Spent 4 hours hunting a ground fault that was right in front of my face

Last week I was finishing up a panel swap in a basement in Lincoln and the system kept showing a ground fault on zone 2. I checked every single device on that loop, re-terminated everything, swapped the panel, even ran a new home run. After like 4 hours of chasing my tail I finally looked at the actual wire in the wall where a staple had nicked the jacket just enough to touch a metal stud. It was the very first device after the panel too. Has anyone else wasted a whole afternoon on something that dumb and simple?

2 comments

2 Comments

kaib1820d ago

Ground faults are usually the first device or the last device" - yeah and I'm usually the idiot who forgets that rule until hour three. Did the same thing on a rough-in once, staple right through the jacket on the first box. Could have saved myself a whole afternoon if I just looked at the obvious spot first.

alicecooper20d ago

Ground faults are usually the first device or the last device, never the ones in the middle.