The reason why many homeowners opt for the GFCI outlet is to avoid any leakage current. The halting of leakage current through tripping can prevent any electrical accidents. It makes your home much safer.
Whenever there is leakage current, it will trip the GFCI outlet. However, to operate it again, you have to reset the GFCI outlet.
What if you don’t have a button on your GFCI outlet? If so, how can you reset it?
I will highlight the same below. I will share with you 3 methods that you can opt for in that case.
How to reset gfci outlet no buttons?
If you do not find any buttons on the GFCI outlet, you have to first and foremost search for the switch. In case you aren’t able to locate it, call an electrician to fix the problem. As a last solution, you can replace the gfci outlet yourself.
I will go into the details of all these 3 methods below.
1. Search for the switch:
If you have installed the GFCI switches a few years back, chances are you might have installed multiple of them. You might have daisy-chained them together. Even electricians opt for this technique.
In that case, it is a common practice to have a single reset switch. Not every GFCI outlet, in that case, will have a reset switch.
Therefore, the 1st thing you need to do in that case is to search for the reset switch. At least a single outlet will have a reset switch. The reset switch is common for all outlets in that case.
For example, even if your kitchen outlet is facing a problem, you can reset it by the reset switch in the bathroom. That is because all the GFCI outlets are daisy-chained together.
Due to this very reason, you have to search for the switch. Searching for the switch will not take a lot of time. Similarly, once you find at least a single button with the GFCI outlet, resetting it will reset all the GFCI outlets in the daisy-chain.
It will ensure that you will not have to worry about resetting the GFCI outlet with no button.
2. Call an electrician:
If you cannot find the switch for the GFCI outlets in the daisy-chain, you will have to call an electrician.
The electrician will search for the wires which are shorting together. The electrician will also check for the source of the leakage current.
Not only that, the electrician will check all the loads. There might be a fault with the load as well, due to which there might be leakage current.
In a nutshell, the electrician will try to find the fault. Once the electrician rectifies the fault, it will become easier for you to use the GFCI outlets once again.
With the help of hard wiring, GFCI outlets can be reset even without the button. Only an electrician can help you with that. You shouldn’t try doing this on your own.
If both these methods do not work, there is another alternative.
3. Replace the GFCI outlet:
In case both these methods do not work or are not feasible, there is another alternative.
You can replace the older GFCI outlet with the newer one. All new GFCI outlets come with the reset button.
Once you install the new outlet, it will become easier for you to detect the fault. You can detect the source of the leakage current in that case. After fixing the fault, resetting becomes easy.
In many cases, buying a new GFCI outlet is affordable than calling an electrician. The electrician might bill you for a couple of hours. It will surely be more expensive than buying a new GFCI outlet.
If you face this problem in a single outlet, it is a good idea to replace the GFCI outlet altogether.
Using these 3 methods, it will become easier for you to reset the GFCI outlet even if it does not have a button.
In many situations, individuals ignore the tripping of the GFCI outlet. The gadget which might be connected to it might not be in constant use. In that case, homeowners think that they can ignore the tripped GFCI outlet.
However, it is not right to do so. I will highlight why below.
Why shouldn’t you ignore a tripped GFCI outlet?
There are numerous reasons why you shouldn’t make this mistake. I will highlight these reasons below.
1. High probability of electrical fire:
In many cases, the leakage current is due to a fault in the load. If there is a fault in the load, it can lead to shorting. Shorting can result in a short-circuit, which can cause an accidental fire.
The risk of fire is pretty high if you ignore the tripped GFCI outlet. Instead of ignoring the tripped GFCI outlet, it is a good idea to fix it using one of the 3 methods above.
2. Nonavailability of daisy-chained outlets:
When you’re ignoring the tripped GFCI outlet, you might be forgetting that the other GFCI outlets which are daisy-chained will also be tripped. It means that numerous gadgets will not be available for you.
These days, you might use GFCI outlets for something as simple as outdoor lights. I have covered such lights with fixtures in my post here.
It means that advanced gadgets might not be available and also you might not even be able to illuminate your premises since the daisy-chained outlets are not available.
You can ignore the single tripped GFCI outlet, but you cannot ignore multiple of them. If you ignore multiple such outlets, it will become tough for you to illuminate the premises, uses appliances, and use various other sockets.
It is another reason why you shouldn’t ignore tripped GFCI outlets.
3. Damage to the associated circuits:
When the GFCI outlet is tripped, the circuit is broken. However, if there is excessive moisture in the surrounding, it might short the wires. When the shorting of the wires happens, all the outlets and the appliances connected to them will get short. It means that there will be extensive damage to the gadgets as well as the circuitry associated. That is a costly proposition as compared to replacing the GFCI outlet with no buttons.
As you can see, ignoring the GFCI outlet with no buttons is not a solution.
Using these 3 methods above, you have to tackle this problem, and only then can you use the electric fixtures.