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Self testing ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) with end of life (EOL) detection that rejects false EOL information

  • US 20070035898A1
  • Filed: 08/02/2006
  • Published: 02/15/2007
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2005
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) having a GFCI chip for detecting faults, a circuit interruption device for opening contacts to remove power from a load upon fault detection, and a contacts monitoring device for generating an output signal when the contacts are closed, the GFCI comprising:

  • a processing device configured to receive inputs corresponding to output signals from the GFCI chip when faults are detected and from the contacts monitoring device indicating when the contacts are closed, the processing device being programmed to determine when the output signals from the GFCI chip meet a selected condition while the contacts are closed and to declare end of life (EOL) when the selected condition is met.

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