Circuit Breakers

GFCI

You may know in what situations the NEC requires you to install a ground-fault circuit interrupter
(GFCI), but do you know how a it works? A GFCI is specifically designed to protect people against
electric shock from an electrical system, and it monitors the imbalance of current between the
ungrounded (hot) and grounded (neutral) conductor of a given circuit. Don't let the name confuse you
these devices will operate on a circuit that does not have an equipment-grounding conductor.

With the exception of small amounts of leak-age, the current returning to the power supply in a typical
2-wire circuit will be equal to the current leaving the power supply. If the difference between the
current leaving and returning through
the current transformer of the GFCI
exceeds 5 mA (61 mA), the solid-state
circuitry opens the switching contacts
and de-energizes the circuit.
However, a GFCI doesn't give you a
license to be careless. Severe electric
shock or death can occur if you touch
the hot and neutral conductors in a
GFCI-protected circuit at the same time
because the current transformer within
the protection device won't sense an
imbalance between the departing and
returning current and the switching
contacts will remain closed.
In addition, GFCI protection devices fail at times, leaving the switching contacts closed and allowing
the device to continue to provide power without protection. According to a 1999 study by the
American Society of Home Inspectors, 21% of GFCI circuit breakers and 19% of GFCI receptacles
inspected didn't provide protection, leaving the energized circuit unprotected. In most cases, damage
to the internal transient voltage surge protectors (metal-oxide varistors) that protect the GFCI sensing
circuit were responsible for the failures of the protection devices. In areas of high lightning activity,
such as southwest Florida, the failure rate for GFCI circuit breakers and receptacles was over 50%!

GFCIs will also fail if you wire them improperly. The most important thing to remember when wiring
them is to connect the wire originating at the breaker to the line side of the GFCI and the wire
connecting downstream to the load side of the device. The GFCI terminals are clearly marked Line
and Load. As an added safety improvement, one manufacturer markets a 15A, 125V receptacle with a
built-in line-load reversal feature that prevents the GFCI from resetting if the installer mistakenly
reverses the load and line connections.
One final thought on GFCI protection: Press the test button of the protection device to ensure it turns
off the power to the connected load. You should do this whenever you install one, but also before
relying on it to protect you when using it. Do not assume a GFCI protection device is operational
unless you properly test it!

How does a GFCI outlet work?

This is a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) safety outlet. This type of outlet constantly monitors electricity flowing in a circuit, to
sense any loss of current.

That outlet is called a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). It's there to protect people
from electrical shock, so it is completely different from a fuse.
The question on appliance plugs talks about fuses. The idea behind a fuse is to protect a
house from an electrical fire. If the hot wire were to accidentally touch the neutral wire for
some reason (say, because a mouse chews through the insulation, or someone drives a nail
through the wire while hanging a picture, or the vacuum cleaner sucks up an outlet cord and
cuts it), an incredible amount of current will flow through the circuit and start heating it up
like one of the coils in atoaster. The fuse heats up faster than the wire and burns out before
the wire can start a fire.
A GFCI is much more subtle. When you look at a normal 120-volt outlet in the United
States, there are two vertical slots and then a round hole centered below them. The left slot is
slightly larger than the right. The left slot is called "neutral," the right slot is called "hot" and
the hole below them is called "ground." If an appliance is working properly, all electricity that

the appliance uses will flow from hot to neutral. A GFCI monitors the amount of current
flowing from hot to neutral. If there is any imbalance, it trips the circuit. It is able to sense
a mismatch as small as 4 or 5 milliamps, and it can react as quickly as one-thirtieth of a
second.
So let's say you are outside with your power drill and it is raining. You are standing on the
ground, and since the drill is wet there is a path from the hot wire inside the drill through you
to ground (see How Power Distribution Grids Work for details on grounding). If electricity
flows from hot to ground through you, it could be fatal. The GFCI can sense the current
flowing through you because not all of the current is flowing from hot to neutral as it expects
-- some of it is flowing through you to ground. As soon as the GFCI senses that, it trips the
circuit and cuts off the electricity.
Fuses and circuit breakers
You should know how the fuses or circuit breakers, which are used to protect
electrical circuits and appliances, work.
The fuse
The fuse breaks the circuit if a fault in an appliance causes too
much current flow. This protects the wiring and the appliance if something goes
wrong. The fuse contains a piece of wire that melts easily. If the current going
through the fuse is too great, the wire heats up until it melts and breaks the
circuit.
Fuses in plugs are made in standard ratings. The most common are 3A, 5A and
13A. The fuse should be rated at a slightly higher current than the device needs:

if the device works at 3A, use a 5A fuse

if the device works at 10A, use a 13A fuse

A 13A fuse with a low melting point wire

Cars also have fuses. An electrical fault in a car could start a fire, so all the
circuits have to be protected by fuses.
The circuit breaker
The circuit breaker does the same job as the fuse, but it works in a different way.
A spring-loaded push switch is held in the closed position by a spring-loaded soft
iron bolt. An electromagnet is arranged so that it can pull the bolt away from the

switch. If the current increases beyond a set limit, the electromagnet pulls the
bolt towards itself, which releases the push switch into the open position.
Check your understanding of the circuit breaker using this simulation.