ken44
Senior Member
- Location
- Austin, TX
In a commercial kitchen, is a GFCI device required for a cord-connected coffee pot (NEMA 5-20P) that is NOT located within 6' of a sink but is located on top of a stainless steel counter?
Commercial Kitchen
- Thread starter ken44
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ken44
Senior Member
- Location
- Austin, TX
Do you know the article? I am having a hard time finding it.
210.8(b) .
ptrip
Senior Member
Pierre C Belarge
Senior Member
- Location
- Westchester County, New York
The circuit is not required to be protected, the receptacles are.
Whatever means you choose to protect the receptacle will work in regards to the NEC, such as GFCI-receptacle, circuit breaker or faceless.
Whatever means you choose to protect the receptacle will work in regards to the NEC, such as GFCI-receptacle, circuit breaker or faceless.
ptrip
Senior Member
The school system we're working with has had the receptacles go flaky and start tripping errantly. Their theory is the constant abuse they receive is causing premature failure.
This is their theory and not mine ... I'm the one sitting in the comfy office drawing black lines on white paper. I've not been out to test the equipment, receptacles or see the conditions ... just running on their comments.
They've asked if they can put the protection at the panel in the breakers instead of actually in the receptacles. I couldn't find any reason not too ... so whatever floats their boat in this case!
Thanks again!
GFCI breakers won't work if they plan on using multi-wire branch circuits.
ptrip
Senior Member
General Purpose: Branch ckt supplying 2 or more recepts for ltg and appliances
Individual: Branch ckt which supplies only one utilization equip.
Multiwire: Branch ckt consisting of 2 or more ungrounded conductors with a voltage between them, and a grounded conductor.
... paraphrased from the Defs of the NEC ... did I paraphrase the Multiwire correctly? Is a 120V general purpose ckt the same as a mutliwire ckt because it has 2 ungrounded conductors and a ground?
I'm working primarily with K-12 schools at this point ... and the circuit will range from conv recepts, 120V/1PH appliances to 277V/3PH appliances (possibly).
MWBCs won't work with individual GFCI breakers. As soon as a load is impressed on any one of the circuits, the breakers will sense it as an unbalance and trip.
In order for breakers to be used, the installers will need individual grounded conductors for each circuit. Not impossible, but there's a labor & material difference to be reckoned with.
You may be able to use 2-pole GFCI breakers (if they're available) but then you have the problem of de-energized one circuit when the other is causing a problem.
Do 3-pole GFI breakers exist?
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A "grounded conductor" is the neutral wire (which is easily confused with the terms the NEC used for a ground wire.)
So a multiwire branch circuit is basically two or more branch circuits that share a neutral wire. (Example: Three wires ran with a Hot wire to the microwave, a hot wire to the coffee pot, and a common neutral wire.)
If you are doing the drawings, I would just note to run a separate neutral wire with each branch circuit (or each branch circuit from a GFCI breaker.)
Steve
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