Not sure of current codes, but code used to allow a dedicated (single) outlet to serve utilization equipment in a GFI mandated distance. Code also used to require a 20 amp laundry circuit. Your inspector will have the required information.
Or, conversely, the code probably wouldn't be changed to not work with the way equipment is built.
I agree with RBM and Wayne.
Temporary receptacles at construction sites generally have to be GFCI protected. The power tools used by construction workers better not trip a GFCI.
Receptacles for 15/20A 120V refrigerators and freezers in commercial kitchens have to be GFCI protected.
It would be easy to construct a spark ignitor on the secondary of a transformer, so there is no ground leakage on the supply wires.
The NEC specifically calls for pool pump motors to be GFCI protected. Some of those are used on cords/plugs to facilitate easy removal.
Or just use a hot surface ignitor. I don't see why an appliance manufacturer can't build a dryer within leakage current limits of GFCI either.
They can, if the customer uses a 4-wire connection. Otherwise, any
120V stuff in the dryer is connected to ground and there will be (a lot of) leakage. 3-Wire (hot, hot, ground) used to be code, but now 4- wire connections (hot-hot-neutral-ground) are required where any 120V circuits are used. The 3-wire connections are grandfathered for existing structures.
No longer. Wayne
In the context of the discussion, clearly it's a gas dryer we're talking about that uses 120V. But broadening the discussion, why does there have to be any 120V "stuff" in a dryer, including a 240V electric one? I see you're point regarding backward compatibility to an existing 3 wire dryer circuit. But in any dryer there is a heating element if it's an electric one, a motor, and some control circuitry. I can design all of that using just 240V. The only thing I can think of that would ordinarily be a 120v load would be a light inside the dryer. But it would seem someone must make a 240V appliance bulb, no?
Bulb, "I'm done" Buzzer, Timer/Control, LEDs, Liquid Crystal display, things that go 'beep" when you turn the knob, etc.
While all of them can be implemented with 240V, I'll bet it's cheaper to design and implement for 120V and then use the same circuity for both gas and electric.
You gotta have 120V dryers for those of us who use gas and don't have
240V in the laundry area.
I would find where the outlets are being fed from. If from another outlet then change that one to GFCI. If directly from the panel install a GFCI breaker in the panel..
Jimmie
| If they're in proper working condition, there shouldn't be any. This is also | Wayne's point, at least in the US, the manufacturers are responsible for | building their stuff to the latest safety standards, so they will work | reliably with gfci protection
I recently bought an old house with 120V fused-neutral (well, they had been sort of bypassed) service and a mixture of old BX (no ground ribbon) and various vintages of NM wiring. The service lines blew down right before I bought it and the section with the service entrance was going to be replaced anyway, so the contractor ordered a temporary service instead of trying to get the antique reconnected.
I wanted power in the house and the new panels wouldn't be in for a few weeks so I installed an isolated neutral bar in the old fuse box, separated ground/neutral, and plugged the whole house into a GFCI outlet on the temporary drop. I had to fix one ground/neutral short in new (bad, DIY) wiring, but apart from that I was able to run the whole house (including shallow well pump) from that GFCI outlet. Just to be sure I wasn't fooling myself I used my plug-in GFCI tester on some outlets in the house and it did indeed trip the GFCI.
All things considered I thought this was a pretty good indication that minimal leakage requirement are pretty easy to meet. That said, at home I do get nuisance trips from lightning and there doesn't seem to be much to do about this. I also used to get trips when the gaskets in cheap(?) floodlight holders got wet, but I made teflon replacements that don't have this problem.
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com
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Most of the stuff on that list, ie LEDs, display, beepers, etc aren't powered by 240V or 120V anyway. You have a transformer that powers them, microprocessor boards, etc. So, if it;s a common design you seek, you could have the same design for 120V gas and 240V electric, just substitute a different transformer. Or use a transformer with multiple taps that would support either. However, I think the design differences between a gas dryer and an electric one are so substantial that you would have so many other design differences that it would render the point moot anyway.
With a switching power supply you wouldn't even need that. However, there are still basic models out there.
No, they really aren't all that different. Were I to design one of these I'd make every attempt to make the controls identical. This reduces costs of engineering, manufacturing, and inventory (all the way to the consumer). We make several products with the exact same hardware. We'd certainly do it with products that are as close to each other as gas/electric dryers.
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