Ground Fault Interrupter question

Jim-Poncin wrote: I apparently ruined the ground fault interrupter outlet in the garage when I was trying to fix something. The thing has been a pain in the ass. I plan to replace it with a regular non-gfi wall outlet.

Any major reason not to?

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Nope. Those GFCIs are a ripoff and really not needed. Just like paying insurance premiums, bi-annual visits to the dentist, annual physical exams, driver's education classes, safety settings on weapons and washing your hands before eating.

I'd go into more detail, but I'm in the middle of removing the nose guard safety springs on all of my nail guns.

For starters, it's a code requirement (210-8(a)(2) if the outlet is accessible

You may know enough not to grab hot wires, but do you inspect each cord and power tool before you plug it in every time you use them? Saw a training film on accidental electrocution years ago. A mom was making a video of her kid using a shop vac to clean his car. It had a fault, he's dead.

I guess it depends on valuable your (or someone else's) life is...

A properly grounded outlet is pretty safe. GFCI protection offers more protection against equipment malfunction, especially in wet environments

It's also possible the "problems" you have had are caused by the very thing that GFCI's protect against

Does that mean that every outlet should be GFCI?

vac to clean his

Bob wrote: Does that mean that every outlet should be GFCI?

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It means that the outlets in the most dangerous locations should be GFCI.

Well, one major reason: it has been required by code in garage areas for over

Dennis

Actually, only the first outlet in a circuit needs a GFCI. All of the outlets downstream will also be protected.

Side note: one time while putting in a basement renovation, I managed to cut through the Romex which was a part of the circuit into which I was plugged. Protected by a GFCI, the only thing that happened is that the GFCI tripped and the tool died. Without a GFCI, I could have wound up as part of a 120V circuit --

Hi, I am laughing.

Hi, You are alive today because GFCI died for you, LOL

Excellent response. Do you suppose that he caught the sarcasm?

In the 2008 NEC it is very likely they will all have to be AFCI wich gives you 30ma GFCI protection, unless the new rule gets killed in the coordinating committee. It is currenty approved by CMP 2.

when you go to sell your home it will have to be replaced. they are cheap and add much safety, install a new one now

I had a GFCI in my kitchen that failed with a loud buzzing sound. It had attracted a boxfull of ants, ant eggs, and ant feces.

So should the first outlet in every circuit have a GFCI?

What about the ceiling and wall fixtures?

Is there a difference between GFI and GFCI.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

Be sure to include the outlet your refrigerator is plugged into. The smell of rotting food means you're protected.

I had neighbors who took their 110V smoke detector in for repairs because it kept going off. While they didn't have it, the fire started, in the stove clock. It has been sending out tiny bits of "smoke", products of combustion, for weeks, and they thought they were all false alarms.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

I had one GFCI that would trip anytime you plugged in something. Even an extension cord with nothing on the other end. Even one of those plastic outlet fillers.

It was the same one that attracted that boxfull of ants, ant eggs, and ant feces.

Replacing that GFCI (and killing the ants) fixed both problems.

to clean his

You and Gideon ought to get together and make half-way reasonable statement.