Surge Electrical LLC

🚨 New Panel… Questionable Installation

A lot of homeowners assume that if a panel looks new, everything must be safe.

Not necessarily.

This panel was only a few years old, but when we traced the feeder conductors, we found a questionable installation that would raise serious concerns during an inspection.

The scary part?

Most homeowners would never know. The lights work. The breakers work. Everything appears normal.

That’s why permits, inspections, and hiring qualified electricians matter.

A new panel doesn’t automatically mean a safe installation.

⚡ Trust, but verify.

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Most homeowners think a 20-amp breaker trips the second you exceed 20 amps.

Not true.

In this test, I plugged in a heater, a toaster, and an electric kettle, bringing the load to about 28 amps on a 20-amp circuit.

The breaker didn’t trip right away—it kept running for several minutes.

Why? Because breakers have a built-in time delay for overloads. A moderate overload can continue for a period of time before the breaker finally trips.

The bigger the overload, the faster it trips. A dead short, on the other hand, usually trips the breaker almost instantly.

The lesson: Breakers are designed to protect your home’s wiring from overheating, not necessarily to shut off power the moment you exceed the breaker rating.

⚠️ This demonstration was performed in a controlled environment for educational purposes. Do not intentionally overload electrical circuits.

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A breaker’s rating isn’t an instant-trip number. That’s why a 20A breaker can carry more than 20A for a period of time before it trips. ⚡

⚡ How do you wire a GFCI outlet correctly?

One of the most common mistakes I see is confusing the LINE and LOAD terminals.

In this video, I show the proper wiring layout and explain what happens when a GFCI is wired incorrectly.

A GFCI can help protect people from dangerous shocks, but only if it’s installed and functioning properly.

Have you ever replaced a GFCI outlet yourself?

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I’ve tested hot dogs, cucumbers, battery chargers, water, ground rods, and even accidentally shocked myself—all to better understand how electricity really behaves.

The biggest lesson?

⚡ Electricity doesn’t always behave the way people think it does.

Many of these experiments produced results that surprised even me, and they show why GFCI protection is one of the most important safety features in a home.

Which experiment surprised you the most?

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⚡ I sent electricity into the earth through an 8-foot ground rod… and the breaker never tripped.

In this test, my meter showed about 0.7 amps (700 milliamps) flowing through the ground rod.

For comparison, a GFCI typically trips at just 4–6 milliamps.

That’s over 100 times less current than what was flowing in this experiment.

The lesson? Just because electricity is going into the ground doesn’t mean a breaker will automatically shut off. Breakers are designed to protect wiring from overheating, while GFCIs are designed to help protect people from dangerous electric shocks.

Electrical safety is often very different from what most homeowners assume.

Have you ever seen a test like this before?

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⚡️I drove an 8-foot ground rod into the yard and tested it with a GFCI. The result surprised a lot of people.

First, I touched a hot wire directly to the dirt… nothing happened.

Then I touched the same hot wire to the 8-foot ground rod…

💥 The GFCI tripped instantly.Why?

Because ordinary dirt is actually a poor conductor. The ground rod creates a much better connection to the earth, allowing enough fault current to flow for the GFCI to detect a problem and shut the power off.

The lesson?

⚠️ Electricity doesn’t just need somewhere to go—it needs a path back.

And this is exactly why GFCIs save lives. They detect current leaking where it shouldn’t and shut off power before that current can travel through a person.

Remember:
✅ Breakers protect wires.
✅ GFCIs protect people.

Have you ever wondered why electrical codes require GFCI protection in wet and outdoor locations?

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This homeowner had to pay twice for the same hot tub disconnect.

The original disconnect was installed too close to the hot tub, creating a code violation that had to be corrected. Electrical codes require the disconnect to be at least 5 feet away from the inside wall of the spa to help protect people from electrical hazards.

Unfortunately, when electrical work isn’t done correctly the first time, homeowners often end up paying again to fix mistakes.

That’s why hiring a licensed electrician matters. It’s not just about getting power working—it’s about getting the job done safely, correctly, and up to code the first time.

Have you ever had to pay twice because a contractor did something wrong?

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Most people think water automatically trips a GFCI.

Not quite.

In this experiment, I connected a cucumber to hot and neutral while it was sitting in water and plugged into a GFCI-protected outlet.

Current was flowing, but the GFCI didn’t trip.

Why?

Because the electricity leaving on the hot wire was returning on the neutral wire.

The GFCI only trips when it detects an imbalance between the current leaving and returning. Once a ground fault is introduced, the GFCI reacts and trips.

This is exactly why GFCI protection is required in bathrooms, kitchens, garages, outdoors, and other wet locations.

Electricity and water can be a dangerous combination. Always use proper GFCI protection where required by code.

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Most people think a GFCI outlet trips instantly the moment electricity touches water.

Not always.

In this test, I plugged a Milwaukee M12 battery charger into a GFCI-protected outlet and dropped it into a sink full of water.

The result?

⚡ The GFCI didn’t trip.
⚡ The charger stayed powered.
⚡ Current was still flowing.
⚡ But the charger definitely wasn’t happy afterward.

This is a great reminder that electricity and water don’t always behave the way people expect.

GFCIs are designed to protect people from dangerous ground-fault currents, but simply putting an electrical device into water doesn’t automatically guarantee an instant trip.

That’s why GFCI protection is so important in bathrooms, kitchens, garages, and outdoor locations.

Have you ever seen something electrical survive being dropped into water?

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Did you know there are two common ways to wire an outlet?

In this video, I show:
✔️ The backstab method
✔️ The screw-terminal method
✔️ A simple wire stripping trick
✔️ How to speed up outlet wiring with a screw gun
✔️ A tip that can help reduce hand fatigue on larger projects

As an electrician, I always enjoy sharing little tricks that make the job easier, cleaner, and more efficient.

Which method do you prefer?

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