2006-08-24 05:01:06 · 13 answers · asked by tony g 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
EVERY ONE of the above answers is WRONG!! I wish people that didn't know what they were talking about would stop answering electrical questions.
First, a GFCI (breaker or otherwise) trips at 4 to 6 ma (milliamps), or 0.004 to 0.006 A (not 0.2A!!!). This is because it doesn't take much more current than this to kill you, and actually certain people could be still killed (small percentage) even if a GFCI trips. This current is measured as the difference of the hot and neutral (which should be the same), and any difference is assumed to be going to ground through a person. The trip level is not smaller than this because at some point the leakage current in the wiring would cause it to trip.
As far as the regular trip rating of a breaker (15, 20A, etc), at least one answer said it would trip at 18A. Not necessarily. The tripping of circuit breakers is complicated, and not part of the question, but simply put, one 15A breaker may never trip at 18A and another might trip after many hours at 14A. All breakers have a trip curve (current vs. time) that is really 2 curves (upper and lower bound) and that breaker will trip sometime within the range, but you can't predict it.
2006-08-25 02:08:16 · answer #1 · answered by An electrical engineer 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
How many amps does a gfci breaker trip at?
2015-08-14 14:46:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gfci Trip Current
2016-11-17 02:08:29 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Richard Alva's answer is correct.But the gfi breaker will also trip if the amperage draw is greater than it is rated for.For instance if you had a 15 amp breaker on a circuit that was drawing 18 or 19 amps it would trip even though you don't have a short.
2006-08-24 06:15:04 · answer #4 · answered by lemmon 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
What is the difference between GFCI curcuit and a earthed ground circuit.?? And which one is used for a dog Pacer Minipacer .My home has 120 15 amps. Rita
2015-09-08 06:15:01 · answer #5 · answered by Rita 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What ever the rating is on the breaker.
But GFI also trips if there is a difference in the values between the hot and neutral legs. That is what set GFI breakers apart from standard breakers. A voltage leak, if you will.
2006-08-26 03:19:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The previous answer of 0.2 amps is correct. A ground fault circuit interrupter is not the same thing as a circuit breaker. A GFCI is intended to prevent stray currents from causing shock hazzards. As the answer states, it measures the current difference between the hot wire and the nuetral. I the current difference exceed 0.2 amps, the GFCI opens the circuit.
2006-08-24 06:02:36 · answer #7 · answered by richard Alvarado 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
depends on the amp rating usually 15 or 20 amps they would trip pretty close to any overage of these amps. but more importantly they will trip with the smallest amount of a short which could occur.
2006-08-24 05:41:17 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
A GFCI trips at a very low level, if the returning current isn't the same even by a small amount, there must be ground fault.
2015-12-30 15:36:35 · answer #9 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the US, for a 120V home application, they're usually set at 15 amps. But you can get them in higher ampacities.
2006-08-24 05:08:41 · answer #10 · answered by sandislandtim 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