Vending machines GFCI rating

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tonyjz

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Saint Joseph, Mo.
Good day, my question to you is, vending machines need to be gfci but is it for personal rated 3 milliamp
or can it be one for equipment 30 milliamp? I read it as for personal not equipment. 422.51 in the NEC
handbook states added safety to consumers so I believe it should be 3 milliamp device or breaker.
Any thoughts on this? Thanks for your help in advance.
 
To the NEC, the term GFCI means it must be the "Class A", 4-6 mA fault trip threshold.

If they meant to be equipment ground fault protection they would have not used the term "GFCI".

Didn't look but I think this is covered in art 100 definitions.
 
tonyjz said:
Good day, my question to you is, vending machines need to be gfci but is it for personal rated 3 milliamp
or can it be one for equipment 30 milliamp? I read it as for personal not equipment. 422.51 in the NEC
handbook states added safety to consumers so I believe it should be 3 milliamp device or breaker.
Any thoughts on this? Thanks for your help in advance.
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There is some inherent leakage cirrent in the equipment and ground fault protector should not prevent normal operation of equipment. Why not check the vendor machine manual for appropriate sensitivity for ground fault protection.
 
Sahib said:
There is some inherent leakage cirrent in the equipment and ground fault protector should not prevent normal operation of equipment. Why not check the vendor machine manual for appropriate sensitivity for ground fault protection.
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The NEC and listings set the limits not the manfacurer so that is a waste of time.
 
Oh sorry I only meant any tip regarding ground fault protection sensitivity based on NEC or other listing given in vendor machine manual by manufacturer,that may be handy to OP.
 
kwired said:
To the NEC, the term GFCI means it must be the "Class A", 4-6 mA fault trip threshold.

If they meant to be equipment ground fault protection they would have not used the term "GFCI".

Didn't look but I think this is covered in art 100 definitions.
Click to expand...

Yep. Article 100 definition

Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI).
A device intended for the protection of personnel that functions to de-
energize a circuit or portion thereof within an established
period of time when a current to ground exceeds the values
established for a Class A device.

Informational Note: Class A ground-fault circuit interrupt-
ers trip when the current to ground is 6 mA or higher and
do not trip when the current to ground is less than 4 mA.
For further information, see UL 943,
Standard for Ground-
Fault Circuit Interrupters.
 
Chopped ground pin happens all the time. It's sometimes omitted in the receptacle or sometimes cheater adapter gets used. It keeps working fine but when there is a problem, the whole cabinet gets energized like an electrified fence and GFCI is a secondary defense to kill the power after shock happens.
 
This has me wondering about something,

I was wondering how often capacitor start refrigeration equipment or any capacitor start motor for that matter ends up tripping GFCI's. In particular, random events such as a breakdown in di-electric in the capacitor causing a fault from foil plate to grounded case of capacitor?

Has anyone here done testing of these types of appliances and found this to be the main culprit of random tripping? Not to be confused with inductive kickback.
 
mopowr steve said:
This has me wondering about something,

I was wondering how often capacitor start refrigeration equipment or any capacitor start motor for that matter ends up tripping GFCI's. In particular, random events such as a breakdown in di-electric in the capacitor causing a fault from foil plate to grounded case of capacitor?

Has anyone here done testing of these types of appliances and found this to be the main culprit of random tripping? Not to be confused with inductive kickback.
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99.9% of those caps are in a plastic case.
 
ActionDave said:
Explain to me how, where, and when a failing motor starting cap is a fire risk.
Click to expand...

In telephone exchanges here many fires started in air conditioners were found to be from usage of plastic case caps. Now only metallic case caps are specified in air conditioners for use in telephone exchanges here.
 
Sahib said:
In telephone exchanges here many fires started in air conditioners were found to be from usage of plastic case caps. Now only metallic case caps are specified in air conditioners for use in telephone exchanges here.
Click to expand...
You covered where and when, what about how?
 
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