Excellent video sir. My problem was created by me. I had tried to test my new GFCI tester in my bathroom. I knocked down 4 circuits between 2 of my bathrooms by accident when I pushed the black button on top of the tester. My house is 20 years old and the GFCI that I tripped had a hard button to push. I thought something was wrong with my GFCI in the bathroom. I learned that I was the problem. Sometimes I like doing things the hard way. At least that is what my wife keeps telling me. Good video bro. I am putting my new tester in my tool box now. With it, Ican become a dangerous trouble shooting guy.
Hello Dax, I'm proud of you! We all learn things the hard way sometimes. In my case, it is when I learn the most and remember the lesson long term. I think it's GREAT that you have become a dangerous trouble shooing guy! Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Thank you for the very helpful explanation. The folks over at Gardner Bender might want to enlist you to help them produce a clear and understandable video on how to use their circuit testers.
Looking at the first two outlets shown in this video. I really hope nobody has any outlets that big in their homes. Otherwize great informational video thanks Wayne.
Thank you very much. God bless. It was a bad GFCI in the Master Bedroom. We have a mobil home, and the Master Bedroom is just off of the kitchen. I had no power to any outlet on only one side of the kitchen. After watching you video, I remembered that I had purchased a tester a while back. Got out my tester and was able to find the bad GFCI. Thank you. Problem solved. 😎👍🙏❤️
You're welcome! Glad it was helpful! I enjoy knowing my video helped someone. Thank you for letting me know. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Thanks for your video and Funny....I have exact same yellow older outlet tester. 🤠 I have replaced 120V receptacles off and on for last 40 years...before non contact voltage tester OR outlet testers existed! I have also installed many 2-way, 3way or 4-way wall switches or 120V GFCI. Also when I was 16-18 I was shocked around 5x by 120V in OLD house that had various outlet or electrical baseboard heaters misfires or ungrounded as house was 1905 and believe last owner NOT electrician did most of the wiring! Not correctly, out of code
Found your video to check out that Ames tester. I found your video really useful sir. I appreciate your style and your expertise. I just subscribed to your channel, look forward to watching more of your videos.
Hello Claus, That's a good question. I guess you would need to trust the manufacturer that it does the job. I have never tried to test it. Thank you for the interesting comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thanks thanks Wayne to answer my question I wasn't sure if you had a special GFI tester to plug in to the receptacle or not. I can clearly see you do not . Thanks for explaining I'm more than one receptacle can be tied into the GFI circuit without that receptacle actually having a GFI on it.
When I pressed the GFCI button on my outlet tester to test a non-test-button outlet, the red light came on & stayed on, it did not shut off the green lights. I guess that means there is no GFCI breaker to that outlet? Great video BTW.
The yellow one is the older one and it is made by GB Electrical and is about 30 years old. The orange one is fairly new and made by Ames, It's model is GST-125. The newer one is the one with the test button for the GFCI outlets. I hope this helps.
Use this link amzn.to/3EHKsvd and I would go with Klein. Depending on how much you may use it, think about the one with the breaker finder included. It's not required but is useful if you need to identify the breaker that feeds a specific outlet. Good luck with your project and have a great day.
Hi there can you please explain why as soon as I plug the HarborFrieght tester in, the circuit breaker automatically resets? If I push the reset button, my tester is working and it shows correct lights
It's hard to tell just what is going on . Some of the diagrams show the left light as yellow , like correct wiring has only the left light on but it isn't shown as red. ? ?
If yours is like the one I have, the white spots on the diagram indicates the light is not on. If the spot on the diagram is yellow or red it indicates the LED is on. I hopes this helps. Good luck with your project and have a great day.
What does it mean if both lights are on in the correct mode "two lights", not the GFI socket, but the middle light is very dim, on the regular socket, and it's not working? GFI tests out fine where it's hooked up too. Replaced the regular socket, with the same results. Maybe replace the GFI now?
It's hard to say but it could be a loose or bad connection or a bad GFCI socket. Also: if your outlets have the holes that you can just push the wire into, I would suggest not using them and install the wire under the screws. It makes a better connection. Good luck with your project and have a great day.
Sounds like an open neutral. There may be a wiring problem upstream. The middle light is hot-neutral. The right is hot-ground. These should lit on properly working socket. The red light is neutral-ground. It should not lit.
So I have a gfci tester plugged in a normal 120v receptacle. If I press the test option, my two yellows go from on to my third yellow light being brighter. Is this normal?
No, If the outlet is GFCI protected correctly, when it trips all power is off and there should not be any LED on. You may have a tester I have not seen before but it sounds like you have a GFCI outlet that is not working correctly. Good luck and thank you for visiting.
