Step 00a.5 — Put the printer on an RCD/GFCI outlet you can reach¶
Step 5 of 12 · Chapter 00a — Mains safety: read before Chapter 09
(no image — see text)
Parts: none.
Do:
- Press TEST, confirm power cuts, then RESET. Repeat monthly.
- Label the breaker that feeds it, so the circuit can be killed from outside the room.
- Do not share the circuit with a space heater or microwave.
Check
Outlet trips on TEST and resets. Breaker identified and labelled. You can reach that breaker without passing the machine.
What you're looking at
The wall outlet the printer will live on, and the breaker that feeds it. An RCD, a GFCI receptacle or GFCI breaker in a US house, compares the current on live with the current on neutral and cuts the supply when they differ.
A residual-current device compares live and neutral current and cuts the supply when they differ, which is what happens when current is leaving through a person or through the frame. RepRap's safety page is blunt about it: "If not compulsory in your country, a 20mA resident current device (RCD) shall be installed on your electrical installation." In a US house that is a GFCI receptacle or a GFCI breaker, and monthly TEST/RESET is for the life of the printer: a GFCI that does not trip on its own test button is a dead GFCI. The PSU alone draws about 4 A at 115 VAC, and the AC bed heater is a much larger load again — the Omron SSR that switches it is rated 10 A.
Caution
No working GFCI, no plug-in. The printer runs only on a GFCI receptacle or GFCI breaker. One that does not trip on its own TEST button is dead: replace it before the machine is plugged in. The PSU draws about 4 A and the AC bed heater far more, so nothing else heavy shares the circuit.
Good stopping point · ~30 min since the last one
this is the chapter's first segment. Decisions made and written down, meter ordered or found and self-tested, outlet chosen and labelled. Nothing is open, nothing is wired, and no kit box has been touched. Do not start Ch 09 before finishing the rest of this chapter; the earth chain below is what Ch 09's placement decisions assume.
Source: RepRap — Safety · Mean Well LRS-200 spec sheet · Ch 09 Step 09.17