electrical advice needed-- gfci outlet amber light, wont reset

[ch035]

i have 3 outlets in plastic boxes outside. 2/3 are showing an amber light and will not reset. no circuits breakers tripped in the box. is there is a special sequence to press the test/reset buttons? why would the lights glow amber not red?

what gives? is this something that i can just replace with a replacement from home depot or is this a sign of something more wrong in the wiring?

 

[Joker82]

GFCI's go bad eventually. If its getting power to it and nof resetting that's your problem. Just replace it.

 

[ch035]

less than 2 years old... that sucks

 

[Joker82]

less than 2 years old... that sucks

It's pretty common. My dad had his freezer plugged into a gfi in his garage that went bad, and well the freezer was full of deer meat. No good!

 

[Wheeler]

Joker82 is correct. You can get a three pack at Home Depot fairly cheap or you can spend up to $30/each on uber high quality devices.
Be sure you have some reliable method of verifying the power is off, before removing the wires from the outlets. A lot of times the outlets have wires feeding through, there is a line (incoming power) and load (outgoing, GFCI protected power) labeled on the back of the outlet. Be sure to remove them one at a time and put them on the new outlet in the same order, after you make sure the power is off. :-)

Another thing to be aware of is most residential electricians use non-metallic (plastic or fiberglass) boxes. A lot of times the unused terminal screws are not screwed in. You can't verify the power is off without pulling the outlet out of the box first. I prefer to remove the screws and grab the ears at the top and bottom of the outlet and pulling it straight out. This keeps my hands and fingers away from the screws.

I hope this helps.

 

[ch035]

i figure i will just flip all my breakers and i should be ok. it looks fairly simple

 

[8675309]

arent they supposed to glow red when they trip?
are these in series?

 

[ch035]

doubt they are in sequence. on is by the front door, other by the back door. i would imagine they would glow red not amber... but i just sell software, i dont do electricty

 

[ch035]

i also have one in my kitchen that is supposed to have a green light, it works and there is no green light. go figure

 

[napp]

I know nothing of electricity; but count me in before the Amberlamps jokes start.