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A safer and more reliable alternative identified in the US and Canadian electrical codes is to replace the outlet with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) breaker outlet. [3] Cheater plugs are also used to break ground loops in audio systems. [5] This practice has been condemned as disregarding electrical safety.
A residual-current device (RCD), residual-current circuit breaker (RCCB) or ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) [a] is an electrical safety device, more specifically a form of Earth-leakage protection device, that interrupts an electrical circuit when the current passing through a conductor is not equal and opposite in both directions, therefore indicating leakage current to ground or ...
Most GFCI receptacles allow the connection and provide GFCI protection for down-stream connected receptacles. Receptacles protected in this manner or with a GFCI circuit breaker should be labeled "GFCI protected". (Outside North America these are referred to as a "Residual-current device" or RCD.)
Such devices may be found in the form of either a circuit breaker, known as an earth-leakage circuit breaker (ELCB), or built into a socket (aka receptacle). Voltage-operated ELCBs can still be found in the wild, though these largely fell out of favour after the invention of the current-sensing based RCD (aka GFCI) technology.
For example, my rather small house has a 42 pole panelboard (only about 20 poles installed, though; 240 volt appliances get 2-pole circruit breakers), 200 ampere main circuit breaker, with no GFCI circuit breakers mounted and only one AFCI panel mounted circuit breaker for the bedroom receptacles; there are GFCI receptacles for bathroom ...
Circuit breakers are manufactured with standard ratings, using a system of preferred numbers to create a useful selection of ratings. A miniature circuit breaker has a fixed trip setting; changing the operating current value requires replacing the whole circuit breaker.