Frankly, I'll probably just go the spa panel route. Need to think about that some more - seems like it might be okay as long as the there's also a ground connected to the power cord. If the new GFCI breaker doesn't work, I may try finding/disconnecting a frame ground in my dryer and see what happens. This could explain why the dryer trips the breaker and my controller/element did not. Perhaps there is a problem inside the breaker itself that causes it to always sense a difference in current between either of the hots and the neutral (basically a false 120V ground fault) but not between the the two hots. Adding to the plausibility of a defective breaker (aside from the fact that it was sourced from eBay) is that my controller is all 240V. My next step is to rule out a faulty GFCI breaker, so I ordered another one from HD. That may be my 'next next' step in troubleshooting this. His advice: disconnect the frame ground on the dryer, if there is one, as it shouldn't be needed (as I have a 4-wire setup). The breaker is not compatible with my dryer.Ī guy I work with who does a lot of DIY stuff pointed me to the same disclaimer from Square D that you referenced in your OP.The breaker is faulty (sigh - bought it on eBay, though the seller was reputable and the thing looks brand new).But the dryer tripped instantly, leading me to the conclusion that:

Plugged the dryer back in and it tripped immediately.Īdmittedly, my 2 second test is probably not conclusive - maybe the breaker would trip after the thing was running for a while, I don't know. I even cranked it up to ~50% for a second, and it got quite warm - again, no problem. The crazy thing is, it worked just fine! I powered on the controller, gave it a little juice - enough to feel the element start to get warm - no problem. The electrician, who had some homebrewing in his past and was fascinated with my e-keggle and SSVR-based controller, suggested we plug it in to see what would happen. The dryer, by the way, has been working fine for 7-8 years. After getting it to stay closed, we went and turned on the dryer (not the motor or the heater, just the control panel) and it tripped immediately. We reset it it probably a dozen times, sometimes it stayed closed, others it tripped again right away. As soon as we restored power, the thing tripped. Like you, I purchased and installed (with the help of a licensed electrician) a Square D Homeline 30A 2-pole GFCI breaker in place of the non-GFCI 30A breaker that came with the house. I want to power my 240V 5500W kettle off my 4-wire 30A dryer circuit. I'll jump in on this as I have related questions about my setup, which has *some* similarities, and I have some partial knowledge to share. I have test fired it and poked around with a voltmeter and everything appears to work properly.the kettle is not electrified =DĪnyone have any ideas to make this setup safe? I am using a PLC as a controller and have GFCI'd the 120v circut powering the enclosure and pump. The element is wired such that the two hots go to each of the two terminals on the water heater and the neutral wire is connected to the kettle, as a ground wire would be. Anybody know about this and can shed light on whether or not this would work? I am pretty sure that this applies to my circuit, and it makes sense since the GFCIs monitor the ground path for a fault. However, deep inside the booklet that came with the GFCI it says not to use the breaker in circuits which have appliances whose frames serve as ground. I purchased a 240v Square D breaker with GFCI, planning to protect the circut from the circut breaker. The philosophy of the time was that the appliance would use its frame as the ground and so there is not a ground wire in the circuit. It is an old receptacle design that has 2 hots and one neutral wire. See attached drawing to see what is looks like. Basically I'm using a Nema 10-50 240v receptacle to power my heating element. I've done some digging around on this and other sites but have not found an answer to my specific case.

Three prong 240 volt plug