Why did GFCI receptacle fail after one day?

[alekdavis]

A 13-year-old GFCI kitchen receptacle went bad, so I replaced it with a new one I bought from Lowe's (Eaton model TWRSGF20). After one day, this one failed as well (the red dot is flashing with the yellow dot solid which, according to the manual, means it needs to be replaced). I cannot reset the receptacle. I also tried resetting the breaker, but it did not make a difference. Could it be just a defective receptacle or is there something going on in my electrical circuit? A while back I had to replace a breaker that was constantly tripping (on a different line), but in this case, the breaker did not even trip. If it's important, the circuit controlled by the GFCI receptacle is not loaded. I have a bunch of small appliances connected to it but I did not use any of them after I replaced the unit. Any ideas what could be going on here?

 

[pc1966]

Most likely it is a bad unit as often parts with manufacturing faults fail shortly after being put in to use. See:

Bathtub curve - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I have not checked the LED fault info so if it really is saying faulty then faulty it is. However, you can get RCD (GFCI) tripping if there are faults in the supplying wiring, but that would hopefully cause a different diagnostic LED pattern.

Also have you had thunderstorms recently? Sometimes lightning surges can take out electronics stuff, even though they ought to be hardened to some degree. That is why new installs are normally fitted with a SPD (Surge Protection Device).

 

[Megawatt]

A 13-year-old GFCI kitchen receptacle went bad, so I replaced it with a new one I bought from Lowe's (Eaton model TWRSGF20). After one day, this one failed as well (the red dot is flashing with the yellow dot solid which, according to the manual, means it needs to be replaced). I cannot reset the receptacle. I also tried resetting the breaker, but it did not make a difference. Could it be just a defective receptacle or is there something going on in my electrical circuit? A while back I had to replace a breaker that was constantly tripping (on a different line), but in this case, the breaker did not even trip. If it's important, the circuit controlled by the GFCI receptacle is not loaded. I have a bunch of small appliances connected to it but I did not use any of them after I replaced the unit. Any ideas what could be going on here?

My friend it could be a defective GFCI receptacle, I’ve installed many that was bad straight out of the box. Replace it with a new one and see how it works out for you.

 

[alekdavis]

Most likely it is a bad unit as often parts with manufacturing faults fail shortly after being put in to use. See:

Bathtub curve - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I have not checked the LED fault info so if it really is saying faulty then faulty it is. However, you can get RCD (GFCI) tripping if there are faults in the supplying wiring, but that would hopefully cause a different diagnostic LED pattern.

Also have you had thunderstorms recently? Sometimes lightning surges can take out electronics stuff, even though they ought to be hardened to some degree. That is why new installs are normally fitted with a SPD (Surge Protection Device).

Thank you. There were no thunderstorms, so it shouldn't be the reason. I'll try replacing it with another unit.

 

[alekdavis]

My friend it could be a defective GFCI receptacle, I’ve installed many that was bad straight out of the box. Replace it with a new one and see how it works out for you.

Thank you. I will try another one and post if it continues to be a problem. Hope you're right and it's a defective device.