Last night my Maytag deep freeze popped the outlet in our garage. I hit the reset on the outlet and it popped it again right away. We left the freezer unplugged (got everything out of it) and this morning I tried again...same result. At first I thought it must be the outlet so I plugged in a radio and it did fine. I then ran an extension cord into my house and tried the freezer off an outlet in my kitchen. Same thing, popped the outlet. So now I'm pretty sure it's the freezer. It's only around a year old, but what could be going on with it that's making it draw so much current? I'd appreciate any help.
Does it run in a regular outlet? Refrigerators should not be on a GFCI because of potential tripping problems. You may or may not have a freezer problem though.
If it is a year old, it should be covered under warranty yet I would think.
I tried it for a couple of minutes in a regular outlet and it ran fine. I just did it as a test and didn't leave it plugged in. I'm obviuosly not an electrician. Should I leave it in a regular outlet and just see what happens?
Feezers should be plugged into non-GFCI-protected outlets. But this is to protect the contents of the freezer if the GFCI trips (which they do sometimes for no reason) If your freezer trips the GFCI, it probably has a problem with leakage current to ground, but it could be that the GFCI is bad and overly sensitive to inductive loads -- the compressor starting up.
BTW, sometimes regular outlets are downstream of a GFCI and protected by it.
I used to have a GFCI in my basement that would trip whenever I plugged a shop vac into it. It didn't like the universal motor. I could plug a large induction motor into it and it was fine. I replaced the GFCI with a different brand and had no trouble after that (this was about 10 years ago.)
(Contains some bogus info, like grounds on a receptacle do not have to be down and the NEC has no limit on the number of outlets downstream from a GFCI.)
My refrigerators are not on GFCI circuits and I don't intend to put them there.
However - in commercial kitchens, plug in refrigeration is required by the NEC to have GFCI protected receptacles. The justification is that shocks (electrocutions?) have been caused by plug in refrigeration equipment, and the equipment should not trip a GFCI. UL standards, I have read on the internet, are max 0.5 ma leakage to ground. Presumably starts should not cause trips.
IMHO tripping a GFCI is a warranty issue (if still in waranty). If you connect to a non-GFCI circuit, it would be a good idea to measure the ground current. One way to do that is to use a clamp-on ammeter on the ground wire. Might not be important if leakage is 10ma, but 250ma? gfretwell? posted recently that ground leakage could be the sign the compressor is on the way out.
(Contains some bogus info, like grounds on a receptacle do not have to
I KNOW FOOR A FACT THERES NO REGULATION FOE GROUND PINS DOWN! In commercial buildings TODAY ground pins are frequently UP. So that say change dropped cant short the 2 power prongs of a plug, thats happened here not good:( Today in new construction they frequently put ground up for switched outlets those on a wall switch and ground down for those powered at all times. frankly I think ground up si better for short prevention.
Honestly I dont know about the nuber of outlets on a GFCI, they have GFCI breakers are seemingly such a breaker is allowed to serve all the outlets on a circuit.
I ran into the GFCI hassle when selling my other home I included a freezer and had it plugged into a dual receptable non GFCI. Freezers and washers, fridges, and dishwashers are exempted from GFCI requirements specifically because of nuisance trips.......
I ended up changing the dual receptable to a single to make the buyer happy since nothing else could be plugged into the outlet but the freezer., buyer backed out of deal next buyer didnt want freezer ended up installing GFCI, which was a hassle the box was too small....
I agree with the links!
Incidently the GFCI code for requiring in COMMERCIAL kitchens works because thew quality of commercial freezers is way better than residential and besides the cost of a cheap real commercial freezer can be 5 grand and up, they are built to better standards and its more likely a GFCI tripped freezer off would be discovered fasst
. GFCI outlets (so called "Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters") work on the principle that if there is a difference in the current flowing in the live and and neutral wires, it MAY be due to a ground fault. So the device trips for protection. GFCI are mandatory in many jurisdictions for 'wet' or outside locations. And probably provide a better level of protection when using an electric lawn mower, electric shears in the garden etc. However an unbalance may occur whenever any motor including, compressors, start up. For that reason it is recommended that such devices as feezers, fridges etc. NOT be plugged into GFCI outlets. There are stories of people coming back from vacation to a disconnected fridge/freezer ........... phew!
