In message <v01540b00aea098bab2d8@[203.17.148.131]>, Ray Gardiner writes:
>And use an isolating transformer for safety, plus earth leakage detector.
>
>By the way is use of RCD trips mandatory in the US? It is in Australia.
>The RCD compares the current flowing in active and neutral and if their
>is any imbalance (caused by earth leakage for example) the device trips
>within a few ms.

        They are required where one has a good chance of becoming part of a
circuit such as in a bath or out of doors.  They are also needed on branch
circuits in older houses where the branch has no Earth conductor.

        In the United States, those devices are called GFI's or Ground Fault
Interrupters, but they are exactly the same type of device you describe.

Martin McCormick