Will GFCI work with items without equipment ground
I know it's probably a dumb question but my wife's hair dryer is old and has no equipment ground. Wanted to be sure she is still protected if it should be dropped into water or otherwise shorted.
Forum Discussion
3 tons wrote:
The GFI doesn’t rely on a ground, instead it will interrupt power where only a small potential exist between the hot and neutral sides of the receptacle...
What exactly does that mean ?
A GFCI detects a DIFFERENCE in current flow between the hot and neutral wires. That is, all the current going IN is not coming back OUT on the neutral like it should.....but presumably is finding it's own ground elsewhere.
So....operation with a 2 wire device is a bit iffy.
If the bowl of water it was dropped into is not grounded, then the detector likely wouldn't trip until a persons hand supplied a foreign ground....and maybe not then.- The GFI doesn’t rely on a ground, instead it will interrupt power where only a small potential exist between the hot and neutral sides of the receptacle...This is why they are sometimes so dang fussy...
