ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Safety News and Product Recalls laptop used in bathtub dangerous?

I have a question for the more technical-type members here. Would the GFCI actually trip if the laptop fell in the water? I am wondering if a GFCI would really know what is going on the secondary side of the transformer.

Bill

a worthy Q Bill,
it looks as if art 680 is peppered with GFI protection for 15V & up, 680.57 could concievably have a GFI do a ballast, and a secondary of higher voltage...

Sparky,

I'm wondering if a GFCI would see any imbalance on the primary side of the transformer at all. If I had to guess I would say no. I was hoping someone could say for sure.

Bill

yes Bill, i too am curious, especially given examples of specific x-former design as specified in 680.23(A)(2) here,


i believe, (although i can't seem to find it at the moment) that landsacpe lighting within a certian (10') distance of an outdoor hot tub also requires GFI protection of the branch circuit.

Having done this recently, i had the very same Q's....

The only angle i could possibly venture is of limited power (in oktomorrow's case 16x3.75= 60w)

heellllp!

calling all X-former pro's !!!

Convince her to use the battery power while she is in the tub and with-out any type of cable (phone, CATV, printer, etc ) connected to that lap-top.

Living is much better than frying in water.

Bill,

No it wouldn't. It would make no difference if the 16V secondary side were grounded or floating. Either way, it's not going to unbalance the primary current.

Thanks Paul,
That's what I thought. So, the GFCI in this case would offer no protection.

Bill

>No it wouldn't. It would make no difference if the 16V secondary side were grounded or floating. Either way, it's not going to unbalance the primary current.

If the transformer is a electronic one and that your GFI is a type which can detect unbalanced DC as well as AC currents, then there is a possibility that it will trip.

I can't see any way the GFI could see the difference between a normal load and a "human" load. Like Pauluk said, the current on the secondary side will just go from one pole to the other. But then, there is a lot I don't know about electronic transformers.

I've seen that many new RCD/GFI:s are advertised as DC-sensing (class A), but I thought this meant rectified DC at mains voltage. (When there is no transformer, just a rectifier)

I think you are perfectly safe in a bath with 16V DC. (Here you are allowed to have cables for 30V ripple-free DC in the bath tub.) I'd be a lot more worried about a transformer on a wet bathroom floor.

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 10-16-2002).]

I am at a loss for NEC rationale reading this, why would a particular x-former be specified if the GFI feed to it's primary side provided no protection to it's secondary?