Split on/switched outdoor GFCI receptacle, for low-voltage lighting

[Hamberg]

...I have heard of many GFCI nuisance problems but have never personally known of anyone having or being injured by the type of fault they protect us from.

@Eddie_T - I'll be your first then :O), I was ~7 years old (circa 1972ish), in my grandparents bathroom, my hands in a sink full of water and I grabbed the medicine cabinet. Threw me 3 feet backwards, not really hurt but very surprised!! Somehow or another the vanity light was shorted/grounded and I was the least resistance to the floor.

So does that make me the poster-child for GFCI's , not sure they were around before that??

 

[Eddie_T]

@Eddie_T - I'll be your first then :O), I was ~7 years old (circa 1972ish), in my grandparents bathroom, my hands in a sink full of water and I grabbed the medicine cabinet. Threw me 3 feet backwards, not really hurt but very surprised!! Somehow or another the vanity light was shorted/grounded and I was the least resistance to the floor.

So does that make me the poster-child for GFCI's , not sure they were around before that??

Sounds like a shocking experience, I suspect a GFCI receptacle wouldn't help with that unless the vanity were wired to the load side of it. However, my statement was true when I made it.

I'll have to take exception to your "least resistance" comment. I have even heard electricians say electricity seeks the least resistance (or shortest) path to ground. Actually it doesn't seek anything and will take all available conducting paths (in parallel) back to the source (transformer) including you and the ground.

Do you have GFCI breakers instead or just going with circuit breaker protected outlets in places that now call for GFCI protected circuits?

No GFCI anywhere, my house was wired to the old code. Fortunately we don't have to rush in and change things when codes change.

 

[Eddie_T]

I asked the question of power outage and switching receiving this reply.

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Thank you for contacting Leviton Support.​

Our GFCI devices don't need to be reset after a power outage, and cannot be switched.​

Just wondering what the difference could be, maybe an outage is double pole and switching is single pole.

 

[Sparky617]

I asked the question of power outage and switching receiving this reply.

​

Thank you for contacting Leviton Support.​

Our GFCI devices don't need to be reset after a power outage, and cannot be switched.​

Just wondering what the difference could be, maybe an outage is double pole and switching is single pole.

I haven't run into it with a GFCI yet. I just put in several Arc Fault/Ground Fault breakers from Eaton, but I haven't powered up the panel yet. That's pending my rough electrical inspection on my basement project. Also installed a Eaton 50 amp GFCI breaker for an EV outlet.

 

[Eddie_T]

Just thinking · · · with GFCI one can't shock the ground for night crawlers or earthworms. Some fishermen used to put a rod in the ground and connect to 120v to drive worms out of the ground. It wouldn't pop a breaker as even an eight foot rod won't draw enough current to pop a 15 amp breaker.

 

[Snoonyb]

"Ya when it is –20f We don’t worry to much about heated robes and slippers. When we get out of the tub we are making the two steps back into the house pretty quickly to the waiting towels."

Ours will be on a lower grade patio. Considering a wood gazebo, openable plexiglass glazing and a HOT-DAWG heater.

I'll due some research re. the 240V's.

The breakers do not say that they need to be reset in the event of a lose of power, just that they cannot be reset, in the event of a fault, until the fault is cleared.

There are also switched, single recep. GFCI's.

 

[bud16415]

Just thinking · · · with GFCI one can't shock the ground for night crawlers or earthworms. Some fishermen used to put a rod in the ground and connect to 120v to drive worms out of the ground. It wouldn't pop a breaker as even an eight foot rod won't draw enough current to pop a 15 amp breaker.

Depends on how well you soak the lawn first. I had a neighbor as a kid that got worms that way. He rigged up some megger or magneto to do the job. He was an odd guy in fact he was an Odd Fellow. He would take out a kitchen chair and music stand in the evening and rosin up his bow and play a crosscut saw for about an hour. Those were the good old days Andy of Mayberry just seemed like normal folks.

We picked worms on the golf tees about an hour after we watered them. No power required.

 

[afjes_2016]

Snoonyb - the two times I owned a hot tub I made sure that I placed it right outside my backdoor. Four quick steps into the warm house was all it took. No need for heated towels etc. Although now that you mention it heated towels, terrycloth robes and fuzzy slippers would have been really nice but all my money went into the hot tub and the electric to run it. With all my back problems now I really wish I had a hot tub!!

Bud: Years ago I had a secret place to get night crawlers. No matter when I wanted to go fishing my secret location for night crawlers never let me down. A quick stop at the night crawler bed grabbing just what I needed for the trip and then off to my favorite fishing hole.