GFI VS GFI breaker

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:

DonW

R.I.P.
Joined
Dec 15, 2003
Messages
8,751
Location
Tacoma, WA
Whats the difference? Will the breaker do exactly the same as the outlet?

Thanks
Don
 
I'm pretty sure it does, but the breakers are more expensive. I think they're easier for retrofitting existing house wiring.
 
I like having the reset at the outlets and not having to go out to that garage to reset. Also either type can become damaged it cost more to replace $30 breakers than a $10 outlet.
They both do exactly the same thing; however if I did not run my circuits my self then I would use the breakers because I would know every outlet would be protected with out me having to find the first outlet in the circuit.
 
I like having the reset at the outlets and not having to go out to that garage to reset. Also either type can become damaged it cost more to replace $30 breakers than a $10 outlet.
They both do exactly the same thing; however if I did not run my circuits my self then I would use the breakers because I would know every outlet would be protected with out me having to find the first outlet in the circuit.

I'm getting rid of the outlets due to future plans for lack of access. Ive got it pretty simple. When I ran my 2 dedicated circuts I only needed 6 ft of wire and had some left over.:)

Don
 
They do the same thing, but for you Don the breakers would be the way to go since you have dedicated circuits. Most houses just use outlets due to multi use circuits
 
Big difference, you can put a GFCI outlet & skip the rest of the outlets on that circuit or just GFCI some, the GFCI breaker you protect the entire circuit. In most cases either one will work fine, NEC requires now the new homes use AFCI in bedrooms & eventually more & more circumstances throughout the house. If you notice bathroom & outside GFCI are usually the daisy chained outlets. I would think the GFCI breaker actually have some advantages in design & higher protection limits. I really like the AFCI breakers because these look for shorts & trip quick rather than start a fire, really good idea in a new home, personally I would use them in every bedroom, living room & anywhere I could practically. Now if you really want to get fancy, you can buy the surge protection for your entire house, then use the combination of GFCI & AFCI & use a auto switch for a generator to make a complete protection package.
 
im pritty sure it will.

but the amount of time (you geting shocked) will be longer if the braker is used for the cut out insted of the outlet

5 milliseconds or so, vers 1-2 millaseconds.

either way, your hair is sticking up when its all said and done
 
im pritty sure it will.

but the amount of time (you geting shocked) will be longer if the braker is used for the cut out insted of the outlet

5 milliseconds or so, vers 1-2 millaseconds.

either way, your hair is sticking up when its all said and done

I've found some breakers that trip in 1 millisecond & some in 25 milliseconds either will trip quick enough, they all do.
 
Just keep in mind in the extreme chance that your tank's circuit shares also feeds something like a refrigerator and you GFI the entire circuit, the refrigerator's compressor will likely trip the GFI and you'll get roomtemp food and a roomtemp tank.
Has anyone had any tank equipment trip a GFI?
 
Just keep in mind in the extreme chance that your tank's circuit shares also feeds something like a refrigerator and you GFI the entire circuit, the refrigerator's compressor will likely trip the GFI and you'll get roomtemp food and a roomtemp tank.
Has anyone had any tank equipment trip a GFI?

Doesnt matter their dedicated circuits. No problems with gfi's tripping. The only reason a gfi should trip is if there is a ground fault and this case thats what they are supposed to do. Alot of people try running a tank on a gfi circuit that just cant handle the load and they will have problems, thus why we use dedicated circuits.

Don
 
In my experience, the breakers seem to be more resistant to accidental trips than the outlets. I have just found there to be a lot more variability in the outlets (some are fine, and some trip if you sneeze the same time a light comes on).
 
Not to trying to hi-jack a thread Don. But take look at this guys electronics after a PSE transformer blew. It kind of fried everything..

http://www.ericlajoie.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=2

One big giant ZAPPPPPPPP.. 7200 Volts 600Amps doesn't help electronics all the much.

I have this surge protector installed on my main panel. Not sure how much good it does, but the power Co. cost me a pc power supply a few years ago.

Don
4860_main.jpg
 
wow, did you read that post. that guy got like everything in his house fried.

do you think insureence would cover that?

theres a large amount of loss there
 
outlets i think are better for fish use...one bad rio pump wont shut down the entire system...i run many on the same circuit to protect my livestock from ONE bad trip and NOT the entire system
 
outlets i think are better for fish use...one bad rio pump wont shut down the entire system...i run many on the same circuit to protect my livestock from ONE bad trip and NOT the entire system

Bad pump shouldnt trip the gfi until you stick your hand in the water. If its totaly shorted it will trip the circut any ways. Or better yet dont use rio pumps:)

Don
 
Bad pump shouldnt trip the gfi until you stick your hand in the water. If its totaly shorted it will trip the circut any ways. Or better yet dont use rio pumps:)

Don

it was just an example that when using GFCI breakers one bad pump COULD shut down the whole system..by using individual outlets it would just shut down that power supply....

GFCI outlets will pop with out sticking ur hand in the water....

PS...i dont use rio's:cool:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top