To understand how a 240 volt (also known as 220 volt) household circuit works you should first know a little bit about how a regular 120 / 110 volt circuit works.If you are at all familiar with residential electrical wiring then you probably already know that in most cases appliances, and fixtures connect to three wires: Load 1 input wire goes to load 1 terminal, load 2 input wire goes to load 2 wire. In what situations would a 120/240 two-pole GFCI breaker be recommended? However the line neutral, that being your pig tail white coiled wire will need to be connected to the neutral bar since the breaker needs 120 volts for the electronics to work. The GFCI needs a neutral source then a neutral load other wise without both connections the GFCI breaker will not work correctly. How does a 2 pole GFCI breaker work without a neutral? The circuit only requires 2 hots and 1 equipment grounding conductor. The breaker is designed to detect current surges, such as those caused by overloads or short circuits, and to automatically shut off when one occurs. A tandem circuit breaker is a double circuit breaker that takes up the space of a single circuit breaker on a panelboard. This electrical wiring question came from Art, a Handyman in Harwich, Massachusetts. I have the understanding that this pigtail terminates to the neutral bus bar where you would normally find the white wire in a 2 wire circuit. There are two wires required to complete an electrical circuit – one is called the hot wire and is called the neutral wire. electrical 240v 120-240v. A US-style 240/120 dual voltage circuit consists of 4 wires: ground, hot A, hot B, and neutral 2 the white curly neutral wire on the gfci will terminate to the neutral bus bar in the electrical panel. Can you put 2 GFCI on the same circuit? Thanks for any advice. 2) The white curly neutral wire on the GFCI will terminate to the neutral bus bar in the electrical panel. The main panel has a 60-amp two pole breaker. through water or a person). Someone told me that a 240V circuit does not require a neutral wire in the cable. I ran 2-#6's and 1-#10 from the main panel to the load center. When you connect a hot circuit wire to the breaker and the neutral wire from that circuit to the neutral bus, the voltage in the circuit is 120 volts. In a 120/240V situation, the neutral carries the unbalanced return current, so the net current flow is still zero. There is no need to have a separate … I put in a 2 pole gfi breaker and ran a 10-3 to the tub. Problem is there isn't any where for the neutral on a 3 wire 240v receptacle. Can anyone explain this phenomenon from the electricity perspective and generally explain why circuits do and do not need a neutral wire? Also asked, will a GFCI breaker work without a neutral? Hence, all homes should utilize GFCI devices in bathrooms, kitchens and outdoor receptacles. Does a 240v GFCI breaker need a neutral? I think I have a defective breaker but just looking for a sanity check here: I have a 2-pole (240V) GFCI breaker. The 240V GFCI breakers work by monitoring the current flow in each of the hots and the neutral. 73 Posts . If I can't bond the neutral bus in the sub-panel then I definitely need a neutral for the GFCI to work. The GFCI will not work without this connection of incoming service neutral to back of GFCI. I have seen both scenarios where the gfci breaker feeding a hot tub is installed in the main panel and also just next to the hot tub. A 240V GFCI usually has to be connected to the neutral wire of the source cable/line, coming from the breaker panel, to be able to supply the neutral to the load if it requires one, as was described above. What Does GFCI Mean? A third neutral wire, called the pigtail, remains to be connected. So the load would not be connected to the neutral bar in the panel but to the breaker itself and the breaker would be able to account for all combination loads. Well except that tester isn't designed to work on a US 240V circuit without neutral as the original poster stated. There is one major concept we need to discuss before being able to explain 100% how GFCI outlets work. Q: I have a 240-volt electric job-site heater, which is required by the NEC to be GFCI protected. I am curious about residential single phase wiring. In a two-pole GFCI switch, if the single phase loads (120 V), the two hot conductors and the neutral conductor have to pass through the TC, the neutral charge conductor must therefore be connected to the switch. The same situation applies to an AFI circuit breaker (Figure 3). Furhter, it does the GFCI test by sinking a little current to ground so it would not care as I said as long as their is a ground hooked up. A 220 volt GFCI breaker should have a white wire and a white wire with black stripes coming from the breaker. Dave’s Reply: Thanks for your electrical wiring question Art. - then no neutral wire needs to be run to the load. The 2 hots from the branch circuit will terminate to the double pole GFCI breaker. The QO260GFI does not have a load neutral connection and is to be used on 240vac 2 wire applications only. I found this diagram which clarifies that a 240V 2-pole gfci breaker would indeed work with 120V, as there is a spot for the neutral line from the breaker to the load. Then the GFCI breaker white pigtail also provided must be connected to the panel neutral bus bar. Every room or a specific area must have a circuit breaker. One should connect to the neutral bar and the other should be connected to the neutral wire of the appliance. Re 2 Pola GFCI breaker? Evidently 