210.8 and neutral on 2-wire 240v gfci breaker

Status
Not open for further replies.
Srv52761

Srv52761

Senior Member
Location
lowa
Occupation
Energy Manager
Here is the installation instruction for a 240v gfci on a 2-wire (plus ground) circuit.
As there is no neutral in this circuit, why does it require connecting the cb pigtail to the panel’s neutral bar?
Seems like it doesn’t do anything.

Not really an issue, just curious.

D6E94DB1-AD5B-44C4-98F9-7BB5AB8C333D.jpeg
 
Just to keep it from being a loose conductor in the panel.
 
LarryFine said:
It could be for the internal electronics.
Click to expand...
I have played around with Square D GFCI's before to see what happens in different situations.

From what I could tell the controls must be 120 volt driven. Could mechanically reset the breaker without neutral connected and it will close the ungrounded conductors and put out 208/240 but will not trip with test button or by intentionally placing a load to ground so GFCI protection is gone if you have no neutral. GFCI protection is also gone if you lose the ungrounded supply on the line that does power the controls.

QO 60 amp GFCI's have no output neutral terminal but still have a pigtail for supply neutral as it is needed to power the controls. And of course because of this can not be used to supply any loads that do utilize a neutral either.
 
If it's the one I'm thinking of, that breaker also does multiwire circuits, so 120/240 would be needed in that case.
 
I'm guessing (and hoping) that whatever piece of equipment you are connecting to is grounded. That being the case, if either of the phase conductors develops a ground-fault condition, the breaker will trip. So, if you are connecting to a MBP it doesn't matter that you land the wire on the neutral bar as the grounds are connected to the same bus. However, this is just my opinion and I have no Code reference to back it up, if you are connecting to a sub-panel, in this case and if the GFCI breaker has a white pig-tail I would land it on the ground bar (even if it has a floating neutral bar). On the other hand, if the breaker you're using has a plug-on neutral that blows my opinion all to hell, but if there's no neutral in the panel that presents a problem. Someone please straighten me out. :)
 
goldstar said:
I'm guessing (and hoping) that whatever piece of equipment you are connecting to is grounded. That being the case, if either of the phase conductors develops a ground-fault condition, the breaker will trip. So, if you are connecting to a MBP it doesn't matter that you land the wire on the neutral bar as the grounds are connected to the same bus. However, this is just my opinion and I have no Code reference to back it up, if you are connecting to a sub-panel, in this case and if the GFCI breaker has a white pig-tail I would land it on the ground bar (even if it has a floating neutral bar). On the other hand, if the breaker you're using has a plug-on neutral that blows my opinion all to hell, but if there's no neutral in the panel that presents a problem. Someone please straighten me out. :)
Click to expand...
The breaker is using the white as a current carrying conductor for internal use. It would need to be connected to the Neutral Bar wherever it is located.
 
goldstar said:
However, this is just my opinion and I have no Code reference to back it up, if you are connecting to a sub-panel, in this case and if the GFCI breaker has a white pig-tail I would land it on the ground bar (even if it has a floating neutral bar).
Click to expand...
Negatory, morning glory. That would be as incorrect as using the EGC for a dimmer's neutral wire.

The neutral bus is always the correct place to land a GFCI breaker's neutral pigtail.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top