I added a 20 amp circuit to the basement. The circuit breaker is 20 amp, the NM cable is 12 gauge (yellow), and it goes straight to a GFCI outlet. There is one regular outlet past the GFCI, connected to the GFCI’s load terminals. Both outlets are 20 amp (i.e., they have the notch in them). After connecting everything, a circuit tester reads okay in all four outlets.
Things seemed fine with the following items plugged in: 37” LCD television, 100W receiver, cable box, and an 8.8 cubic foot freezer chest. There was no problem merely plugging in a treadmill, but as soon as its motor started the GFCI tripped. Nothing changed on the circuit breaker — it didn’t trip at all.
The treadmill is over ten years old, and worked regularly as recently as a month ago. This is the first time it has been plugged into a GFCI outlet.
How likely is it that the items on the circuit are overloading it? How does an overload relate to the GFCI outlet? If there is an overload, shouldn’t the circuit breaker have tripped? Could it be related to the initial draw of the treadmill’s motor? Save installing a second circuit, is there anything I can do?
Oh, and do I call them outlets or receptacles?
Thanks,
Unplug the other stuff and only have the treadmill on the circuit. Give it a try. You will need to determine if it’s a defective treadmill or GFCI if it trips. I think you are saying that the GFCI is rated for 20 amp and not 15 amp correct? It would be a good idea to add up all the power usage ratings for all the items on the circuit. That is easy enough to do.
the GFCI trips when there is a small imbalance of current in the hot and neutral wire, this is intended to prevent electrocution. this happens often with high current draw motors when they start.
in the USA basement receptacles are required to be on a GFCI circuit. exceptions are dedicated circuits for things left plugged in with motors like freezers, refrigerator, sump pump. you could make a dedicated receptacle for the treadmill (could be same circuit if the total current allows, though before the GFCI). any nonGFCI receptacle should be labeled as NONGFCI so you don’t use it unsafely.
they are receptacles though people also call them outlets.
Apparently alot of treadmills will not operate with a GFCI, there may be a built in GFCI in the treadmill and this would cause them to trip because you cannot run them in series.
Yes, the treadmill seems to work fine all by itself. I’d always read warnings that GFCIs do not protect against overload, just circuit variation, so this was new to me.
And oh, crap. Following the lead in the thread, I dug out the treadmill’s manual. Buried but not hidden: “Important: The treadmill is not compatible with GFCI-equipped outlets.”
How do I find out if my county/town provides an exception for installing a regular/non-GFCI in the basement and what’s entailed? Do they need to be x feet higher? Anything special?
I’ve observed the same phenomena with other fairly powerful motors in GFCI outlets: a commercial blender, a hair dryer that was fine on ‘low’ but would interrupt on ‘high’, a vacuum cleaner, a vibratory sander. Simply put, there’s a rush of electrical current that energizes the magnetic fields the motor needs and the GFCI doesn’t see the return current until the device is turned off. This appears to be a ground fault to the GFCI so it interrupts. Both the outlet and device are ok, they just don’t work together properly.
I have some foggy memory that I could fool certain GFCI plugs by turning the device on and then plugging it in.
Homeowners are required to follow codes as well. Sure they can ignore codes and do whatever the hell they want because the odds of getting caught are low. Keep in mind the code is written with consumer safety in mind. Generally not a good idea to disregard safety measures.
Counties and town may have specific codes but for the most part they simply use National Electrical Code Standards(NEC) You can pick up a copy of NEC2008 at most bookstores or electrical suppliers.
To answer your question though. The outlet would need to be dedicated for only the treadmill. As the outlets are now they are ‘convenience’ outlets. Meaning you plug or unplug things into them at your convenience. To make one of them dedicated for the treadmill you would remove the duplex outlet(2plug sockets in one box) and replace it with a single socket. That socket would only be used to plug the treadmill in semi permanently. ie you then shouldn’t use it for any other purpose.
GFCIs do not trip on over load. But series motors, and some DC motors can and will trip them.
My solar room outlets are on GFI breakers. Booting up my a computer in the solar room the GFI trips. My solution I have a small isolation transformer plugged in to the outlet and the computer pluged into the transformer outlet.