220V circuits do not need a neutral because two hot wires belong to the same circuit. Step 6 Restore power to the service panel and test the new GFCI by pushing the test button. GFCI stands for ground-fault circuit interrupter. There is no requirement for an additional conductor on a GFCI protected circuit. That is the concept of the hot, neutral, and ground wires. I have a running conversation regarding the proper termination of the white pigtail for a GFCI breaker in the panel. The GFCI breaker load neutral has been connected to the load terminal of outlet. Ask your own electrical question. GFCI outlets are installed at power points while GFCI circuit breakers are installed in the main breaker box. However the line neutral, that being your pig tail white coiled wire will need to be connected to the neutral bar since the breaker needs 120 volts for the electronics to work. While a two-pole circuit breaker gets connected to two different poles at a panelboard and has a common trip or a handle tie for simultaneous disconnecting of two poles, a tandem breaker does … ALL GFCI's work by comparing the current flow between the "hot" wires and the neutral, assuming your breaker has a "pass through" neutral terminal or wire. Discussion Starter • #1 • Jun 7, 2017. I work at an electrical wholesaler, and I can tell you Square D's 60A 2 Pole GFI breaker has no neutral (50 and below do). The white curly wire must still be connected to the panel neutral if there is no load neutral wire. The breaker should trip. The ground terminal of outlet is connected to the ground bar in the mains distribution board. A GFCI device does not need a separate ground wire in order to operate. Connect the … HOW GFCI DEVICES WORK A non-GFCI overcurrent protection device (circuit breaker or fuse) is designed and intended to disconnect only the hot conductor from the circuit when an overcurrent condition occurs. The breaker will work with or without a load neutral wire on 2P 15A to 50A. For the output section of the GFCI breaker, the load 1 output wire goes to line 1 of the spa and the load 2 output wire goes to line 2 of the spa. share | improve this question | follow | edited Dec 20 '13 at 16:37. I have a hot tub requiring a 240v circuit but it has a factory 3 wire plug on it. All three of which are present in a GFCI outlet. Can I have a GFCI at the panel breaker. Let s get it fixed. This helps prevent shocks by quickly cutting the power in the event of a short circuit or other malfunction. Step 4 Connect the pigtail to the neutral bus bar. There is no load neutral wire connection on the breaker on 2P 60A and all 3P. I did not run a neutral. Use a 2-pole GFCI breaker for this load and the only neutral you have to worry about is at the panel itself. It is installed in the main breaker box. There does need to be a neutral connection available for the GFCI breaker itself, but that would be in the breaker panel where the circuit originates. Often times a GFCI receptacle will trip without tripping the circuit breaker because these devices are much more sensitive than circuit breakers. The GFCI doesn't need a load neutral if the equipment does not have one. It is essential to connect hot tubs to GFCI circuits because they have both water and electricity present. According to NEC, GFCI must be installed in wet locations such as the bathroom, kitchen, outdoor etc. That net current should always equal zero, when it doesn't, the GFCI trips. Tester101. You are not alone. Step 5 Clip the breaker into place on the hot bus bars. The GFCI doesn't need a load neutral if the equipment does not have one. Most built-in GFCI's found on portable generators protect the household type 15/20A, 120-volt outlets, and not on the 120/240 outlets that are used to connect to home transfer switches. Connect the hot and neutral wires from the circuit to the setscrews on the GFCI breaker. The welder plug is three wire, 2 hot and a ground, no neutral wire All the GFCI’s I have seen involve a neutral wire, but there is no neutral wire on this welder. How Does 2-Pole Circuit Breaker Work? This way, this 15-16A, 120V outlet is GFCI protected by 20A GFCI breaker and it is recommended to use it in the watery areas like bathrooms, kitchen, spa and other outdoor applications. Will a 120/240 two-pole GFCI breaker provide protection for a 240-volt load with no neutral? For the lights, use that other 120 volt circuit for that. going to a timer) to the GFCI breaker, the corresponding neutral must also be connected to the GFCI breaker, to its neutral terminal provided. All loads at the load center are 220-volt. How does a 2 pole GFCI breaker work? 1) A 240 volt GFCI breaker does not require a neutral. For a ground fault circuit interrupter breaker put into this panel, , if you connect a hot branch circuit wire (e.g. In a 240V only situation, the current flow on one hot is equal but opposite to the current low on the other hot. More clarifications from Schneider Electric (Square D) Where do you connect the load neutral wire on a QO260GFI? Typically the black wire is "hot", and the white wire is neutral. This switch is needed to eliminate the ground loop and prevent the outlet from tripping. A 220/240 breaker would have a second function of comparing the load between the two hot wires. With two legs of 120 volts, how does a 240 volt appliance or light work without a neutral wire to complete the circuit path. The load center is a SUB PANEL to the MAIN PANEL. Understanding 220 or 240 volt Electrical Circuits. 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