Good Morning –
Am I right in assumming that a washer, located in the basement, must be on a separate circuit and that circuit must be GFI protected? Can that same circuit have any additional (say one or two) convenience outlets along the basement wall?
Same question for AC air handler located in basement – except I don’t believe that needs to be GFI.
For both situations – I have lots of 14-3 NM and 12-3 NM cable – can I use the appropriate cable and simply “not use” the red wire i.e. cut it flush with the insulation jacket ?
Much Thanks,
Eric S.
Replies
"For both situations - I have lots of 14-3 NM and 12-3 NM cable - can I use the appropriate cable and simply "not use" the red wire i.e. cut it flush with the insulation jacket ?"
Personally I would leave the wire whole and then loop it back and tape it. But that is another wire count for sizing the box.
You can plug a washer into any receptacle. For for new wiring in a home you are required to have at least one recepacle installed for a washing machine in the "laundry area".
And a dedicated laundry branch circuit. "In addition to the numbeeere of branch circuits required by other parts of this section, at least one additional 20 amp brach circuit shall be provided to supply the laundry receptacle OUTLET(S) required by section 210-52(f) [the required rececpactle that I mentioned above]. This circuit shall have no other outlets."
Note- In codeze an outlet is any place where electrical "utilization" equipment is connected. That include receptacles, lights, hardwired devices.
Now you can have multiple receptacles on the laundry circuit, but for no other "purposes". There is lots of debate about this. Some think that you can have more than on "device" in the laundry room. Note that the common duplex receptacle is a TWO receptacles device. But you don't have a laundry room, but part of an area.
Note- the wording was out of the 99 NEC. If you are under the 2002 that wording might have been changed. Also you might local code modifications or interpretations.
As I read it you could have the other receptacles, but a local inspector would most likely look at it otherwise. In any case you need at least one other receptacle in the basement that is not on the laundry circuit.
The air handler needs it's own dedicated circuit.
Only 120 volt receptacles in a basement (unfinished) need GFCI protection. And there is an exception for receptacles that are dedicated to appliances that are not readily moved. Thus do not need a GFCI for the washer. But the inspector might require you to use a single receptacle rather than the duplex. Also there is no potential for losses that you would have with a false GFCI trip as in a freezer or sump pump. So I would go ahead and install one.
You will find that a washer will have a lot of nuisance tripping with a GFCI, as the manual timer have some arcing within it. Since my washer empties into an adjacent wash tub, someone might say I should have the washer on a GFCI, but I don't.
I agree with you that a GFCI can be a royal pain. A lot of the time the problem can be chased back to using the cheapest GFCI that you can find at the big box. But being a pallbearer is not much better. A couple of years ago my neighbor was executed by his washer machine in his basement and I was told that he did not even get that big of a shock, just happened to follow right path I guess. Here is the kicker, he was a master electrician and he thought he was invincible. When we made him use GFCI on our farm waters he bitched and moaned saying that a little shock never hurt nobody. That little shock killed him. Think about it you go in to your basement to do a load of laundry barefoot, the floor is damp, and you stick your hands in a tub of water. There are enough ways to get hurt in life, I don't want to die doing a load of laundry.
Edited 7/6/2004 4:50 pm ET by Abe
Abe,
I don't understand how a "big box" GFCI receptacle would be more prone to nuisance tripping than something from Grainger or whatever. Anyway, there are certain appliances with switches and motors that will trip any GFCI that is working properly, and a washing machine is one of them. I have a proper electrical connection and the case grounded to copper. I could probably install a single outlet receptacle to ensure that the washer was the only customer there, but then again I probably won't. Was the neighbor using the washer or working on it?
He was using it. And the problem that I used to have with the cheap grade of GFCI was that they tended to fail, but then again you get what you pay for. You know the ones that I am talking about, they are 1/2 the cost of the next cheapest they feel cheap, the box it comes in is rice cardboard. A lot of both big and small stores carry them because they attract customers because of the cheap price in a add. By the way I have probably spent $350,000 thru Grainger & McMaster Carr in the past 10 years, They ain't cheap, but they stock everything that you need.
If you're rigging this for your own home it wouldn't be dumb to run a separate #10 or so wire to the main ground bus and arrange a nice screw terminal for it on the wall behind the washer. Then run braid between the washer and the terminal.
Belt and suspenders.
And a dedicated laundry branch circuit. "In addition to the numbeeere of branch circuits required by other parts of this section, at least one additional 20 amp brach circuit shall be provided to supply the laundry receptacle OUTLET(S) required by section 210-52(f) [the required rececpactle that I mentioned above]. This circuit shall have no other outlets."
Now you can have multiple receptacles on the laundry circuit, but for no other "purposes". There is lots of debate about this.
I got wrote up on this and the inspector would not move on this. I had two plugs in my laundry room. One plug on each circuits. two circuits. One for machine and one for typical vaccum cleaner plug in. i had to rip one out. " Only one plug per room" as soon as I got my final I reinstalled it.
BB
WE know that your electrical inspector does not use a code book (unless it is a code book for the shortcuts on his gameboy).
There is nothing in the code that even hints that you could not have a dozen circuits in that room.
First - for Bill H. and others, thanks for responses.
This situation started out with a CB tripping when the cleaning ladies were using their vac on the main floor. The HO found that her washing machine (in the basement) was on the same circuit. One half of the basement is "finished" and the other half has laundry area, air handler, dehum, spare refrig, workbench, general storage.
I looked at her main panel, saw some plastic covers on openings at the bottom, and promptly told her I would put in a separate circuit for her washing machine and the problem would go away. But prior to doing that, I wanted to straighten out some dangling NM and BX and phone lines in the "finished" portion of her basement. The wiring is pretty much straightened out now and she is happy. But when I removed the cover for the main panel, there is no space available for any breaker so it looks as though I'll be putting in some smaller breakers to make room.
A perfect example of a simple job snowballing.
Am I related to you?
Eric Paulson ;)
Some one in my family has a document (like a visa or something) signed by the king of Sweden I believe from the 1800's.Every once in a while, something goes right!