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Electric BBQ breaks GFI 20 Amp breaker yet works fine with non-GFI breaker.

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Electric BBQ breaks GFI 20 Amp breaker yet works fine with non-GFI breaker. BoyntonStu 05-25-2007
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Posted by BoyntonStu on May 25, 2007, 2:01 pm
A 1650 Watt element will go on momentarily but then causes the 20 Amp
GFI to break.

I tried it on 2 different GFI breakers.

When plugged into a non-GFI circuit, it works fine.


There are a few possibilities that my meager mind considered:

1> There is some current in the neutral leg. Multimeter does not
show anything.

2> Buy a higher Amp GFI.

3> The GFI is more sensitive to a load near its 20 Amp rating.
1650Watts/(20 x 115)

4> And the no-no answer, replace the GFI with a non-GFI breaker.

Any suggestions?


Posted by Jeff on May 25, 2007, 2:14 pm
As the coils heat up they may leak enough current to ground to trip the GFI
breaker. Using regular breaker let unit heat up, quickly pull the plug and
measure resistance between hot lead and ground lead.


>A 1650 Watt element will go on momentarily but then causes the 20 Amp
> GFI to break.
>
> I tried it on 2 different GFI breakers.
>
> When plugged into a non-GFI circuit, it works fine.
>
>
> There are a few possibilities that my meager mind considered:
>
> 1> There is some current in the neutral leg. Multimeter does not
> show anything.
>
> 2> Buy a higher Amp GFI.
>
> 3> The GFI is more sensitive to a load near its 20 Amp rating.
> 1650Watts/(20 x 115)
>
> 4> And the no-no answer, replace the GFI with a non-GFI breaker.
>
> Any suggestions?
>



Posted by Jeff Wisnia on May 25, 2007, 4:32 pm
Jeff wrote:

> As the coils heat up they may leak enough current to ground to trip the GFI
> breaker. Using regular breaker let unit heat up, quickly pull the plug and
> measure resistance between hot lead and ground lead.

Agreed, and so you know what to look for, anything less than 50,000 ohms
is likely to cause that GFCI to trip.

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.


>
>
>
>>A 1650 Watt element will go on momentarily but then causes the 20 Amp
>>GFI to break.
>>
>>I tried it on 2 different GFI breakers.
>>
>>When plugged into a non-GFI circuit, it works fine.
>>
>>
>>There are a few possibilities that my meager mind considered:
>>
>>1> There is some current in the neutral leg. Multimeter does not
>>show anything.
>>
>>2> Buy a higher Amp GFI.
>>
>>3> The GFI is more sensitive to a load near its 20 Amp rating.
>>1650Watts/(20 x 115)
>>
>>4> And the no-no answer, replace the GFI with a non-GFI breaker.
>>
>>Any suggestions?
>>
>
>
>




Posted by Doug Miller on May 25, 2007, 6:27 pm

>Agreed, and so you know what to look for, anything less than 50,000 ohms
>is likely to cause that GFCI to trip.

Hmmmm....

120V / 50Kohm = 2.4mA, which I think is a bit below the trip threshold. I
believe I'd be looking for faults on the order of 120V / 5mA = 24,000 ohms or
less.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Posted by Jeff Wisnia on May 26, 2007, 1:56 pm
Doug Miller wrote:
>
>
>>Agreed, and so you know what to look for, anything less than 50,000 ohms
>>is likely to cause that GFCI to trip.
>
>
> Hmmmm....
>
> 120V / 50Kohm = 2.4mA, which I think is a bit below the trip threshold. I
> believe I'd be looking for faults on the order of 120V / 5mA = 24,000 ohms or
> less.
>

Whatever...If it's already as low as 50K then it's probably on its way
to getting even lower the next time the humidity rises. <G>

Peace,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

Page 1 of 2       1 2 > last >>
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