GFCI question

[transferguy]

Posted By: chrisb

I was just thinking about how important a GFCI is or is not in a kitchen.

How many people have tripped a GFCI in a kitchen? I mean a GFCI trip not an overload from plugging in the coffee pot and toaster at the same time. What were the circumstances?

[transferguy]

Posted By: Mr T

I have never tripped one myself in the kitchen. My parents have one that trips when a cell charger is plugged in. It trips randomly but not all the time. They have swapped out the outlet and it happens with several cell chargers. I think its a interference issue since the charger has no ground pin and theres no way to cause a current leak to ground. I have a old air compressor in my garage that trips one gfi when it is shut off. Another one in my garage wont trip with it.

I don't think GFI's are going to protect very much in the kitchen anymore. They are nice to have just in case. Most kitchen appliances have plastic cases now and very few exposed metal parts if something would fail internally. Also the short cords (in the US, not sure about Canada) make it hard for something that is plugged in to come in contact with a large source of water such as a sink. I think with both of these combined, appliances are safer then they have been in a long time.

Another interesting note. The TV show Mythbusters did a experiment on if a hair dryer falling into a bath tub will kill you. They had a dummy in the tub and had it set up to measure how much current would flow through it's heart if it was a human. They also measured the overall current flow. In their first few tests the running hair dryer did not trip their GFI outlet when it fell into the tub. In one case the hair dryer (I think no GFI this time) was totally submerged and it continued to run while under water (do not try at home)
Last edited by Mr T; 06-13-2012 at 10:54 PM.

[transferguy]

Posted By: chrisb

Posted By: Mr T

I don't think GFI's are going to protect very much in the kitchen anymore. They are nice to have just in case. Most kitchen appliances have plastic cases now and very few exposed metal parts if something would fail internally. Also the short cords (in the US, not sure about Canada) make it hard for something that is plugged in to come in contact with a large source of water such as a sink. I think with both of these combined, appliances are safer then they have been in a long time.

Those were my thoughts and I was looking for any anecdotal evidence to sustain or refute it.