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grubby_az

curious about "why" GFCI

Bathrooms have changed. They used to have ground paths everywhere since all the supply and waste lines were metal, so someone invented the GFCI to keep electricity from flowing from an outlet or an electric toothbrush to ground through your heart. Well and good.

Here's where I lose my common sense understanding of modern baths. There is absolutely no way to ground your heart via plumbing any more. All plumbing is plastic. On the supply side, outlets and switches and fixtures have grounds so there is no way that electricity will look for a path through a human body. So, are GFCIs still needed?

Is it a flooring thing? There's no practical reason for me to know this; just curious.

Comments (7)

  • bus_driver
    9 years ago

    Some jurisdictions are so strongly controlled by labor unions that cast iron drains and copper supply piping are required. And those are permissible everywhere. Plus the manufacturers of GFCIs and AFCIs have representatives on the code-making panels at the NFPA.

  • weedmeister
    9 years ago

    Water is still conductive...

  • kudzu9
    9 years ago

    grubby-
    Not all plumbing is plastic, and you can't be sure that all grounds are connected properly or will stay that way. Believe me, there are ways to kill yourself in the bathroom, especially, as weedmeister points out, because water is conductive. GFCI's aren't an absolute guarantee that you will survive, but they do give you a better chance.

  • johnc777
    9 years ago

    All plumbing is NOT plastic. There many, many homes with copper supply pipes or cast iron drain pipes. Now I suppose the electrical code could be amended to exclude homes with plastic plumbing but does it make sense for an electrician to inspect the plumbing system? Much easier to make everything inclusive.

    And, of course, water conducts electricity.

  • Ron Natalie
    9 years ago

    And it's not the pipes that is necessarily the only grounding point. Grounds are common. The issue is that water will provide a great opportunity to come in contact with either the energized conductor or the ground or both.

    Geeze, go stick your finger in to a live ungrounded conductor in the living room. I guarantee you that you'll have enough ground leakage to notice.

    This post was edited by ronnatalie on Sun, Oct 26, 14 at 11:44

  • pharkus
    9 years ago

    I will stop short of "guaranteeing" it although I'll agree with the sentiment.

    In my apartment in Rumford, Maine, due to a series of "bad practices" leading back to the original knob & tube wiring, all of the "ground" terminals on my kitchen counter were actually connected to hot. I lived there several months (and obviously touched many "grounded" appliances) without ever noticing this, until the fateful day I slid my microwave across the counter to clean underneath it and it happened to touch the metal sink!

  • jimct01
    9 years ago

    Let's see... In my bathroom completely renovated 3 years ago, my tub is Kohler cast iron, my moen faucets are all metal, my plumbing is mostly coper including drains, there are metal screws on the light switches, and the baseboard nearing is metal with copper fin tube. Hardly all plastic. The renovation cost me 13k so what's the deal with a GFCI? Probably raised the cost of my renovation a couple of dollars?

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