From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: GFI question
Date: 14 Apr 92 04:17:59 GMT
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada

Clip and save - free codes!

In article <1992Apr13.110201.25913@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> thomson@hub.toronto.edu (Brian Thomson) writes:
|Chris Lewis has a 99.99% reliability rating, but I believe a couple of
|his recent contributions contained elements from the 0.01% pool ...

I think I can pare that down to .005%, or at least find some elements
from your .01% pool.

|In article <3383@ecicrl.ocunix.on.ca> clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis) w
|rites:
|>In most cases, the only practical solution for Chris is to install
|>a (very expensive) dual GFI breaker.

|>The other alternative is to rewire the split near the sink to be a single
|>GFI outlet.  I think the CEC would permit that if he otherwise met code
|>for split receptacle counts.

|After researching this for my own counter, where I put 3 duplex outlets,
|I am quite certain that the CEC would not permit this.
|All kitchen counter outlets *must* be split, even extra ones, and they
|each *must* be on their own dedicated paired circuits.

Code sez - the whole shmoozola:

	26-702(6): In dwelling units there shall be installed in each kitchen:

	    (a) [fridge outlets]

	    (b) A sufficient number of split receptacles along the wall behind
		counter work surfaces (exclusing sinks, built-in equipment and
		isolated work surfaces less than 300 mm [~12"] long at the
		wall line) so that no point along the wall line is more than 900
		mm [~36"] from a receptacle mounted horizontally along the wall line.
	    
	    (c) [dining room receptacles]

	26-704(3): Except as permitted by subrule (4), at least two 3-wire
		branch circuits shall be provided for receptacles installed
		along the wall of kitchen counter work surfaces of dwelling units;
		and
	    (a) No more than two split receptacles shall be connected to a 3-wire
		branch circuit; and
	    (b) no other outlets shall be connected to these circuits; and
	    (c) Adjacent receptacles shall not be connected to the same 3-wire
		branch circuit.
	    
	26-704(4): Notwithstanding the requirements of Subrule (3), where the
		provisions of 26-702(6)(b) require only one receptacle, only
		one 3-wire branch circuit need be provided.

[Note: this has copious change bars in the 1990 ed. of the OHESC.  According
to my old Knight book, they only required two splits previously.]]

This implies to me, for example, that you could have a split 900mm left,
another 900mm right, and an ordinary GFI right beside the sink.  Would work
even better if a under-counter dishwasher adjacent to the sink counted
as "built-in" (maybe not) - but I suspect it wouldn't count built-in for this
rule.

Secondly, much as I used to think that *each* split must be a separate
dedicated dual circuit, it turns out that you can put *two* splits on one
dual, provided that the splits aren't adjacent to each other.  Which
would also be handy for workbench outlets.

|>There's a good chance that they would permit this.  A little unusual,
|>but okay.

|Sorry, Chris, I don't think they would.
|The whole idea of the split receptacles is that you should have each
|individual outlet on its own 15A circuit, so you can plug in the kettle
|and the toaster oven and the iron and whatever else (all typically
|12A appliances), all at the same time, in any available counter outlets.
|This GFI receptacle scheme has four outlets on two circuits, and would
|not meet those goals.

You could cover the lower half of the two outlets.  Yuck.  You're right.
-- 
Chris Lewis; clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
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