GFCI's burning themselves up

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Moosifer

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Panama City Beach, FL
Condo building. Fire dept called 7th floor outside lobby outlet torched itself with nothing plugged in.
Fire dept told us it was the 6th floor. We replaced the 6th floor which wasn't bad but smelled burnt and was a little and made sure it had a good cover.
We replaced the 7th floor a couple days later when they figured out we were told the wrong one. 7th was bad (nothing plugged in when it lit up).
One week later.. 4th floor same outlet burnt up (nothing plugged in and no rain in last 24 hours) same circuit as other floors.
Any thoughts? I'll have my guys check voltage. I'm guessing this is a coincidence and they are reaching end of life and probably aren't outdoor rated but it seems a bit odd... maybe this is the beginning of the end and all of the toasters and gfci outlets are going to burst into flames.
 
Jraef said:
Builder used the cheapest GFCI receptacles he could find, and/or maybe they were counterfeits?
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That's my first thought.

I wired a commercial kitchen job several years ago, and got reeled in by a cheap price on bogus "UL" GFCI receps. I saved a lot of money up front, but about 8 months later I was back swapping them out. Out of about 40, at least 12 were bad. And I saw the handwriting on the wall.
 
Moosifer said:
Condo building. Fire dept called 7th floor outside lobby outlet torched itself with nothing plugged in.
Fire dept told us it was the 6th floor. We replaced the 6th floor which wasn't bad but smelled burnt and was a little and made sure it had a good cover.
We replaced the 7th floor a couple days later when they figured out we were told the wrong one. 7th was bad (nothing plugged in when it lit up).
One week later.. 4th floor same outlet burnt up (nothing plugged in and no rain in last 24 hours) same circuit as other floors.
Any thoughts? I'll have my guys check voltage. I'm guessing this is a coincidence and they are reaching end of life and probably aren't outdoor rated but it seems a bit odd... maybe this is the beginning of the end and all of the toasters and gfci outlets are going to burst into flames.
Click to expand...
Looking at your location - is this close to salt water and maybe corrosive environment is a factor? Are they "WR" type receptacles which do have more corrosion resistance than non WR type?

As far as overvoltage - I once had a GC that rewired one my temp GFCI receptacles for 240 volts (intentionally) to run his air compressor that was easy to switch between 120 and 240 volts. 120 was marginal on a 20 amp breaker, 240 no problem even on a 15 amp breaker. Problem is when others plug something into this receptacle non knowing it isn't 120 volts. - The GFCI had no problem with 240 volts supply, still tripped like it was supposed to even after restoring 120 volt supply.
 
Sorry for the duplicate, I tried to see if there is an edit option to an existing post.
Is it possible these were all burned at the same event and have only been noticed at different intervals? and that it was lightning initially?

Speaking of location... Isn't FL known as the lightning capitol of the US?
(found the edit option BTW. Looks like it times out after a bit)
 
Jps1006 said:
Sorry for the duplicate, I tried to see if there is an edit option to an existing post.
Is it possible these were all burned at the same event and have only been noticed at different intervals? and that it was lightning initially?

Speaking of location... Isn't FL known as the lightning capitol of the US?
(found the edit option BTW. Looks like it times out after a bit)
Click to expand...
Lighting likely causes other damages, though if there is corrosive air issues plus a somewhat marginal surge from lightning maybe it gets these outdoor items but not so much indoor items?
 
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