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A GFCI outlet or breaker is designed to measure the current flow on both the hot and neutral wires connected to it. A "trip"will occur whenever the is a 5mA(millamp) difference between the two currents. Examples would be when you drop a hairdryer into water allowing power to flow through the water and not through the wires correctly. This system is designed as a life safety system to stop power from flowing through a person in case of an accident like the one I described.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoThere is a ground fault in the circuit from the switch to the light fixture. There may be some water involved or the hot side may be grounded. Turn off the power. Take the light bulb out of the socket and put an ohm meter across the button at bottom of socket and the screw part of the socket and the resistance should be infinite. If it reads any value or is a short circuit you need to replace the fixture and possibly the wire to the switch.
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Will starting current on a motor trip a gfci breaker?
A GFCI measures difference in output to return current. A Overload breaker in your panel is what trips from too much current. many are time delay and will not trip immediately from the less than a second of start up current spike.
Why does your protective device keep tripping out?
Because something is wrong. Check for shorts and, if it is a GFCI, also check for ground faults and leakages. It is also possible, in the case of a GFCI, that an inappropriate load, such as a computer monitor or UPS, is connected. These devices pull transient power to ground and will trip a GFCI. Do not ignore the situation. The protective device is tripping for a reason.
What is a Class A circuit breaker?
A Class "A" Circuit breaker is a Ground Fault Interrupt (GFI or GFCI) breaker ."Class A" marking -- A "Class A" ground-fault device is intended to protect people. The Class A marking indicates that the trip threshold of the GFCI is between 4 mA and 6 mA. This marking may be in any location except the back.
How does a ground fault circuit interrupter shuts down a circuit?
A ground fault circuit breaker detects leakage current between the hot wire coming off the breaker and the neutral/ground since the neutral is bonded to the ground in the panel, if it senses a current of 6 milliamps or more it will trip. Note: no sharing of the neutral for a circuit on a ground fault breaker If a few milliamps from the hot (black) wire do not return on the neutral (white) wire, then a GFCI assumes that current it traveling harmfully elsewhere through your body. So it disconnects. A GFCI can monitor 15,000 milliamps. But if only 5 go missing, then a GFCI trips.
Why the slope of voltage-resistance characteristic increases in the case of tungsten lamp and decresing in case of carbon lamp?
If the filament really was made from a material that has a negative temperature coefficient (as temperature increases, resistance decreases) then the decreasing resistance would cause more and more current to be taken as the lamp heated up and the temperature would get higher and higher in a runaway manner until either the power supply's breaker would trip or (more likely) the light bulb's filament would simply burn open. In fact the filament has to be made from a material that has a positive temperature coefficient. (As temperature increases, resistance increases.) Then, as the bulb's temperature rises, its filament's increasing resistance causes less current to be taken than when it was cold. Quite quickly a stable "steady-state" temperature and "running" resistance is reached so that the bulb simply continues to give out a steady amount of light according to the current it is taking from the electricity supply.
What is the trip time for a GFCI?
The trip time for a GFCI is from 15 to 30 milliseconds.
Why won't the GFCI trip the panel box when shorted?
A GFCI is not an overcurrent protection device. It only protects people from electrical shock. However, if you were to create a perfect hot to neutral short the GFCI would not trip and the panel breaker would.
How many amps does gfci trip at?
GFCI receptacle are designed to trip on 5 milliamps.
Were was the trip Darwin went to when he discovered a light bulb?
What ?????!
What happens if you trip a GFCI repeatedly on purpose?
Every time you trip the GFCI, the power to the device plugged into it will lose its supply voltage.
Will a GFCI outlet trip when the current is reduced or shut off?
The GFCI is measuring leakage current to ground, so if no current is flowing it won't trip.
Is a pool spotlight different from a regular outdoor flood light?
yes a pool light is typically a sealed unit. this is to prevent water from entering the light and coming in contact with the electrical components of the light. if water were to enter the light it could damage the light fixture and also trip the light breaker or gfci. in addition in some situations if the light were not installed correctly/electrically protected correctly (with breaker and gfci) could cause a dangerous situation to bathers. to change the light bulb in a pool light fixture the light fixture must be brought above the waters surface and the lense with lense gasket removed bulb changed then lense with lense gasket replaced and the light reinstalled in the light niche in the wall of the pool below the waters surface. you must also use the appropriate bulb for the light fixture. this is not as simple as just picking up a bulb from home depot and threading it in as you would do with an outdoor flood light. light repairs should only be performed by a trained pool professional as it could be dangerous if not done correctly.
What happens when you plug a GFCI protected extension cord into an outlet that is GFCI protected?
In a word NO, that will not cause either GFCI to trip. The correct term is GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter)
Can rodent damaged romex cause gfci to trip?
Yes
Plugging an electric heater into a GFI outlet caused the lights and other outlets to go out but didn't trip the circuit breaker why?
A GFCI receptacle can pass it's "protection" to other outlets wired from it. If the GFCI trips, all outlets wired from it will "trip" also. A GFCI tripping will not necessarily trip the circuit breaker in the service panel.
Can a difference of 5 milliamperes for 30 milliseconds trip a gfci?
Yes it can.
How much amperage is needed to trip a 20amp GFCI outlet?
A GFCI trips when it detects a difference in the amperage going to the outlet and what is coming back. Even 4-6 miliamps difference will trip the outlet.
