So I went to our standing freezer in the garage this morning to get an ice pack and was greeted by water and a few hundred bucks worth of defrosted meat. Thought the freezer had died until I pulled it out from the wall and noticed the gfi outlet had popped. Reset it and all is well. My question is, can I simply swap the gfi outlet out for a regular outlet to avoid this issue again? Is a 20 amp duplex receptacle and cover sufficient?
Technically a regular non-GFCI receptacle will work, however!
Since 2008, GFCI outlets have been required for “all 125-volt, single-phase, 15 and 20-amp outlets” in the garage. In fact, both the NEC (National Electric Code) and the IRC (International Residential Code) require this.
I would use the correct GFCI as required by the "Authorities Having Jurisdiction" aka your local electrical inspector. If you swap it out and someone dies from electrocution or the place burns down, you will probably have a lot bigger problem both emotionally and legally. Find out what is causing it to trip and fix whats actually broken.
Last edited by LennyB; 12-18-2019 at 03:06 PM.
The GFI is not the problem. But if you must replace it with a non GFI receptacle but also change the breaker to a GFI that will cover the complete circuit.
More then likely you have a freezer issue
I would tend to agree with this. GFI popped for a reason most likely. The compressor could've gotten to LRA and popped it. Check the compressor in the freezer to see if its hot or check voltage/amp draw to see if its drawing too much. Most often, those things never get looked at after put wherever... the coils get plugged and end up over amping the fan or compressor.Originally Posted by spider1
The problem could be another outside receptacle tied to it, a drop cord plugged in left in the rain, christmas lights etc...
Regs say NO, must be GFI. If you do swap it and something goes wrong, say a fire, your insurance will not cover it
A gfi won't trip due to excessive amperage . Gfi's measure the amperage in both wires, if they are different (.002 amps) then it trips. Something shorting to ground causes it to trip.
How old is the receptacle you are using
Ding, Ding.
We had the same issue with a freezer. Fortunately, when I caught it, everything was still frozen.
The GFCI did its job.
Start looking for another freezer.
If it is in the garage take all the lower and rear covers off, clean everything you see with compressed air nozzle, check fan op.
You may want to install a freezer alarm to alert you if the temperature rises beyond set-point. Amazon has many models from cheap hard wired to phone alerts through wifi.
2000 Viper Coral 202
2013 Pro XS 200
GFI's can be tedious with age, thunderstorms and cheap china builds. I would replace it and plug a cheap radio or table light, etc in the same outlet with the freezer as a tell tale. Check the coil on the freezer and make sure it isn't plugged and check the fan blades for funk too. Check all the plugs associated with that GFI run
How about running a dedicated circuit to a single non GFCI receptacle for the freezer.
1996 ProCraft 185 DC Pro, Mercury EFI 150
Can't you plug the freezer into a non GFCI outlet? That's what I did.
My gfci trips due to my outside light. Once in a while rain water causes it to trip. Not often but once in a while.
How about an arc fault interrupter socket? I have two of them in my wood shop. I put them at the beginning of each circuit. Never had any problems. Plus I plan on using an AFI breaker, to the shop and garage gfci's are just too finicky. Kind of like having satellite TV
I have had that problem happen to me this year and found that it was my battery charger on my new boat (old boat and charger had no problem) was plugged into the same circuit and when the charger went from charge to maintain mode it would pop every time. My advice would be find the problem and address it vs taking away the safety
Mike Beachy 2020 TRX 21 250 Pro XS 4S
Use a GFCI with audible alarm to indicate tripped condition.
https://www.legrand.us/passandseymou.../2097traw.aspx
"Sensitive is feeling a February jig bite in 35 degree weather, 25' deep and 30 mph winds. Not crying at some movie..."
Xcite Baits
A arc fault is not the same as a GFI, and Hammerhead is right when they age they get fussy at best. 90% of the time that is the issue when no other problem is present. CJ
2002 X19 200HP OX66 HO Vmax,HPDI lower, it lives, thanks Hydro Tec.
It only take one time of "what's that smell" to teach you not to have a freezer on a GFCI...
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