Third time a charm?

[Mowbizz]

Sucks. FYI, It's about 1.5hrs to Plainfield, NH! :stirthepot:

Iknow! Thx for the reminder!

Finally spoke to the service guy and it seems I may have gotten the runaround last Wed. when I called for a status. At that time the person I spoke with had said that a brand new replacement block heater was installed and that it too was popping their GFI circuit. This morning the guy says he has had the heater out and on the bench and cannot make it fail. Hmmm...who's telling the truth?
I tend to believe the 2nd guy that I spoke to this morning. He started asking which "breaker" was popping and I told him my garage GFI ckt and all he could suggest is to "make sure it's a 20 amp ckt" which it is. I then went on to say that the outlets in the garage are the same ones that worked when the block heater was working last...with no ckt popping. Not sure what to think now except that they cannot bring my tractor back until next week as they don't do Saturday deliveries...no wood moving this weekend.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Not sure where you are but you can rent a trailer in Tilton for 4hrs for surprisingly little money.

 

[Mowbizz]

Not sure where you are but you can rent a trailer in Tilton for 4hrs for surprisingly little money.

I actually, have a small dump trailer that would be able to handle the BX but with the BH and FEL on, it would be hanging out front and rear...just didn't want to go thru the hassle.

 

[Mowbizz]

Well the BX is back and according to the service tech he said they couldn't make it fail. I tried it again in the garage and it pops the GFI.
Tried it on the house outlet on the deck (separate from the garage) and it's fine...block heater heats up with no breakers popping).
Now I have to trouble shoot the garage outlets and see what I can find out. Everything else works except the block heater. Compressor, battery charger/maintainer, etc all work from the garage outlets.
Have a call into my electrician who wired my new garage a year ago.

 

[Mowbizz]

Well, my electrician says that there is "something finicky" in the connection to the block heater that is causing the GFI to pop. In other words there is a "ground fault" somewhere between the block heater and the outlet. He said to try an adapter with no ground to see if that works. We'll see...

 

[Citydude]

Well, my electrician says that there is "something finicky" in the connection to the block heater that is causing the GFI to pop. In other words there is a "ground fault" somewhere between the block heater and the outlet. He said to try an adapter with no ground to see if that works. We'll see...

Can you try it in another outlet? GFI's can become weak. They are not without their faults. Pardon the pun...

 

[Billrog]

Try a different extension cord preferably #14 wire.

 

[Mowbizz]

Can you try it in another outlet? GFI's can become weak. They are not without their faults. Pardon the pun...

Every outlet I plug into pops the GFI at the beginning of the circuit. I was thinking of trying replacing the GFCI outlet...thx!

 

[Mowbizz]

Try a different extension cord preferably #14 wire.

Have tried 4 of the heaviest cords I have...thanks!

 

[radioman]

Here is the thing. Gfci has another feature you haven't thought of. Its made to detect low levels of current and quickly shuts off. When the heater block ages it doesn't heat as efficiently when new hence low levels of current. Im sorry.. You might have to replace gfci to afci. The afci will trip if wired overheats ... Well... It supposed to that way. What size wiring is your circuit? 12 2? Are you using 20 amp plugs ? Hint it has a side slot on one of prong insert. Are you using a short 12 or 10 gauge extension cord?

 

[Fallon]

A GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter. They sense when current is going to ground rather than neutral & shut things down. Ground is a safety wire & any current leaking to ground indicates a problem. Even worse is when current leaks to your body instead of ground (which is what a GFCI is designed to prevent).

GFCIs can go bad & need replacement. However if your GFCI is in your breaker box or the first outlet in the circuit, it protects every downstream outlet. So trying different outlets doesn't help. Try a different GFCI entirely, not the same one using different outlets.

 

[Mowbizz]

Here is the thing. Gfci has another feature you haven't thought of. Its made to detect low levels of current and quickly shuts off. When the heater block ages it doesn't heat as efficiently when new hence low levels of current. Im sorry.. You might have to replace gfci to afci. The afci will trip if wired overheats ... Well... It supposed to that way. What size wiring is your circuit? 12 2? Are you using 20 amp plugs ? Hint it has a side slot on one of prong insert. Are you using a short 12 or 10 gauge extension cord?

Thanks for the suggestions. As far as I know everything is 20A. I can't find anything written on the yellow extension cords except they are rated at 15A (no wire gauge).
My BX only has about 220 hours on it so I can't imagine the block has degraded so much.

 

[SLIMSHADIE]

Mowbizz it has to be your GFCI, they do go bad. When your block heater worked from your house but not the garage, thats they key. Especially even after the dealer. Different cords and plugs but that dang GFCI keeps popping!!! Its bad...

 

[Mowbizz]

Mowbizz it has to be your GFCI, they do go bad. When your block heater worked from your house but not the garage, thats they key. Especially even after the dealer. Different cords and plugs but that dang GFCI keeps popping!!! Its bad...

I hope you're right!
I'll have to change that out.

 

[Mowbizz]

Well, the block heater worked as intended with one of those "no ground" adapters. Until I get a chance to try changing the GFCI outlet this is how I'll utilize the block heater.
I was careful and kept an eye on things as it was connected and no problems were seen with using it this way. Somehow, there is something on the BX/block heater that is bleeding a trace of current to ground. Beats me what it is though...worked like a charm last winter. I'm no electrician nor an engineer...I just want things that WORK like they're supposed to.
Safety police, no need to lecture on using the "adapter" :thumbsup: