what rating of a GFCI should I get? 5-6mA or what ,to insure my safety?
"Brian C. Attwood" wrote in message
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Pszemol wrote:
"Brian C. Attwood" wrote in message
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It should not matter where probe is plugged in as long as it provides a
path to ground. The GFCI trips when it detects that the current in the
host wire is not equal to the current in the neutral wire, meaning that
the difference must be going somewhere else, i.e. the ground probe or
your hand. Whether that current goes through the GFCI's ground wire or
another outlet (or your body) makes no difference. If your powerstrip
was not adequately grounded then that would be a problem.


Everything is right of course, but I need to add GFCI will normally
NOT trip when the current difference, in other words: leakage to
ground is less then 5-6 mA. At this value you may still feel a sting
when
you touch the water but the current will be too small for GFCI to trip.
It just protects you from being electrocuted :-)

Good point, although intuitively I would think that a voltage sufficient
enough to cause a 5-6mA current through a person (so-so conductor) might
result in quite a bit more current through a metal ground probe (better
conductor) and thus trip the GFCI. Either way, not getting electrocuted
is always preferred.