Why does my GFCI keep tripping, and when should I call a handyman?

A GFCI that will not stay reset is doing its job or telling you the device is tired. In Lafayette kitchens, baths, garages, and outdoor outlets, moisture and a worn receptacle are the usual story. Unplug everything on that circuit — including the downstream outlets a GFCI often protects — then reset once. If it holds with nothing plugged in and trips when a specific appliance goes back, that appliance is leaking current. If it trips with nothing connected, the receptacle, the box, or the cable in the wall is the suspect.

Older Greater Lafayette houses daisy-chain several outlets off one GFCI. A damp basement fridge, a garage freezer, or a cracked outdoor cover can trip the bath outlet you never connected to that story. We trace which devices are on the device, replace a failed GFCI, and tell you if the wiring behind it is the real problem. That is ordinary handyman electrical — a new device, a clean box, a label so the next person is not guessing.

Call the same day if you smell heat, see scorch, or the breaker and the GFCI fight each other. That is not a “keep resetting it” job. For a stubborn trip with no burn marks, send a photo of the device and which rooms died with it. Quotes are free. Handyman time is $95/hr and the $85 trip is credited. We are not a full-service electrician for a panel replacement; we will say so if the next step is a licensed electrical contractor.