Does a GFCI also produce stronger electric fields than occur in other boxes? 
But magnetic field sensitivity is quite possibly the explanation.
 
With best wishes DESIGN IT IN! OOO – Own Opinions Only
 <http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk/> www.jmwa.demon.co.uk J M Woodgate and 
Associates Rayleigh England
 
Sylvae in aeternum manent.
 
From: IEEE [mailto:d...@ieee.org] 
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2016 1:25 PM
To: EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG
Subject: Re: [PSES] Fire ants
 
I wonder if there are any entomologists that are studying this effect? Has 
anyone looked up any of the ant specialists to see if they’ve been exploring 
this phenomena?
 
WRT to Don’s experience, I wonder if it’s the magnetic field that is attracting 
them more than the electric field? The GFCI has some toroidal current 
transformers that might be part of the attraction…
 
I was also wondering if the abdominal signalling/pheromone release behaviour 
following the electric shock was a call to battle with a perceived enemy, 
against which they could not win. I guess if you pile on enough dead ants you 
can eventually trip the breaker feeding the circuit, and the ants “win”, at 
least in the moment.
 
Anyway, sounds like we need some bug guys involved in this discussion…
 
Doug Nix
d...@ieee.org <mailto:d...@ieee.org> 
+1 (519) 729-5704
 
On Sep 15, 2016, at 06:14, Gies, Don (Nokia - US) <don.g...@nokia-bell-labs.com 
<mailto:don.g...@nokia-bell-labs.com> > wrote:
 
Yes.
 
I had a GFCI 20A circuit breaker in my panel feeding my pool pump motor.  I 
went to open my pool last spring and the breaker kept tripping.  So, I 
concluded that the breaker went bad.
 
I opened up the breaker panel to change the breaker and found that the GFCI 
breaker was infested with ants (regular ones, not fire ants), but 
interestingly, the GFCI breaker was the ONLY breaker in the entire panel that 
had ants. 
 
 
DON GIES 
NOKIA Bell Labs
SENIOR PRODUCT COMPLIANCE ENGINEER
GLOBAL PRODUCT COMPLIANCE LABORATORY
600-700 Mountain Avenue
Room 5B-104
Murray Hill, NJ 07974-0636 USA   
Phone: +1 908 582 5978
Mobile: +1 732 207 7828
 <mailto:don.g...@nokia-bell-labs.com> don.g...@nokia-bell-labs.com
 
 
From: Doug Powell [mailto:doug...@gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2016 6:04 PM
To: EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG <mailto:EMC-PSTC@listserv.ieee.org> 
Subject: [PSES] Fire ants
 
All,
 
I was wondering if anyone has any real experiences with fire ant infestation in 
electrical equipment that they would be willing to share.
 
 <http://articles.extension.org/pages/30057/ants-and-electrical-equipment> 
http://articles.extension.org/pages/30057/ants-and-electrical-equipment
 
It seems to me that for high current contractors and electrical disconnects 
(not using self-wiping contacts) with contaminants between connection points 
can result in resistive connections, I^2R heating, potential arcing and if 
enough voltage is present, series arc faults which over time can erode 
connections and result in a fire.  Does anyone have experience with this as a 
real problem?
 
Thanks  Doug
 
 
 
-- 
 
Douglas E Powell

 <mailto:doug...@gmail.com> doug...@gmail.com
 <http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougp01> http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougp01
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