Spent 45 minutes chasing a ground fault that turned out to be a loose neutral in a jbox I swear I checked twice already

The customer's modem kept dropping and I replaced two barrels and recrimped three ends before I finally got out the toner and found that crappy push-in connector on the back of the wall plate, has anyone else had those things fail like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

max_schmidt7717d ago

Yeah, swear I checked twice already" is basically my life motto at this point, I'd be lying if I said I haven't done the exact same thing more times than I can count. Those push-in connectors on wall plates are literally the worst, I had one fail on a phone line and it took me three trips to figure out the little plastic tab was just barely hanging on. Ground faults and loose neutrals are always the ones that make you feel like a total idiot after you finally find them though, classic.

kai_ramirez3816d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, tell me about it! I spent like two hours once chasing a phantom issue on a ceiling fan, finally found a loose neutral wire nut that I could have sworn was tight (you know, the kind you crank down on). Made me want to kick myself, but at least I found it before the drywall went back up.

owens.laura16d ago

Push in connectors are the absolute worst for that exact reason. They seem fine when you first plug them in but a little vibration or a slight tug later and they're barely touching. It's like the universe's way of testing your patience, you check everything obvious first then finally go back to what you thought was good. Kind of reminds me of how my car's check engine light will come on for a loose gas cap and I'll spend an hour checking hoses before I think to just twist the cap again. The little things always bite you when you're sure you already handled them.