That may be true of the old units but as the new ones become available it will not be so. The new GFIs will not reset if the mechanism has failed.Originally posted by bennie:
The internal test circuit is a more positive status test than a plug in tester.
A GFCI that does not trip, with the test button, is defective.
The bad part is the test can blow the activating circuit, making the GFCI defective, and it still can be reset for operation.
After the test, you can not be sure the device will still perform.
The test only verifies the past condition not the present.
How exactly does that work, is there a voltage devider feeding the OP-AMP to make it switch/ ..er change state and open the contacts ?The test resistor in most brands of GFCI's is a 15K. This creates an 8 ma unbalance.
A 30K resistor will create a 4 ma unbalance.