WARNING: GFIC outlets may not protect against coop fires!

[Hokum Coco]

I hope this helps someone prevent a potential disaster.

Excellent post RonP.
(I like your first name).

This is a post all BYCer"s should be required to read.

At $30.ºº (slightly more in Canadian funds) one can not afford "NOT" to have one.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

BUT the chewing rodent angle has merit, especially outside in a barn or coop.

Rats have chewed thru the romex wiring to my ceiling fans in our enclosed pole barn. We have replaced the wire in the rafters and added galvanized conduit. Upon replacing the wiring, we discovered arc scorches on the rafters where the devil's livestock were chewing. In that case, the circuit breaker in the box did trip. We were lucky. We have been battling the little beasts for a long time.
They can and will burn down your coop if your wires are not protected.

These really do start electrical fires.. The OP is 100% correct.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Good point, those breakers are to help prevent fires. Not a sure thing.

Side note: if you are running an electric fence charger. You do not want it on a GFCI breaker. When the fence arcs, as it does if something touches it. It will trip the breaker and then the fence is off.

The circuit "to" the fence charger has to fault to trip the breaker. Not the fence wire. Mine ran the whole time when Hurricane Irma knocked trees over my fences. Trees smashed the fence wires to the ground and the box just clicked louder. It didn't shut off until trees knocked out the power to the neighborhood grid. To this day when a dead tree branch falls on a fence line or when my 600 lb pigs go crazy while mating and wack a pen fence, the box will click real loud and eventually burn out the box, not trip my ground fault circuit interrupter.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

i have also seen arcing/fires from dust/debris build up in the outlet itself

Ants/Spiders/wasps

 

[NoNameHomestead]

Ants/Spiders/wasps

Yes! Ants are probably the #1 problem where I live with outside receptacles, or anything that pulls power outside.

 

[lazy gardener]

Excellent thread.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Great thread yes agree should be required reading BF gave me a dedicated line from coop to house with one

 

[Folly's place]

Our barn and coop have all wires either in conduit, or with the steel sheathing. I'm going to see about that AFCI breaker. Rodents, dust, and insects abound out there!
Mary

 

[Hivoltage]

Some are confused between a GFCI and an AFCI. A ground fault is to prevent eloctrocution, arc fault is to prevent fire. The myth that you cant use fence charger with a GFCI is false. They work just fine! If it trips, you have a fault in the charger.

 

[smudge]

Thank you for posting this. There was a coop fire in my town this morning. They weren't using heat lamps, so it could very well be something like this.

http://riverheadnewsreview.timesrev...hters-pluck-chickens-from-fiery-chicken-coop/