Patent ID: 8749929

Claim:
A circuit interrupter comprising: a first electrical conductor configured to electrically connect to a first output of a power source; a second electrical conductor configured to electrically connect to a second output of said power source or a neutral; separable contacts; an operating mechanism configured to open and close said separable contacts; a trip circuit electrically connected between the first electrical conductor and the second electrical conductor, said trip circuit including a trip actuator configured to cooperate with said operating mechanism to trip open said separable contacts; a ground fault sensor configured to sense a difference between a current through the first electrical conductor and a current through the second electrical conductor and to output an output current based on said sensed difference; a first switch electrically connected to the ground fault sensor; a second switch electrically connected between the ground fault sensor and the trip actuator such that when the second switch is closed the trip actuator is controlled by said output current; a ground fault amplifier circuit electrically connectable to the ground fault sensor through the first switch, the ground fault amplifier circuit being configured to convert said output current to an output voltage; a power supply configured to provide direct current power; and a processor configured to receive said direct current power, to control operation of the first and second switches and, when the first switch is closed, to control operation of the trip actuator based on said output voltage.