this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2025
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Do It Yourself

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Electrically savvy folks, does the bottom wire look corroded to you? (slrpnk.net)
submitted 5 days ago by reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net to c/diy@beehaw.org
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I’m in an apt. and the power has been shutting off lately. It doesn’t trip any of the breakers in the breaker box inside the apt. but it does trip the master breaker on the box outside. Thought it was an oven issue but it still happens with the oven breaker off.

Visual inspection of the breaker box outside shows one of the wires looks a bit corroded. Wires to/from the rest of the units are a nice copper color. Is that a red flag?

Landlord is dragging their feet and telling us to talk to the electric company, and electric company is saying to call a licensed electrician, so I’m just trying to understand the issue so hopefully the landlord will listen to me.

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[–] reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

We only have like 5 outlets in the house, would it be okay to put gfci adapters on all of them and plug extensions into the adapters?

[–] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Damn that’s convenient!

Yes, the simplest adapter style is a chunky wall wart that goes between the plug and its current outlet.

Here is a 15-amp example from a US supermarket (price $14): https://www.walmart.com/ip/GFCI-Adapter-15-Amp-3-Prongs-Grounded-Waterproof-GFCI-Plug-Ground-Fault-Circuit-Interrupter-US-Plug/13056613034

And if by extender you mean the multi-outlet strip extenders: yes, the adapter+extender would isolate the fault to just that strip. Also common variants of strip extenders can include a GFCI.

The only additional consideration re: which GFCI adapters you will need are

  1. Voltage and amperage rating: you can just copy the rating of the outlet’s breaker or, if it’s just handling one appliance, take a picture of the power source specification (usually a sticker on the back of the appliance) to know voltage and minimum amperage rating

Where to find markings of circuit breaker rating

example of appliance rating sticker

  1. Socket type: if you’re in the US, likely all type B or maybe one or two type I (usually large 220V appliances) depicted on this chart

Most common international plug connector types

  1. Maybe form factor: if there’s not enough room for the wall wart style, you can get an inline style like this

inline gfci adapter

[–] reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Excellent, I will grab a couple that will be especially helpful for the kitchen where we occasionally accidentally run the microwave at the same time as the kettle.

I’ll still prod the landlord to have someone come look at the power main issue.

[–] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That’s great. And glad youre pressing landlord. They’re very likely obligated to cover expenses related to this, but I understand landlords are shitheads and a PITA.

Just to be clear, re: MW+kettle example, typical GFCI won’t prevent that overload. Circuit breaker should trip. There is a similar component that does both (AFCI) but it’s more expensive and shouldn’t be needed if your breaker is functioning correctly. Adding GFCI is usually inexpensive enough to justify but is only meant to protect against faults, not overloads.

[–] reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 2 points 4 days ago

I see, thanks for clarifying!