B&D 18" Corded Electric lawn mower trips plug fuse

I have a B&D Electric lawn mower. Its worked great for the last year. Now when I use it it trips the circut breaker to the outlet that Im plugged into. Its the same outlet I've used in the past. Any suggestions on what could be wrong?

Reply to
abimages
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The first thing to do would be try a different extension cord.

Over time, outdoor extension cords are exposed to lots of bending and stretching, they're dragged over rough surfaces and sharp stones, and they sit in the sunlight. All those conditions wear-down the jacket, and small perforations begin to develop. When you turn on the mower, the current draw creates heat in the cable, and eventually, laying in grass will provide enough moisture to get in these perforations and cause the micro-second change in current that trips the GFCI. Problems with the mower itself would be more likely to cause the mower to operate differently, or shut itself down.

Reply to
Warren

Perhaps the blade is very dull and the motor is working harder. Or you have an additional load on that circuit that was not there last season.

Reply to
bamboo

Or the motor is rusted into a lump and won't turn.

Reply to
Bert Byfield

I presume you are using a ground-fault protected outlet. If the breaker trips immediately on plugging in the mower, my guess would be that a ground fault has developed - perhaps in the extension cord, perhaps in the mower itself. Try a different extension cord, and see if that helps. If not, then the fault is in the mower somewhere.

If the breaker trips after some use, my second guess would be that some fault has developed in the machine itself, so that it draws too much current. (I presume you have done routine maintenance such as making sure there has been no build up of dead grass in places where it might impede th blade, etc.)

Either way, it's not a fault you can fix yourself. If you have a good small appliance repair shop handy, they may be able to help you. Since you have owned the machine for a year or so, it's probably no longer under warranty, but it's worth trying for a warranty repair or replacement anyhow. Your model may be one that develops a common fault, and the mfr may have issued a recall or extension of warranty (they don't need to tell you about these things, they just have to "publicize" them.)

OTOH, too often, machines like this are not worth repairing - the cost of repair is often too large a proportion of the cost of a new machine. That will be your judgement call.

Finally, a breaker can weaken, especially it it's used as an on/off switch (which is often done for outside outlets - it's a handy way to turn Christmas decorations on and off, for example.) In this case, the breaker will trip on a much lower load than its rating, and if the mower draws current close to the breaker's rating, the breaker will trip when it shouldn't. You might want to call an electrician to test and replace the breaker.

HTH&GL

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

Also what else is on that particular circuit? Have you added any: appliances, pumps etc? If so you may have been at the threashold and now you're over the limit?

Djay

Reply to
djay

Appreciate the advice. I'll try another cord.

Al

Reply to
abimages

I have nothing else on the circuit.

Reply to
abimages

Im am using ground protected outlet. It's worked 30 times prior to this. I have changed cords 2 times. The cord that I'm using now, I have used

3 or 4 times so far, before this problem arose. It is still under warranty, so I will probably end up taking it to the shop.
Reply to
abimages

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