ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area History of the GFCI Video

I will have to check my files from when we posted our messages on Prodigy. I have a lot of old files from then and it may take me some time. Is Wally still active in the business?

Another blast from the past

Left to right (picture)
Ed Schick, Harold E, Joe T, Rich Lintl, Wally Harris
Wiz ........Caper .....Nail .....Poh Bah .....Sheriff

Greg,

That's right! Rich was Poh Bah! Oh man, I forgot that, it seems like a long time ago. I haven't heard from Sheriff in years. I hope all is well with him. As for the Wiz, he and I were good friends on the board, but we tried to keep in touch. He lived in NY state, just north of NJ as I remembered. Do you remember a member named "The Whale"? He grew up in the town next to me and he was part of our SS and his wife committed suicide. I got his e-mail that day, it was an e-mail, I will never forget.

P.S. I still have my T-shirt. I don't think it fits anymore but I will never give it away!

Can anyone read the year they display at the end of the clip?
It's interesting to see they name a californian professor as the inventor of the gfci.
Here in Germany you will be told it's a german/austrian invention, first patented in 1903 by Schuckert company which was a part of Siemens. Then there seems to be a US patent by Nicholson from 1908, based on the 1903 work.
The first GFCI for wide use by power customers was presented in 1951 by Schupa company.
My parents have a 1968 house that had a 3-phase main GFCI by Schupa installed when built.

Well the Schupa product (as well as any previous designs) was probably what is referred to as an electro-mechanical RCD. The modern US GFI is partially electronic in order to achieve the higher sensitivity of 6 mA.

To add more confusion, the first usable 30 mA RCD was designed by an Austrian, Gottfried Biegelmeier in the late 50s.

The oldest RCD I've seen myself is probably from 1955 and has a trip current of 1 A. It was used to protect a 3-phase socket in my great-grandparents' home in Germany. All other circuits in the house are TN-C (i.e. with a jumper between neutral and earth in each socket) but the 3ph socket was not, probably because the original electrician thought it would likely supply outdoor equipment (it's right next to the front door).

Wow, 6mA?
Isnt that pretty close for some line filters, power supplies...?

How long have they had 6mA? The animation at 8:00 shows a regular circuit without electronics.

I really have not had much nuisance tripping from PCs connected to GFCIs and as long as your wiring practices are tight you can have them all over, outside in the rain and get away with it