MWBC,GFCI and kitchen countertop plugs

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smallfish

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In order to provide two small-appliance branch circuits with gfci protected receptacles for a kitchen countertop, would two separate GFCI-type receptacles operate correctly if they were each fed from opposite phases and sharing the same neutral of a multiwire branch circuit itself protected by a two-pole circuit breaker with handle tie? These two GFCI-type receptacles would in turn feed from their load side other receptacles located around the kitchen countertop. Thanks.
 
Yes it should work. I have found, however that with long homeruns (over 50') that I have gotten nuisance trips with a load inbalance between the two lines. I don't know why this is but maybe because of the difference in the resistance of the wires because of the shared common? Maybe the engineers on this site can splane it.
 
I have also had trouble sharing nuetrals on both single phase and three phase. Your best bet is to run a nuetral to each circut and your done with no possibilitys of triping the gfi. Sorry about the spelling
 
I have wired many kitchens with 12/3 to feed the counter top circuits. I simply run one cable to the first box (a deep 4" sq with plaster ring) and split the two circuits off from there. It saves a homerun.
 
romeo said:
Try ieSpell. It is free
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So is Word (well, not free, but already paid for). I usually type longer replies in Word, and paste them here. Saves me from speeelingh misstaques.;)
 
peter d said:
I have wired many kitchens with 12/3 to feed the counter top circuits. I simply run one cable to the first box (a deep 4" sq with plaster ring) and split the two circuits off from there. It saves a homerun.
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I do the same, I try with all my might to make all my homeruns 3 conductor,or 4 conductor for AFCI's....
 
stickboy1375 said:
I do the same, I try with all my might to make all my homeruns 3 conductor,or 4 conductor for AFCI's....
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4 conductor NM costs (more than) twice as much as 12/2 NM (around here anyway), so 2 runs of 12/2 costs less....

I don't get it...4 conductor should cost less without that second #12 ground wire.
4 conductor NM is a new animal around here, so maybe that has something to do with it.

There may be a savings in labor when using 4 conductor, although I've never used it, so I'm not sure.

I'm not against it, and can definitely see some advantages, but until the price gets in line, I'll stick with 2 and 3 conductor.

I guess that I'm just hard headed because I refuse to pay more for less copper.

steve
 
hillbilly said:
4 conductor NM costs (more than) twice as much as 12/2 NM (around here anyway), so 2 runs of 12/2 costs less....
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But what about the savings in labor?

I don't use the 12-2-2 or 14-2-2 because I don't wire new houses, but it's readily available around here and I would use it if I was doing new construction.
 
hillbilly said:
4 conductor NM costs (more than) twice as much as 12/2 NM (around here anyway), so 2 runs of 12/2 costs less....
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I don't use #12 for bedrooms, so I only buy 14-4, not sure what the cost difference is, but I know what the labor is, I have one less wire to pull, and one less wire to tie into the panel... works for me...
 
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