Heating Elements and GFCI

[Ohio-Ed]

My solution to that was 25A fuses on each of the hot legs... I've calculated my current draw at 21A.

You might well have it covered, but the concern would be the wire between your breaker panel and the 25amp fuses. If you have a 60 amp breaker, the wire from the breaker to the fuses has to be able to carry 60 amps... If you have a short across the supply side of the fuses, they won't protect the wire coming into them.

Again... my concern is for those that end up getting a deal on a big GFCI breaker and not thinking about overcurrent protection to their control panel.

Depending on the wire you use it can vary, but here is sort of a worse case ampacity list.
60 amp = 4 gauge wire
50 amp = 6 gauge wire
30 amp = 10 gauge wire
20 amp = 12 gauge wire

Ed

 

[CorgiBrew]

I am curious to know who wildwest WOULD take electrical advice from.

The OP talked to an electrician, which is the logical choice, but that ended up with him getting some bad info.

I'm an electrical engineer myself, and will be the first person to say that an electrician is a much better consultant on this kind of thing than an EE. I've talked to no less than 3 electricians about my own in-progress build.

My approach to all safety issues is to make sure I have at least one secondary source confirming the information in my primary source. If the primary and secondary sources conflict, I keep researching until the conflict is explained to my satisfaction.

That's how this discussion started: my primary source was various threads on this site indicating that GFCI breakers are the way to go. The secondary source was the electrician, who provided conflicting information. This thread (confirmed by yet other sources, including an electrical engineer!) provided the information that explained the conflict to my satisfaction, with the result that I will use a GFCI breaker.

I think that wildwest must be assuming that someone would come to this site, just read a single post, and run with it. That person would, in wildwest's words, be a fool. However, I doubt that very many people who are that foolish live long enough to brew beer.

 

[Walker]

I think what wildwest must be assuming that someone would come to this site, just read a single post, and run with it. That person would, in wildwest's words, be a fool.

True.

I would check, check, and re-check anything that involves my safety, health, or life, and I would check it with as many resources as I could (electrician tells me something, I'll check with other electricians.... a doctor tells me something, I'll check with other doctors, etc, etc.)

But to flat out say that anyone who takes advice from this forum is a fool is... well... foolish. Perhaps it was just stated poorly. I would generalize it and say that anyone who takes life-or-death advice from a single source is a fool.

 

[SweetSounds]

+1 Walker
This is a great place for all kinds of information! But by no means should it ever be the only source anyone looks at.

More useless conjecture that you can read, research, verify, and then ignore...
If you use a spa panel, it needs to be at the wall, or use a GFI in the panel. Not at the brew rig. GFI's only protect stuff on the load side. They won't protect from a failure on the feeder from the house.

There's a reason it's on the wall in the bathroom, and not on the curling iron...

 

[Walker]

There's a reason it's on the wall in the bathroom, and not on the curling iron...

Well... to be the devil's advocate.... you can buy hair dryers that have GFCI built into them.

 

[SweetSounds]

Yea, but it's on the END of the cord, not the end you drop in the boiling wort!

Wait... What?!?

 

[Walker]

Yea, but it's on the END of the cord, not the end you drop in the boiling wort!

Good point. I've never actually seen one, just knew they existed.

These lovely locks you see on my head need no grooming. I am just naturally this beautiful.