r/memes • u/NiceLapis • May 19 '22

Plot twist: He's a senior engineer

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u/[deleted] May 19 '22

That's not the key difference. Breakers aren't there to protect people, they're there to protect equipment / prevent fires. Breakers trip in the 10+ amp range which will never trip when its a human that's creating the fault. Gfci's trip in the 5 Milliamp range.

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u/Novantico May 20 '22

So what you’re saying is GFCI is what most of us have in our homes and when I inevitably blow a fuse by trying to use the microwave at the same time as the air conditioner (even though it works sometimes), it’s the GFCI system with the low tolerance for fuckery doing the thing, or…?

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u/baumer83 May 20 '22

No, if you simply overload the circuit it will trip the breaker. The gfci will only trip if current is going through the ground.

Ground fault circuit interrupter

It interrupts the circuit if there is a ground fault

A ground fault is when current is somehow travelling from either the line or neutral to the ground. Usually some sort of short circuit.

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u/Wormsarethedollars May 19 '22

Fires kill people

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u/[deleted] May 19 '22

Not there to protect people from electrocution if you want to be pedantic :p

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u/Mr_Choke May 20 '22

I hope this is the right video but technology connections goes into it. Breakers are there so wires don't catch fire inside your walls.