English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

sometimes the power for my fridge in the kitchen goes out. it never happened before, but now, it happens at least once a month or so. then my dad has to reset it. i happen to know that the outlet if gfci, the one with the test and reset tabs. i was wondering what causes this power loss to happen?

2007-10-23 09:06:52 · 6 answers · asked by fleea 2 in Home & Garden Maintenance & Repairs

6 answers

It has nothing to do with the power surge when the compressor starts.Motors should never be put on a Gfci circuit.Motors leak a very small amount of electricity to ground through the armature as they age and this is common but it is also the thing that a Gfci circuit is designed to trip for because a very small amount of electricity leaking to ground through a person could be deadly.

2007-10-23 15:55:33 · answer #1 · answered by scott_kel 4 · 2 0

As one of the other answers stated GFCI's are normally used in bathrooms and kitchens near water fixtures. A refrigerator doesn't need to be plugged in to them. Sometimes the initial power surge when a fridge kicks on will blow the GFCI outlet. I would replace that GFCI with a standard outlet. Wiring is the same, so it is pretty simple.

2007-10-23 22:28:59 · answer #2 · answered by ewick173 2 · 2 1

your fridge should be on a curcuit by itself. do you have anything else plugged into that curcuit?also the gfi do wear out you really dont need a gfi for a fridge plug.they should be used close to wet zones like outside or by a sink . try replacing the plug outlet with a standard outlet.

2007-10-23 16:18:10 · answer #3 · answered by Tio 6 · 2 0

Ewick and scot are right. Don't use a GFI for the fridge. And yes you should have a separate circuit for the fridge. Many many years ago that wasn't the case.

2007-10-24 03:31:17 · answer #4 · answered by len b 5 · 1 0

When the compressor for the frig kicks on, it is pulling more amps than the GFI can handle. The surge kicks the breaker off.

2007-10-23 17:26:05 · answer #5 · answered by sensible_man 7 · 0 1

the motor in the fridge is asking for to much power, electric motors in general should not be hooked to these type of outlets

2007-10-23 16:19:37 · answer #6 · answered by Herman 4 · 1 2

fedest.com, questions and answers