If there is no GFCI protection then why did you push? Where did you get the idea that you should read the lights while you press the button? Did the manual of the tester tell you do do so? The lights and the test button are not related.
I had a faulty outlet that was next to a GFI outlet that would not work everytime I would plug something in even after I messed with the GFI outlet. Went to harbor freight and bought that ames outlet tester and for some reason when I used the GFI tester on it, it started working again. Do you know why that is?
I would try the tester in an outlet that I know is working. If it lights up, you know it's not the tester. I would then try it again on the combo outlet. If the tester doesn't light you know the outlet is not working.
I have an "electrician" who has been working on a GFCI for months and can't get it working. Their is a leftover white wire. Could that be a source of the problem?
I am not an electrician, so I don't want to tell him what to do but when I have installed a GFCI outlet, there has never been a leftover wire. Good luck and thank you for visiting.
I have that orange one from Harbor Freight ( Ames GST-125 ) Plugged in to a working nonGFI outlet it only show the center light lit, which is undefined on the chart. All other outlet test good / normal = two yellow lights on light are lit. Anyone know what that means ?
If yours is like mine, the first line on the chart shows just the center light on and that indicated a open ground. I hope this helps. Good luck with your project and have a great day.
When I push the test button on the gfci outlet. It trips, it works correctly. When I plug in my outlet tester, I get two yellow light, wired correctly. However, when I push the gfci button on the tester, the outlet doesn’t trip and I get hot/neu reverse. Gfci outlet is brand new. Any ideas?
@@DIYwithWayne thank you for your response. All other gfci outlets in my house trip when I push the button on tester. I will borrow a friend’s tester and see what happens. In the meantime, I videoed my problem. ua-cam.com/users/shortsMmtJnvPN3W0?feature=share
There should be a guide on the tester that will tell you. Mine does not show all 3 being on at the same time. Are you sure the red light is on? On mine sometimes it just looks like it is on because of glair from some other light. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Different testers could have different indicators. The tester should have information to tell you what the different combinations mean. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Because the GFCI Outlet was very tight. It is a new outlet and had a tight grip on the tester. We hope you will continue to visit our channel. Have a great day.
I just bought the Ames electric tester and the only light that turns on is the middle orange one. I don’t know if it’s just my tester that I got a bad one or what. I’ve put it on multiple ones and I’m only getting the middle one on.
he is clear and straightforward…liked and subscribed
Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
He explains better than the company who made it.
Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
He explains it nice and simple. The southern accent is great. Thank you sir. Ya'll good people.
great video, thank you
Great video. Explained in simple terms. Thanks
Thank you for the kind words and for subscribing to my channel. Wayne
Using a tester to check all the outlets when I pick up my new camper today. This video was concise and very helpful. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Excellent video sir. My problem was created by me. I had tried to test my new GFCI tester in my bathroom. I knocked down 4 circuits between 2 of my bathrooms by accident when I pushed the black button on top of the tester. My house is 20 years old and the GFCI that I tripped had a hard button to push. I thought something was wrong with my GFCI in the bathroom. I learned that I was the problem. Sometimes I like doing things the hard way. At least that is what my wife keeps telling me.
Good video bro. I am putting my new tester in my tool box now. With it, Ican become a dangerous trouble shooting guy.
Hello Dax, I'm proud of you! We all learn things the hard way sometimes. In my case, it is when I learn the most and remember the lesson long term. I think it's GREAT that you have become a dangerous trouble shooing guy! Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Easy peazy, Wayne. I didn't need a long drawn out tutorial, just a quick explanation to get me on with the program. Thanks
Glad it helped Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Excellent video, sir. My questions were answered in the most simple manner and straightforward. 👍🏼⚡️🔋🔌💡
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thank you Wayne. Very straightforward and helpful information. Take care buddy.
Hello Dave, You are so very welcome. Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
This guy was right to the point answer my question no BS what I like thank you very much!!👍
Glad to help! Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Great job educating the people on UA-cam University 🎓
Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thank you for making this simple and easy to understand.
You are very welcome. Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Brilliant, simple and clear as crystal, thank you sir
You are very welcome. Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thank you for the very helpful explanation. The folks over at Gardner Bender might want to enlist you to help them produce a clear and understandable video on how to use their circuit testers.
Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Looking at the first two outlets shown in this video. I really hope nobody has any outlets that big in their homes. Otherwize great informational video thanks Wayne.
Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Thank you. Bought an AMES today and didn't really understand everything on the packet. Now I do. :-)
Glad I could help. Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Great video answered questions concerning electrical tester🥁🇺🇸🦅
Thanks for this! I am looking to get a new place soon and needed a quick explanation of this new tool to go test the outlets before moving in.
You're welcome! Good luck with your new home. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Thank you very much. God bless. It was a bad GFCI in the Master Bedroom. We have a mobil home, and the Master Bedroom is just off of the kitchen. I had no power to any outlet on only one side of the kitchen. After watching you video, I remembered that I had purchased a tester a while back. Got out my tester and was able to find the bad GFCI. Thank you. Problem solved. 😎👍🙏❤️
You're welcome! Glad it was helpful! I enjoy knowing my video helped someone. Thank you for letting me know. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Thank you sir. Simple and concise.
Glad I could help. Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Really good video. Explained perfectly!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thanks for the simple & easy explanation.
You are welcome! Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Excelente video sir, precise and simple.
Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thanks for your video and Funny....I have exact same yellow older outlet tester. 🤠 I have replaced 120V receptacles off and on for last 40 years...before non contact voltage tester OR outlet testers existed! I have also installed many 2-way, 3way or 4-way wall switches or 120V GFCI. Also when I was 16-18 I was shocked around 5x by 120V in OLD house that had various outlet or electrical baseboard heaters misfires or ungrounded as house was 1905 and believe last owner NOT electrician did most of the wiring! Not correctly, out of code
Thank you for visiting and I'm glad you survived the old wiring. Have a great day.
Most excellent video Sir! I'm curious what part of country your in only because the face plate screws are in a different location for mine.
We're in North Carolina. Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thanks for the video! I was wondering how to tell if a receptacle was indeed downstream of a GFCI unit.
Glad I could help. Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Great and quick info, thank you!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thanks
Could you do a video showing the other light indicators for when things are MOT right -- the different situations indicated on the indicator
I will add that to my list of videos I want to do, but it is already a long list. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Found your video to check out that Ames tester. I found your video really useful sir. I appreciate your style and your expertise. I just subscribed to your channel, look forward to watching more of your videos.
Thanks for subscribing to our channel and the nice comment. We hope you enjoy our other videos. Have a great day.
Great video, thank you!!
You are very welcome and thank you for visiting, have a great day.
Thanks for this video. But how do you know that the outlet cuts off at the right mA? :)
Hello Claus, That's a good question. I guess you would need to trust the manufacturer that it does the job. I have never tried to test it. Thank you for the interesting comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thanks thanks Wayne to answer my question I wasn't sure if you had a special GFI tester to plug in to the receptacle or not. I can clearly see you do not . Thanks for explaining I'm more than one receptacle can be tied into the GFI circuit without that receptacle actually having a GFI on it.
Glad I could help! Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
When I pressed the GFCI button on my outlet tester to test a non-test-button outlet, the red light came on & stayed on, it did not shut off the green lights. I guess that means there is no GFCI breaker to that outlet? Great video BTW.
I thin you are correct. Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Great video, thanks so much! What was the brand of the outlet tester you were using?
The yellow one is the older one and it is made by GB Electrical and is about 30 years old. The orange one is fairly new and made by Ames, It's model is GST-125. The newer one is the one with the test button for the GFCI outlets. I hope this helps.
Have older home. 2 wire no ground. Can I use install a gfi outlet without a ground wire?
No, the third wire is required. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Thank you more videos please
You are very welcome. We have over 200 videos on our UA-cam Channel youtube.com/@DIYwithWayne
Thanks Wayne!
Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
ty sir needed to learn that love your video perfect.
Glad it helped! Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Very helpful. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Thanks master!!!!
You're welcome! Thank you for the kind comment and for visiting, have a great day.
Which outlet tester do you recommend?
Use this link amzn.to/3EHKsvd and I would go with Klein. Depending on how much you may use it, think about the one with the breaker finder included. It's not required but is useful if you need to identify the breaker that feeds a specific outlet. Good luck with your project and have a great day.
I have the same AMES tester, but only the middle light comes on. What does that mean?
Open ground. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Hi there can you please explain why as soon as I plug the HarborFrieght tester in, the circuit breaker automatically resets? If I push the reset button, my tester is working and it shows correct lights
I can't say for sure but my guess it that your GFCI is very sensitive. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
@@DIYwithWayneThanks. I was inadvertently pressing on the button while trying to plug the tester in 😂😂😂
LOL, I have done things like that before. Thanks for the reply.
So for outdoors, why do they make weather proof equipment for receptacles if you need GFCI outdoors?
The GFCI protects you. The weather proof housing protects the GFCI. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Thanks
Welcome! Good luck with your project and have a great day.
I have that Ames tester. You said with 2 yellow lights on it's wired correctly, but on the tester it shows that means Open Neutral . I'm confused.
It's hard to tell just what is going on . Some of the diagrams show the left light as yellow , like correct wiring has only the left light on but it isn't shown as red. ? ?
If yours is like the one I have, the white spots on the diagram indicates the light is not on. If the spot on the diagram is yellow or red it indicates the LED is on. I hopes this helps. Good luck with your project and have a great day.
What does it mean if both lights are on in the correct mode "two lights", not the GFI socket, but the middle light is very dim, on the regular socket, and it's not working? GFI tests out fine where it's hooked up too. Replaced the regular socket, with the same results. Maybe replace the GFI now?
It's hard to say but it could be a loose or bad connection or a bad GFCI socket. Also: if your outlets have the holes that you can just push the wire into, I would suggest not using them and install the wire under the screws. It makes a better connection. Good luck with your project and have a great day.
Sounds like an open neutral. There may be a wiring problem upstream. The middle light is hot-neutral. The right is hot-ground. These should lit on properly working socket. The red light is neutral-ground. It should not lit.
Thank you
You're welcome Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
So I have a gfci tester plugged in a normal 120v receptacle. If I press the test option, my two yellows go from on to my third yellow light being brighter. Is this normal?
No, If the outlet is GFCI protected correctly, when it trips all power is off and there should not be any LED on. You may have a tester I have not seen before but it sounds like you have a GFCI outlet that is not working correctly. Good luck and thank you for visiting.
If there is no GFCI protection then why did you push? Where did you get the idea that you should read the lights while you press the button? Did the manual of the tester tell you do do so? The lights and the test button are not related.
I had a faulty outlet that was next to a GFI outlet that would not work everytime I would plug something in even after I messed with the GFI outlet. Went to harbor freight and bought that ames outlet tester and for some reason when I used the GFI tester on it, it started working again. Do you know why that is?
I don't know why but I expect you have a loose wire somewhere or a bad outlet. Good luck with your project and have a great day.
Can I leave them plugged in?
Yes. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
I am on a combo light switch and outlet! Switch still works but the new outlet shows no lights at all. As if the tester doesn’t work!
I would try the tester in an outlet that I know is working. If it lights up, you know it's not the tester.
I would then try it again on the combo outlet. If the tester doesn't light you know the outlet is not working.
thank you sir
You’re very welcome! Thanks for visiting and have a great day.
I have an "electrician" who has been working on a GFCI for months and can't get it working. Their is a leftover white wire. Could that be a source of the problem?
I am not an electrician, so I don't want to tell him what to do but when I have installed a GFCI outlet, there has never been a leftover wire. Good luck and thank you for visiting.
I have that orange one from Harbor Freight ( Ames GST-125 )
Plugged in to a working nonGFI outlet it only show the center light lit, which is undefined on the chart.
All other outlet test good / normal = two yellow lights on light are lit.
Anyone know what that means ?
If yours is like mine, the first line on the chart shows just the center light on and that indicated a open ground. I hope this helps. Good luck with your project and have a great day.
When I push the test button on the gfci outlet. It trips, it works correctly. When I plug in my outlet tester, I get two yellow light, wired correctly. However, when I push the gfci button on the tester, the outlet doesn’t trip and I get hot/neu reverse. Gfci outlet is brand new. Any ideas?
That does sound odd. I would try another testes if you can. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
@@DIYwithWayne thank you for your response. All other gfci outlets in my house trip when I push the button on tester. I will borrow a friend’s tester and see what happens. In the meantime, I videoed my problem. ua-cam.com/users/shortsMmtJnvPN3W0?feature=share
I watched your video and you also said the other outlets work as expected. In this case, I would replace the outlet.
@@DIYwithWayne I did that already. It is a brand new gfci outlet.
why does that mean if my red light and both yellow turn on at the same time
There should be a guide on the tester that will tell you. Mine does not show all 3 being on at the same time. Are you sure the red light is on? On mine sometimes it just looks like it is on because of glair from some other light. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
How about for 220V?
Sorry but I don't know of a 220 GFCI Tester. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Happy Resurrection Day.
Same to you! Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
All 3 lights turn on what does this mean ?
Different testers could have different indicators. The tester should have information to tell you what the different combinations mean. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
Has anyone had a problem with it being hard to plug in and remove the unit?
Some can be vert stiff but it could be a combination of the tool and the outlet. Thank you for visiting and have a great day.
he should be a teacher
Thank you again. Comments like this make it easier to keep making DIY videos.
Why are you rocking the tester with so much force to take it out?
Because the GFCI Outlet was very tight. It is a new outlet and had a tight grip on the tester. We hope you will continue to visit our channel. Have a great day.
I just bought the Ames electric tester and the only light that turns on is the middle orange one. I don’t know if it’s just my tester that I got a bad one or what. I’ve put it on multiple ones and I’m only getting the middle one on.
@@hyster2568 That means you have no ground wire connected to that outlet which is no good..
Great video thank you
You are very welcome and thank you for visiting, have a great day.
Thank you
You're welcome Thank you for visiting and have a great day.