brother
Senior Member
I was told about a Critical Care area that had a gfci installed that still allowed a shock without tripping. It turns out after checking it that there were loose connections, both the hot and neutral, but the neutral mostly. This is the first time I have ever heard of this happening with a standard gfci receptacle.
We know that gfci's in Critical areas are not required, but if they are installed, the question is should they be required to have open neutral protection for a critical area? Should they be required for patient bed locations and not just Critical care areas?
This question came up, and I said I do not even know if they make open neutral protection for standard gfcis, I only heard of it being required for construction cords gfcis. You also have to look at how much of a chance of this happening again in a Critical care area with open neutrals, which would probably be slim.
The counter to my argument is that there are already more stringent requirements for critical care, and hospitals patient bed locations already, and it would only be an extra safety requirement for a patient as apparently someone have seen it happen. Also there are still shared neutrals, MWBC, in hospitals (older ones) that they have had maintenance people open up neutrals and fry a tv. I have to admit that Ive seen that myself when the guys did it.
What's your opinion on this? If there is not really a demand for the product, I do not see the companies making them because of money, I hate to say.
We know that gfci's in Critical areas are not required, but if they are installed, the question is should they be required to have open neutral protection for a critical area? Should they be required for patient bed locations and not just Critical care areas?
This question came up, and I said I do not even know if they make open neutral protection for standard gfcis, I only heard of it being required for construction cords gfcis. You also have to look at how much of a chance of this happening again in a Critical care area with open neutrals, which would probably be slim.
The counter to my argument is that there are already more stringent requirements for critical care, and hospitals patient bed locations already, and it would only be an extra safety requirement for a patient as apparently someone have seen it happen. Also there are still shared neutrals, MWBC, in hospitals (older ones) that they have had maintenance people open up neutrals and fry a tv. I have to admit that Ive seen that myself when the guys did it.
What's your opinion on this? If there is not really a demand for the product, I do not see the companies making them because of money, I hate to say.