I think you're pretty much on track there. There does need to be a an electrical path to ground to trip the device. So you could have a malfunction in your electrical device or heating element between the hot and neutral lines that can cause extreme heating and fire without ever involving an electrical path to ground, thus never tripping the GFCI. Since most of our racks are made of plastic or wood products, they are natural electrical insulators and will not provide a path to ground. Also our thermostats and heat cable. tape, etc. only use a 2-prong plug, so no ground there either. The GFCI is a great safety device, but to really get the most out of its capabilities you would want to design your incubator, racks, and cages with grounded chassis and components in a way that would provide a ground path in the event of a catastrophic electrical malfunction.
- Paul

[ Hide Replies ]

• heating safety, LONG but helpful? - mikesik, Tue Aug 31 23:41:45 2010
• RE: heating safety, LONG but helpful? - PiedPeddler, Thu Sep 2 10:29:20 2010
• SWEET thanks - mikesik, Thu Sep 2 21:09:20 2010