Bradmaj

Sorry, folks, I guess I should have been a little clearer on the voltage configuration here. Yes, it is 240 volt, but that is one hot. Like ours is 120-volts to ground, theirs is 240-volts to ground. A three-phase system is 240-416volts Wye configuration. And yes, the split-buss panes have two neutral bars. One for the GFCI-protected section, and one for the non-gfci-protected system. England uses the same voltage they do in Kuwait, 240/416 50 Hz

Thanks for the replies I've gotten so far #1, the reason I think having two GFCI's on the same circuit would cause nuisance trips is because I put two GFCI's on the same circuit, and they caused nuisance trips, every time something was plugged into the "protected" circuit. It's not much different than putting a GFCI receptacle "downstream" of another back in the U.S. If you do that, as soon as you put a load on the circuit, the first GFCI will trip. Also, having a CFCI main is the Code out here. They use the British standard, which requires such a configuration. I do not even know if Merlin Gerin makes a 240v 50 Hz GFCI branch circuit breaker (Although I suspect they probably do) #2, the voltage reading from neutral to ground varies from .5v to maybe 12 volts A.C. but 0 amps, which is not unheard of for an unbalanced load As far as the "I'm not sure that with modern GFCI's there is any such thing (as a nuisance trip)," I can only say that we answer about 25 service calls a DAY here to re-set nuisance-tripped GFCI main breakers.

id="black"> I am a master electricain with about 28 years in the trade. Right now I am deployed with the Air Force to a base in Kuwait. There have been sopme issues with people getting shocked out here due to defec tive equipment in the shower facilities. These facilities are fed from a split-bus panel (illegal in the U.S., I know...), which has a GFCI main breaker feeding each section of the panel. These GFCI's open all three phases plus the neutral in case of a ground fault. Since these panels are fed from a main distribution panel, the grounds and neutrals are NOT bonded together. An inspection team from the Air Force did a hazard assessment of the suspect facilities and came up with a few recommendations which I do not necessarily agree with. I would like people's thoughts on these suggestions. First, the team sugggested that all grounds and neutrals be bonded together in all panels, even though they are not the service disconnect. Also, I think that bonding the grounds and neutrals together would cause the 60-amp GFCI mains to nuisance trip all the time. Secondly, they want to put GFIC breakers on all branch circuits feeding equipment that may pose a shock hazard such as hot-water heaters, even though such circuits are already protected by the GFCI mains. I suspect that if such a remedy was tried, we would again have probLems with nuisance tripping. Usually putting one GFCI breaker "downstream" of another in the same panel causes these tripping problems. The reason for their suggestions was that they put a meter between the ground and neutral in these panels, and often had a voltage difference between the two points. I tried to explain that anytime you have an unbalance load, (even a small one), there will be a difference in potential between the two points. Anyway, that's what's going on, and again, I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance; TSGT Scissons