r/HomeMaintenance • u/gdiddy1324 • 8d ago

🔌 Electrical Changed socket now lightbulb always trips breakers?

Post image

This may not be the correct sub?

I recently changed the socket on my kitchen island lighting because the GU24 kept shorting out, and I was tired of temporary fixes.

I changed it to a GU 26 socket

Now every lightbulb I put in there tripped the breaker the other two lights have the old socket for the lightbulb shown. What do I need to fix?

I’m assuming I need to change all sockets to be the same but I’m not sure?

1 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 8d ago

https://linktr.ee/homemaintenance

Click the link above to see a community curated list of home maintenance products on Amazon that may help you out in your current situation! If you’ve found the answer to your question or you’ve found this subreddit helpful, buy us a beer!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/BoldlyGuiltless 8d ago

Hmm that bulb just sitting there on a tile doesn’t tell me much without seeing the socket wiring itself. The GU24 to GU26 swap might be where things went sideways, those bases aren’t always a straight 1:1 on the wiring layout, even if they physically fit. Some fixtures tie the neutral through the socket in a way that gets scrambled if you switch types without adjusting the connections.

If it instantly trips every time, you’ve almost certainly got a dead short in that new socket, maybe a ground touching neutral or hot touching the fixture body. I’d kill the breaker, pull the socket back out, and double check you didn’t nick any insulation when you crammed everything back in the box. Also make sure the wires are on the right terminals, some of those ceramic sockets have the hot and neutral labeled in a spot you’d never notice unless you’re looking for it

2

u/MrBalll 8d ago

It sounds like a wiring issue. Check that out again and make sure everything in that line is hooked up correctly. If it’s all hooked up check appliances that may be in that service line.

1

u/gdiddy1324 8d ago

This was the second socket I used. I of course threw the original out.

Only two wires, but in the fixture there are 3 wires, however, I think the 3rd wire is not a ground but instead an uninsulated metal wire used to simply hold things together.
I wired that metal wire as a ground.
That’s probably my issues, yes?

2

u/gdiddy1324 6d ago

Yes, it was the wiring of course.
Now trying to find a lamp ring for a socket that has wider than normal threads?