Yet Another GFCI Question

[dtontarski]

I frequenty find exterior outlets that are protected by an interior GFCI receptacle outlet protecting one of the kitchen small appliance circuits.

And, on occasion, I find exterior outlets protected by an adjacent bath GFCI receptacle outlet.

Was there a time that these exterior outlets were allowed to be on these dedicated circuits?

Does anyone have some standard phrasing they would share on how they report these conditions?

[PAbernathy]

Well to be totally honest with you......back before the 1984 NEC it was a common practice by some electricians. I never did it as I always felt large draw outlets needed dedicated circuits...( ie: bathroom, Kitchen and so on... )

Now in regards to the kitchen counter one....They just need to be aware of it but in regards to being a safety condition...it is not really as the receptacle is protected by GFCI and that is about as protected as you will get.

While it is poor wiring practice and important to let them know so they know WHY may trip a breaker and/or GFCI reset and why it may happen. I just got a call the other day for a service call to a counter top receptacle tripping because the client wanted a microwave and toaster to run on the same countertop....just not possible but they wanted it so we had to add another circuit to their counter.......there was (2) circuits at the counter but one of them only fed (2) receptacles on a counter they never used.......and refused to move the microwave to that counter so it met the NEC requirements but was not good practicle wiring design.

So basically if you see this, you do have an issue where they need to be aware that the GFCI could trip and how they need to reset it but not really a safety concern. Just poor design of the electrical circuits.

While it is in todays code....it is more for capacity issues and so on. What is important is that they are GFCI protected.

[Jim Katen]

I frequenty find exterior outlets that are protected by an interior GFCI receptacle outlet protecting one of the kitchen small appliance circuits.

And, on occasion, I find exterior outlets protected by an adjacent bath GFCI receptacle outlet.

Was there a time that these exterior outlets were allowed to be on these dedicated circuits?

Sure. It seems like only yesterday.

Bathrooms receptacles didn't need to be dedicated till the '96 edition.

Kitchens small appliance receptacles not until the 1990 edition.

Does anyone have some standard phrasing they would share on how they report these conditions?

I don't even mention it with older homes.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[dtontarski]

Paul & Jim -

Thanks. I figured that this had to have been allowed at one time, and I have been simply pointing out where to reset, as I do when the first floor half bath GFCI protects the standard receptacle outlets in the baths down stream. Thanks for providing me a clearer understanding and for explaining your thoughts and standard reporting practices on this.