You have a bad compressor and I would have Matag replace it. Refrigeration frequently pops GFCIs but it is because of internal shorts in the compressor ... period! If you don't believe that, try it with a 2 prong to 3 prong adapter and stay away from the strap/pigtail. The GFCI will hold, which eliminates any "inductive load" bullspit. If you do the same thing on a non-gfci oitlet and connect a small neon tester to the floating ground it will flicker or just stay on solid. That should tell you something.
Things that trip GFCIs have ground faults. It may not be a serious problem if you have them solidly grounded but you are still paying for all that arcing and sparking that goes in inside that sealed compressor. That is one reason why an old fridge costs more to run than a new one. Han a clamp on ammeter to the ground and see how much more.
Or the possibility that there is another bad component or a frayed wire. Take off the panel on the bottom and look at all the wires. There is a fan down there, does it spin freely? Did the fan blade clip a bare spot on a wire? There is most likely another fan in the fridge that blows cold air from the freezer (probably hidden). Did water get in the light bulb socket? (unlikely, but check everything). It's probably under warranty, but it never hurts to check the common stuff yourself. Could even be a mouse or pet chewed a bare spot on the cord, and if the happened, your warranty would not cover that, so you may as well tape it. Just look around for bare spots and burnt marks, an be sure any fan you see is freely turning. Just for grins, take out the lightbulb and see if that does anything, because the filament may have broke and re-touched itself and is drawing too much current. Very unlikely, but possible. If you dont see any problems, get out the warranty papers.
As others said, DO NOT use a GFI for your permanent outlet. In a garage, you can likely add a non-gfi right next to that same outlet pretty easily unless you have finished walls in there.
U/L never allowed any ground leakage in any refrigeration equipment. These faults develop after the unit is installed and run for a few years. They are so common that people assume refrigeratorse are supposed to trip GFCIs. The only way manufacturers will start making compressors that don't fail with this type of fault is to make them replace them on warranty.. Remember this leakage to ground makes the meter spin a little faster. It is happening inside the sealed compressor so you don't know until the winding burns completely out and either stops running or trips the circuit breaker. If you cut open the freon lines on a fridge that trips a GFCI you will see burned oil and smelly freon coming out.
The never "tried" anything. The code always gets stricter and the exceptions are falling away with every code cycle. That language is not in the code anywhere. There are some exceptions for receptacles that are behind fixed in place equipment but that will all be going away with the 2008 code. If the 2008 code comes outthe way the current draft is written ALL 120v branch circuits will be AFCI and that includes 30ma level GFCI protection as part of the AFCI standard. The industry is actually edging toward making AFCIs with full 5ma protection. The appliance manufacturers have a couple years to get their products fixed.
As it is now and has been for the last several cycles, the only way you can avoid GFCI protection is if the receptacle is behind the refrigerator and not accessible without moving it. The same is true for anything installed in a garage or unfinished basement. If your fridge is outside you get no relief at all. As of 2005 there is no relief for the washing machine plug either if it is within 5 feet of the laundry sink. That is not all. In 2008 you will need child proof receptacles everywhere. That is a receptacle that will not accept anything but a regular cord cap (aka plug). A shutter covers the holes.
Don't shoot the messenger! If this pisses you off send a comment to NFPA before October and write a letter to your local polititians and tell them to reject these articles when the code gets sold to them,.
ORIGINALLY GFCIs were REQUIRED on freezers and fridges. After many complaints this rule was changed to a SINGLE receptable that could JUST plug in say a freezer, or a dual receptable blocked or behind say a fridge where NO access is to the remaining unused outlet
My knowledge of this and its history from a middle group inspector when selling my other home a couple years ago.
The code always gets stricter and the
You know I am ALL for safety BUT they should consider the large base of existing equiptement like freezers fridges, washers, dishwashers that are old and werent designed to not trip a GFCI.
the government goes nuts protecting us sometimes:(
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