Do I have wiring problems, do I need to call an electrician? The circuit breaker can trip if the grill is used on the same circuit as another appliance or if electrical requirements of the grill are greater than the circuit can provide. The grill was used every day for the week before so it should have been dry and not damp. | Guest Editorials | yakimaherald.com - Yakima Herald-Republic, OUR OPINION: Pump the brakes on income tax elimination - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. • Do not use this appliance if the circuit does not have GFI protection. My outside outlet is tied to a GFCI receptacle. Meanwhile, go thank the GFCI for doing its job and saving your life/apartment. Want to join the discussion? Hmm to be honest I did not even look into fixing it yet. Your email address will not be published. I have a 3 year old Cherokee electric grill (12Amp draw) made by TEC. I had to run a heavy extension cord inside to a non-GFI plug. Thank goodness for building codes and GFCI. Will a Tripped GFCI wired at the end of a circuit kill power to all receptacles in that circuit? site design / logo © 2021 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under cc by-sa. Same thing. I never had trouble in 3 years until today. Hmm. Electrical - AC & DC - New AFCI tripping - So, a house in my neighborhood burned down, presumed electrical fire. Plugged in the smoker, set the time, set the temp and doink! Do you have a link to where I can order these? So the electrical juice is flowing to the pellet grill for starters. A ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) is a circuit breaker designed to prevent serious shock to people or animals under certain conditions. That smoker coil acts like a short when it starts, same reason large electric motors have starter units - to limit voltage drop on the line due to amperage surge. Except for one small thing: The GFCI circuit breaker keeps tripping, shutting off the power to your spa just when you’re settling in for a soak. Tried again. The new opinion editor is asking - The Columbus Dispatch, Opinion: To save the lives of children and families, Colorado needs safe gun storage - The Colorado Sun, Opinion: Letter to the Editor: Missing: Conservative Voice in Black Community - Virginia Connection Newspapers, Guest opinion: How do we judge truthfulness? Do the Quick Jump and Powerful Leap feats work together? When you turn it on there is a large current rush and voltage drop, much higher than the steady state operating amperage. Especially if the outlet interrupts with the same appliance every time then the problem is the appliance not the outlet. I just bought the heating element replacement kit and replaced it. When a GFCI senses a ground fault, it shuts off the electric current within a fraction of a second. This can be caused by water, wires touching, dust or debris, etc. Searched online for this situation and found a lot of people have trouble with their smoke plugged into a GFI outlet. How to map gamepad inputs for my platformer? This might be the most un-self aware book cover of all time. Why is the breaker tripping on electric smoker. They said it sounded like I needed a new heater element (what most online said), I said OK. It’s no secret that like most things, GFCI outlets do not last forever. So I’ve had my Masterbuilt electric smoker for a good 3 years. - Disconnected the load line from the GFCI outlet. A GFCI shouldn't trip on current alone. I’m taking it to the dump and wouldn’t recommend anyone getting that product. The grill element (inside the casing) is touching the out casing itself, and short circuiting all; that is the reason why the GFI is tripping. rev 2021.2.26.38670, The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Home Improvement Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site, Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, Learn more about hiring developers or posting ads with us, Sounds like you have a ground fault in the smoker and the GFCI is protecting you. Shorting hot to neutral won't trip a GFCI - currents are still equal. The GFCI is tripping for a reason. • If your residence was built before 1971, check with a qualified electrician to determine if a Ground Fault Interrupter protector exists. You may want to check it out before purchasing another element or heating pad. where moisture can get inside the heating element and trip the GFCI. The imbalance when it trips is very small like 5 milliamps. Why does Donald Trump still seem to have so much power over Republicans? Hi Melvin, If you have a DMM (Digital MultiMeter) or access to one, you could use its' Ohmmeter function and do some static tests (tests without power connected) which may give a clue as to what is going on. Why is clothing turned inside-out my weakness? GFCI Outlet Trips with Receptacle TEST Button, but not with GFCI Outlet Tester Tool, help me interpret the results of an outlet tester on some GFCI receptacles. Tried a non-gfi plug. Once the current stabilizes it should run OK, problem is getting it started. I decided I wanted to try and upgrade my breakers to afci to avoid the same fate. How to just gain root permission without running anything? What is the purpose of a targeted email without any meaningful content? I need to cook some porkribs 2day. How is money destroyed when banks issue debt? In fact, although they can have a lifespan of about 15 to 25 years, some GFCI’s can fail as early as 5 years. Small amounts of electrical current may leak to ground if the GFCI outlet and circuit components are not protected and they become wet due to a non-weather proof cover or box. I have an electric grill that keeps blowing my GFCI in the bathroom. GFCI Keeps Tripping / Circuit Breaker; Computer/Display Doesn’t Turn On . also … This leakage is caused by a hot wire touching the ground somewhere on the electrical line such as an appliance or even the outlet itself. Older ones sometimes tripped for false positives, but that's very rare with modern fuses/interrupters. 1) Can you plug a portable radio or a small table lamp that has a smaller load into the receptacle where the grill was plugged into and does the breaker trip? Mine was well worn, plus, as I discovered, you have to remove it to take out the heating element anyway, so…. I’m thinking I’m going to have to do the same. Replacement was rather easy. It might be that the grill is operating as it was designed to, and it's simply drawing more current than is safe for a typical outlet. Thanks for contributing an answer to Home Improvement Stack Exchange! It only takes a minute to sign up. Sometimes seconds. Things I've tried: - Replaced the 20+ yr old GFCI outlet. Check if the gaskets are in place to prevent water intrusion. This was the cause of the GFCI tripping. Old washing machine trips 20 amp GFCI outlet but never trips 20 amp breaker: ok to install 30 amp GFCI outlet? Same thing. Do some troubleshooting on the grill to find out if you can repair it, or need to replace it. If a microwave or electric oven exceeds the amount of electrical current the circuit can handle, the breaker could trip. When I plug in my smoker, the GFCI TRIPS. Sometimes it can go hours between trips. As you can tell from the picture below, it was time to replace the element. Since 1971 the National Electric Code (NEC) has required Ground Fault Interrupter (GFCI) devices on all outdoor circuits. I'll look into that. Especially if the outlet interrupts with the same appliance every time then the problem is the appliance not the outlet. Kitchen or bathroom. So, there are three main types of wirework in your property: The Live wire; The Neutral one; The Ground. But regardless, a 25-A smoker on a 15-A circuit (as an example) is certainly a bad idea.