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I was in the field a decade plus before you. I have wired high end houses also and gave the customer what they paid for.Originally Posted by Electromen
For more than two decades I did multifamily dwellings where the bare minimum is all that was installed and those having gas cooking appliances found a duplex off the GFCI protected circuit supplying them. We would have between 500 to a 1000 of these under construction each and every year. I suppose that would mean that I have wired at least 12 times more kitchens than you have.
I don’t have a masters but I do have some pretty impressive chairs that I fill at my ripe old age and have been teaching at the Community College level for more than a decade
If I did have a master’s degree I will promise you one thing, I would never go out in the heat and cold to make a living. I would be grinding out my dollars in a conditioned space where the money was a lot better than in construction.
Not sure what that master’s is in but if it were electrical you would know that a GFCI operates from current transformers that read the current on the hot and neutral and when there is a difference between the two of .004 to .006 amps the device opens and it opens for no other reason.
Dropping a hairdryer into a tub or sink full of water will not trip a GFCI in most cases. Grasping the brass and silver screw between your finger and thumb will not trip the device eather.
Want to trip one? Have a difference between .004 and .006 amps between the two current carrying conductors will work each and every time.
Its hard to teach one something also.
That is exactly why they don't Work Reliably.
Trying to detect a 4 MA difference on a 15 amp Circuit is near impossible using a Cheap GFCI.
I would like to see the measurement device that you use to read that.
Even a $300 Dollar Fluke meter will not read that resolution when you have over 1 amp current draw on the line.
How can you expect a cheap or even a good GFCI to do it, With reliability ?
You may Trip it but you will have a hard time measuring it.
Time to get the 10 Meg resistors out.
Also, I think persons were wanting to know what brand that you use that are so good, that never trip ?
And I would like to know if you tested them. (And not just pushing the little test Button.)
Last edited by DonL; 12-11-2011 at 06:57 PM.
Don't pay someone to do a job fast, when you can do a half-fast job yourself.
Well, I know some people who've probably shat themselves 12 times more than you have... but I certainly wouldn't go to them for advice on how to take a dump. Experience is good, but just b/c you've done something many times doesn't necessarily mean its right.
You claim that your GFCI installations have "never tripped." I'd like to see the documentation of the ones you installed in, lets say 1994, showing that they, in fact, have not been tripping. What a ***** claim. Just b/c a brand new one didn't trip immediately when you installed it, doesn't mean it doesn't trip.
Edit: Sorry, I thought I was using the same word you had used in a previous comment, but I see now that yours was slightly edited.Let's not get too wild with our Language please. thank you Mike
Last edited by mtcummins; 12-11-2011 at 08:10 PM. Reason: edited ugly word
The only way to correctly test a GFCI or arc-fault device is with the test bottom. The electronics on the inside the device does the measuring of current and is designed to open when there is a difference in current between the two conductors.
The Flute meter we use is not designed to read such small currents they are designed to read higher currents.
I buy whatever the supply house has that is the cheapest when doing apartments. I have been doing this for over 40 years and as a contractor have never had the problems that gets posted all over these discussion boards. Most of what is posted is someone passing along what someone else has posted and does not reflect the actual statistics of the tripping.
I have set saw services all over NC and the east coast that are required to have GFCI protection and when someone complains about one of the GFCI devices tripping I have always 100% of the time tracked the problem to their equipment. Cords that are worn and frayed that they are too cheap to replace or want to try and repair.
Saws, drills and such that are thrown around and lay in the bed of a truck day and night without any protection that have cords that should be against the law. Seems that every contractor out there thinks that their equipment should last forever and never trip a GFCI device when this is far from reality.
The sooner these idiots learn that it is the GFCI device that is telling them it is time to do some replacement the sooner their problems will disappear.
Add me to the list of folks that have seen a clicker ignitor trip a GFI. More than once in my paltry 25 year experience.
It is not really any safer or required so WHY bother???
Being that the corporation that had these apartments built also contracted JW Electric to do the maintenance on them for a period of 5 years I suppose that I am the only documentation you can access.
How about you show the documentation where they are tripping so badly. You should be able to prove something is happening a lot easier than someone can prove something isn’t happening.
For those reading this post I ask a simple question, how often are you running around resetting your GFCI devices? The proof is in the pudding.
On a side note, if there was such a problem out of any device on the market of any type there would be all kinds of reports with the Consumer Product Safety Commission such as was started about Federal Pacific panels that they shot down.
Ok, quick poll: How many people on here have called in a professional electrician when a GFCI tripped? Anyone? Anyone? Didn't think so. If you did... well, maybe there's a legitimate situation where you would do that, but it can't be too common. You push the button and move on with your life.
How often do I reset mine? Rarely. But that's at least partially b/c I don't use them in stupid places. I don't use them in my workshop where tools would trip them often.
The proof in the pudding? You can make wild claims that most posts online are just people restating what they've read online, but there is no foundation for such a claim. There are several people on this thread alone who are stating that they have problems with this. The electrical in my house was totally redone a few years ago, and I have tripped the GFCIs a couple times with tools. I avoid them with my tools now when I can.
Just this week, one of my outdoor GFCIs tripped due to a contractor using a circular saw on an extension cord. The cord was a heavy duty 12 gauge wire in good condition, and the saw was a virtually brand new Milwaukee with no damage to the cord. This contractor takes very good care of his equipment, and they have in house safety crews that monitor all job sites for any safety violations. There was no reason for this to trip, yet it did.
But, you know, I actually just heard someone say that on a forum and repeated it. Possibly while eating pudding.
So what you are saying is that neither you nor he ever does new construction. Every saw service out there is required to have GFCI protection for the receptacles that same contractor uses every day. I can’t help but wonder how he gets anything done running back and forth to reset the device.
Poor ole fellow bet he is wore out every day after work.
Thank you Sir
Electrical Contractor since 1980
I taught high school for seven years after college. I quit because the income was too low. Teachers in my school district max out at $85,000 per year. I may teach part time in retirement just to keep busy but at this point I don't want to lower my income.
Last edited by Electromen; 12-12-2011 at 05:22 AM.
Electrical Contractor since 1980
I thought this discussion was about Ovens. Instead it's turned into an attack of one's experience.
JW you are a hard headed individual and a self proclaimed know-it all. I feel sorry for you.
I joined this forum to help some DIY'ers, not to defend myself.
Have fun, I will not return.
Electrical Contractor since 1980
If You Google® "false gfci tripping" there is about 1,910,000 results.
That tells me that many people are having the false triggering problems.
Don't pay someone to do a job fast, when you can do a half-fast job yourself.
Don't give up Electromen®
Not all of us are as lucky as JW in this real world.
I think You meant to say "Have fun, Ill be back."
Don't pay someone to do a job fast, when you can do a half-fast job yourself.
Before I knew the difference between AFCI and GFCI, I had an AFCI trip and never stay on and nobody here could ever explain why.
"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events and small minds discuss people." --Eleanor Roosevelt
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