Doug Miller wrote:



I was planning on disconnecting the bare gorund wire from nuetral.
Does that mean that the GFI outlet will no longer detect current to
ground?


No. GFCIs operate by detecting an imbalance in the current flowing in the
black and white wires. The bare wire is not needed for proper operation.



You are correct, they will protect people from electrocution without
having a ground wire connected to them, but without a ground they NEED
to have stickers on their plates warning "Equipment ground NOT connected".

An inbalance in the current flowing in the black and white wires is not
*all* they detect Doug.

Most folks who understand that much about GFCIs don't know that nearly
all GFCIs will also detect a neutral to ground fault downstream from them.

How do they do that?

Sam Goldwasser has done an excellent job of describing "everything"
about how GFCIs work on this page:

http://www.codecheck.com/gfci_principal.htm

Interesting reading for all who can follow the simple circuit diagrams
and understand how transformers function.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"