GFCI Question for the Electrician types

[bigtex52]

I had an opportunity to buy an inline type GFCI for a song and now have a dilemma. I am powering a 30a Kal clone with a 4 wire input. The problem and question is: The GFI I bought (Woodhead Molex 30053-0M) has 10/3 cords in and out, i would assume 2 poles and a ground, which I believe will work as far as the 240 goes, but how do I get neutral to the control panel in this situation? Are the ground and neutral tied together at the breaker panel? Pardon the dumb question.

 

[kevreh]

Despite the indication, 10/3, usually there's 4 wires....two hots, a neutral, and a ground.

IIRC, ground and neutral *are* connected in the panel, but of course that doesn't mean you can/should do the same when wiring.

 

[bigtex52]

I'm hoping that is the case that there is a 4th wire. I know in romex it's called out as 10/3 w/ ground but in the cord type wires I just don't know. I keep seeing reference that in a main panel neutral and ground are bonded but in a sub panel it should never be bonded. I am hoping I can rewire this thing when it gets here with 10/4 and just run the neutral as a pass through.

 

[brew_ny]

despite the indication, 10/3, usually there's 4 wires....two hots, a neutral, and a ground.

Iirc, ground and neutral *are* connected in the panel, but of course that doesn't mean you can/should do the same when wiring.

+1

they should never be bonded in a sub panel you can drive in a ground rod at the GFCI panel

S_M

 

[jeffmeh]

Maybe I am missing something, but shouldn't one be able to differentiate 3 from 4 wires from the inlet or outlet receptacle on the inline GFCI?

 

[bigtex52]

What are ya missing Jeffmeh? No receptacles, just cords, and for $50, it's worth a shot. Or am I missing something?

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

I think what jeffmeh was saying is, can't you look at the cable? But from your post, it sounds like you've ordered it sight unseen, so you don't have a photo or the cable to look at. Get the cables, and if you still have the issue (IE, there's no ground) then we'll be able to help you out.

 

[AnOldUR]

I use a 240V in-line GFCI and it is two hots and a ground. Most that I've seen are this way. No neutral.

An option would be a second 120V GFCI for your pumps and such. That's what I do.
I replaced the standard 120V receptacle with a 20amp GFCI receptacle in the outlet next to my rig.

 

[jeffmeh]

What are ya missing Jeffmeh? No receptacles, just cords, and for $50, it's worth a shot. Or am I missing something?

Apparently I was missing that you do not yet have the unit, so cannot look at it to easily determine whether or not it has a neutral.

 

[augiedoggy]

Despite the indication, 10/3, usually there's 4 wires....two hots, a neutral, and a ground.

IIRC, ground and neutral *are* connected in the panel, but of course that doesn't mean you can/should do the same when wiring.

I second this.... whatever electrical conglomerate/ board/organization? that "named" and speced 10/3 wire doesn't recognize the ground wire as a "wire"... they like to keep things confusing for those of us who like to use logic and reasoning...
And yes even the SO regular flexable appliance cord (10/3) has 4 wires.... I used to use all four but recently removed the neutral from my panel since I have no use for 120v anymore...
I still have 4 wires to my GFCI.

EDIT**** So I googled your gfci (Crazy expensive vs a $60 spapanel btw) and the "10/3 SJEOOW" and apparently to make things even more confusing they offer this same 10/3 wire in both a 3 conductor and 4 conductor offering... also the pictures of your GFCI only show 3 conducters not 4 in the wire.

 

[AnOldUR]

The spec for that in-line GFCI say it has 10/3 SJEOOW cord. Every place I've seen that cord it has three wires; black, white and green. (No 4th neutral/ground.)

edit:
Fifty bucks for a $310 GFCI. Nice!

 

[bigtex52]

I thought so too. This thing is new in an unopened package and had free shipping thrown in.

 

[augiedoggy]

The spec for that in-line GFCI say it has 10/3 SJEOOW cord. Every place I've seen that cord it has three wires; black, white and green. (No 4th neutral/ground.)

edit:
Fifty bucks for a $310 GFCI. Nice!

You are correct Sir I just went back and took another look at the website where I thought I saw it... and I misread it. Sorry.

When it comes to "10/3" romex it IS 4 wire however since thats what I purchased and ran in my setup.

IMHO $50 is a decent price for THAT gfci but only because it seems to be so overpriced for what it is to begin with...

 

[bigtex52]

I'm thinking that if this thing is easily opened up and not glued or sealed shut, I may just rewire it into a 10/4 cord with the neutral passing through. That might be the best solution.

 

[AnOldUR]

If you're doing the rewire to run 120V devices, check that you will still have GFCI for them when using a pass through neutral. I don't think so, but you might. It's worth looking into.

 

[Maxkling]

I'm thinking that if this thing is easily opened up and not glued or sealed shut, I may just rewire it into a 10/4 cord with the neutral passing through. That might be the best solution.

That will probably not work... It will be looking to see L1 and L2 having an equal load. If you use a neutral and L1 or L2 then the breaker will sense a load imbalance and figure the only other place the current is flowing is to ground, and then trip. You have to use a special breaker that will look at L1 and L2 load and neutral load.