I was oncethis closeto buying an entirely new refrigerator when ours stopped working.
We couldnt find anything obviously wrong with the fridge or with the electrical panel in the basement.
The thing just didnt workdamaged by a surge in the storm, perhaps.
What is a GFCI?
The GFCI, or ground fault circuit interrupter, is a clever little machine.
GFCIs mainly exist to keep you from getting shocked to death.
Think about those two flat prongs on a plug, say the plug of your hair dryer.
But if something happensyoudrop that hairdryer into the bathtubnow current is flowing intoyou.
The GFCI detects an imbalance between the two sides of the circuit, and shuts off the power.
A GFCI outlet will have two buttons.
The other is the reset button, which gets everything humming back to life again.
GFCIs are so sensitive they can sometimes trip for other reasons.
That test button, by the way?
Its there because youre supposed to test the GFCI on a regular basis to ensure its still working.
Therecommendationis to test after installation, monthly, and after any power outages.
A single GFCI can be wired to protect the whole circuit.
GFCIs arent always in outlets.
you’re able to also buystandalone GFCI devicesto plug into an extension cord.
If you suddenly lose power to part of your home, youll be checking the circuit breaker anyway.
Some of the outlets that have test and reset buttons are actuallyAFCIs, or arc fault circuit interrupters.
So whats the button on my garbage disposal?
Its typically a round red button attached to whats called an overload protector.
The overload protector is basically a circuit breaker.
So that little red button isone of the first things to checkwhen youre troubleshooting a garbage disposal problem.
