Fix it
Why does my GFCI outlet keep tripping?
A GFCI trips when even five thousandths of an amp go missing from the circuit — current leaking somewhere it should not. Repeat trips mean it keeps finding that leak: in an appliance, in moisture, downstream, or in its own worn sensor.
What it usually is
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A leaking appliance on the circuit
Heating elements and old motors leak current as insulation ages — kettles, fridges in garages, pumps. The one-device-at-a-time test finds these reliably.
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Moisture in an outdoor or damp-location box
Rain-day and morning-dew trips point at water in a downstream box or cover. The in-use cover ("bubble cover") exists precisely for this.
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It protects more than you think — downstream faults
One GFCI often protects a chain of ordinary outlets downstream. The fault can be anything plugged in along that chain, rooms away from the resetting button.
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A worn GFCI tripping spuriously
The electronics age, especially outdoors. If it trips with nothing connected anywhere on its chain, the device itself has earned retirement.
What you can check yourself
Unplug everything on the outlet AND its downstream chain (dead outlets when it trips reveal the chain), reset, and reintroduce one device at a time. For weather-correlated trips, open outdoor covers and look for moisture; upgrade to in-use covers. Nothing connected and still tripping: the device or its wiring.
When it’s a job for a pro
A GFCI that trips bare, or a fault you cannot isolate to one device, needs a meter on the circuit — insulation faults in buried or in-wall runs are findable, just not by unplugging things. Swap-and-see on the device itself is fair game for an electrician visit.
GFCI replacement typically runs $120 to $250; in-use outdoor covers are $15 to $30 DIY; tracing a circuit-level leak is hourly diagnostic work, commonly $150 to $400.
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