Gfci $4.95?

[Noel]

Ok .. I have a question

What is an "Arc" breaker ?

I've recently seen those at HD but didn't have time or patience to track down the HD Electrical "expert" to ask dumb questions.

Curious if we have any electricians in BRS, I need to run some circuits in the sump room .. and frankly, I'm feeling very lazy.

Regards
Noel

 

[marco67]

Arc fault breaker, it's code now in all bedrooms. trips by current loss like from arching or shorting.

 

[shawn]

Ground fault circuit interrupters trip by detecting "missing current" - all current that goes down the "hot" side must come back the "cold" side, or it breaks the circuit since current is leaking elsewhere.

Arc fault circuit interrupters look at the current going down the line, and match it against a model they have of what the current due to a fire-causing arc looks like. If a match is found, they break the circuit.

A GFCI is designed to protect against the most common source of electrocution, and an AFCI is designed to prevent the most common source of electrical fires.

On the question of ground probes - it is true that "stray voltage" with no ground path will cause no current flow. No current flow, no problem. However, if you have a GFCI on your equipment, and you use a ground probe, the GFCI will break the circuit if any hot circuit contacts the water. Otherwise, it could sit there, possibly leaking back through the "cold return", undetected and causing current flow. Even if it doesn't leak back in that manner, I'd much rather have the GFI it trip due to the ground probe than because I touched the water and it found some path to ground through me...

If you don't have a GFCI, a ground probe can still help - but get a GFCI.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

I'm adding ARC fault breakers to my 2nd floor bedroom, plus maybe the others