I tried to unplug everything and still was tripping.  I blew air inside the outside outlet connected to the GFI using my compressor and still was tripping. I tried to spray a lubricant that helps with moisture and still was tripping.  Then I replace the GFI with a new one.  It worked for a couple days until Monday when we got a lot of rain and the temps went to 38-42, it trip during the night when we were sleeping.  Nothing was plug to the outlets controlled by the GFI. The main breaker in the control panel is on and does not trip. Hopefully, I made myself more clear on the situation.  Any suggestions?

How about removing the outside outlet and just put wire nuts on the end of the hot wire then see if the GFCI still trips. That will tell you if it's moisture in that box as being the culprit.
Or maybe tape a clear piece of plastic over the outlet and seal it real good with good duct tape. 

Thank you Rene for the suggestion. I'll try it on Monday, as I am busy tomorrow.  I'll keep you posted.

This might sound weird.  We had a second day with no rain and temps on the high 60s.  I push the reset button and the GFI began to work again without me doing a thing. ????????????????????????????

I say again it is the patio (Outside) outlet full of rain. .Open it, Dry it out (Hair dryer) and re-seal it.