On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:47:34 GMT, "john" wrote:

single outlets in cement floor area's are often exempt from having to be

I think the NEC says Garage needs to GFCI. No mentioning of whether
the floor is cement or other.

GFI protected. Some AC motors trip GFI outlets when they kick on & off
so rather than have you reset the GFI often when the sump pump kicks
off, the electricians got the code to permit non-GFI outlet to be used for
single outlet plates for use of an appliance that is plugged into it on a
relatively permanent basis.

On the other hand, if it was a dedicated receptical, not ment to be
used for a cord and plug appliance(I'm guessing his sprinkler might
be), then there are exemptions about using a GFCI protected
receptacle.


I think the normal single outlet sockets are 20 amp? I would hope the
electrician
ran thick enough wire for the 20 amp circuit to the outlet and just did not
install a 20 amp
circuit because the sprinkler did not require one.

"Fred" wrote in message
roups.com...

The outlet/receptacle in my garage for my sprinkler timer is a single,
20-amp outlet. I went to replace it with a dual 20-amp outlet so I
could plug more than one thing at a time in. In doing so, I discovered
that this circuit is controlled by a 15-amp breaker (this circuit also
contains another 15-amp GFI outlet in my garage).

It's a new home, still under warranty. I reported this to the builder.
Two concerns:

1. Maybe it is supposed to be a 20-amp circuit and they tried to make
it look like one with the 20-amp outlet. All other add on outlets to
the house are 20-amp. The outlet for the sprinkler timer is an add on
since the front yard landscaping was an option. I don't think they'll
ever tell me for sure if that should have been a 20-amp circuit and
they forgot to put it in, so they piggy backed off of the exisiting
15-amp circuit in the garage.

2. Is it legal for them to put a 20-amp outlet on a 15-amp circuit? I
asked this question. The builder said "for the sprinkler timer, they
are allowed to use a single 20-amp outlet/receptable even though it is
a 15-amp circuit." What??? That doesn't make any sense.

Am I being BS'ed? I cannot get access to the NEC code book to research
this myself. My county uses the 2002 NEC.
Thanks in advance for any input.

Mike




IMHO,

Tom @ www.BookmarkAdmin.com