As I understand it your tester told you that three GFI receptacles are on
three circuit breakers, but in reality they are all on one circuit breaker.

I suggest using the lamp or radio to confirm this and stop relying 100% on
sensitive instruments that can give false readings under certain
circumstances. You could always use the "old timer" method. Put a flasher
button in a pigtail socket with a 150 watt bulb. Plug it into the
receptacle. Go to the electrical panel and clamp an ammeter over each
individual conductor until you find the circuit with the bouncing needle.


John Grabowski
http://www.mrelectrician.tv




"Joe Doe" wrote in message
...


I was trying to map the outlets in my house to the appropriate circuit
breakers. In addition to plugging in lamps etc. I was using a tracing
tool made by Sperry that you plug into an outlet and it squawks when you
position the receiving device over the appropriate breaker.

Almost all circuits in the house map fine - the tool adjusted for
sensitivity points to a breaker, I shut it off, lamps go off, all is
well.

In my kitchen, ALL GFCI outlets map to THREE!! breakers (all wrong).
All the GFCIs are on one breaker which is NOT picked up by the tester.
Two other(non GFCI) outlets and the fridge are also on this breaker.

This would suggest something is wrong. Any ideas?

I intend to have a professional electrician look at it but was wondering
what the error could be, and the urgency of having it evaluated (have
been living here for about 2.5 years and the house has not yet burned
down). House is 50+ years and mixture of grounded and ungrounded wiring.

Incidentally, if I was trying to map the breakers with only a radio or
lamp I would not have detected what appears to be a problem.

I can be reached at if you prefer e-mail

Roland