GFCI on power cord?

> Are GFCI on power cord found on some hair dryers and window air conditioners required by NEC?

I don't believe the NEC applies to small appliances. But those products would never get a UL listing without GFCIs. And it's difficult to sell a product in the US or Canada without a UL listing.
 
Mark,
I can see why they are on hairdryers. Some people with older homes may not have bathroom's GFCI protected.

But why AC's?
 
They produce the moisture through condensation and therefore are regulated as being near water. Just my guess.
 
> But why AC's?

George, contrary to popular belief, pretty much every safety requirement ever written is based on empirical knowledge. In other words, somebody had to die! GFCIs are on blow dryers and air conditioners because people were being electrocuted by them.

ACs have a lot of water in and around them. That increases the probability the air conditioner chassis can become "hot". I suspect reversed polarity or ungrounded house wiring is also a factor, and the AC manufacturer has no control over that.
 
Yeah, we had to quit rinsing our hair dryer when they put those things on.

I doubt anybody has electrocuted themselves by window unit. I always thought the units were to protect the compressors.
 
Andy,
Many new digital control window AC'c have a built in time delay, 2-3 minutes to protect the compressor.

Central AC'c have had the built in delay for many years.
 
Mark,
Good point, a lawyer is the reason they are on AC's.

Central AC's are 220v. I've never seen a 220V GFCI or heard of any centrals having GFCI.
geo
 
All central air units that I have seen are hard-wired and therefore wired by a qualified person and inspected, supposedly. That should greatly reduce the shock hazard. 220v GFCI's are available, one of the most common uses is for hot tubs.
 
> Central AC's are 220v. I've never seen a 220V GFCI or heard of any centrals having GFCI.

There are <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D-Homeline-40-Amp-2-Pole-GFCI-Circuit-Breaker-HOM240GFIC/204355353?keyword=HOM240GFIC">240V GFCIs</a>. They're required on hot tubs.

Central A/C is a completely different animal. The consumer never touches the condenser unit except possibly to change the air filter. Also, there's no possibility of reversed polarity on a 240V circuit; it wouldn't work if a hot and neutral were swapped. But the real reason comes back to empirical evidence (NOT "lawyers"). If there was a history of folks getting electrocuted by central A/Cs, and those accidents could be prevented with GFCIs, we would see central air conditioners protected by GFCI breakers.
 
Mark,
I leaned something, 220v GFCI's exist. Never had or want a hot tub, so never been exposed to a 220v GFCI which I can see is a very good idea.

So, what would you do if you have a 110v window AC that has a bad GFCI and you know the 110v wiring is correct, polarity and grounded?

Second question, what would you do if you have many old 110v AC that didn't come with a GFCI from factory?
geo
 
You gave good clear explanations here. I'll also add that much of the NEC is also based on - as you so aptly put it - empirical evidence. When I plowed through the NEC some years ago, I also noticed the close ties (listed in the back) between the NEC and the Nat'l fire protection codes.
 
>So, what would you do if you have a 110v window AC that has a bad GFCI and you know the 110v wiring is correct, polarity and grounded?

> Second question, what would you do if you have many old 110v AC that didn't come with a GFCI from factory?

Installing a GFCI outlet where the A/C plugs in would be a cheap solution for both.

FWIW, I took a look at the plug on a portable A/C we seldom use. (This is one of those units on wheels where you run a hose out the window. It does a pretty good job of converting electricity to noise, but is worthless for its intended purpose.) The plug on that unit is not a GFCI, but rather an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI). That makes sense, given that these units are commonly used in bedrooms. I don't know if the AFCI also provides ground fault protection, but I suspect it does.
 
(quoted from post at 06:34:10 04/22/17)Second question, what would you do if you have many old 110v AC that didn't come with a GFCI from factory?
geo
You can also replace the standard breaker for that circuit with a GFCI breaker. However, many appliances used to falsely trip GFCI breakers. Not sure if that is still a problem these days.
 
Technically AFCI doesn't provide GFCI protection, however they do make combination AFCI/GFCI breakers.
 
The new GFCI's don't seem as sensitive as the first one we had in 1974, it would trip if it was cloudy out! We had one in our
laundry room that would trip occasionally, I replaced it and it's been better since. The receptacle type are so inexpensive
you're going to have a bad one once in awhile. (From the land of almost right!)
 
In 1985 I installed a GFCI breaker for
bathroom I was working on in rental
property. I learned a valuable lesson.
Don't do it. Breaker cost more. When breaker
trips, it's a trip to load center in
basement to reset it. And I usually get a
phone call asking how to do it.

No more beakers for me
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top