AFCI enforcement in Michigan

[al hildenbrand]

No outlet too small?
I think that the original NEC wording contained the 15 and 20 amp figures in order to exempt larger circuits, not to ignore smaller ones.
You can get fuses smaller than 15A, but not AFCI or GFCI breakers, so even your smoke will be at a minimum of 15A outlet.

My point is the turn of phrase in the proposed Michigan statute.

I don't think there is a way, by the Code , to attach a single current value to an "outlet", an outlet which I believe is (again in the minds of the statute writers) intended to mean "all outlets on a 15 Amp branch circuit", and in that Michigan statute term (15 Amp Outlet) mean what the statute writers meant.

A receptacle device is rated by amperage.
An overcurrent protective device is rated by amperage.
A branch circuit is rated by amperage.

But, an Outlet? An Outlet has the Utilization Equipment current "taken" . . . and, on a 15 Amp Branch Circuit, that Outlet current is rarely, if ever, "15 Amps."

Unless the proposed statute defines "15 Amp Outlet" elsewhere, there is no NEC-based way to understand the meaning of this statute term, IMO.

 

[mbrooke]

I still cant quantify what an outlet means if there is no receptacle or Jbox. :dunce: In my eyes an outlet is something physical like a splice or device.

 

[al hildenbrand]

I still cant quantify what an outlet means if there is no receptacle or Jbox. :dunce: In my eyes an outlet is something physical like a splice or device.

I tend to think of Outlet as a legal boundary between applicable regulatory standards along the electrical circuit path.

One example is the two boundaries between supply and any one piece of Utilization Equipment at a typical American dwelling connected to a power company. The Service Point is the boundary between the NESC and the NEC, and the Outlet is the boundary between the NEC and Utilization Equipment standards.

The Article 100 definition of Premises Wiring (System) helps.