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« on: June 10, 2002, 04:22:00 am » |
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Have a Cavalier CE-6 that worked fine for a while, then suddenly started causing the 15 amp GFCI outlet to trip. The machine is used in an outdoor sheltered location that requires GFCI protected circuits. I've ruled out the light fixture, the fan and the circulation motor as the problems. When the compressor is wired in, the GFCI outlet trips immediately.
Appreciate any suggestions.
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Jim
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« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2002, 05:43:44 pm » |
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Is this a GFCI breaker or receptacle?
If it's a receptacle, you could also replace the GFCI with a regular outlet provided there's no inspection and you don't have a GFCI breaker protecting this circuit. As far as the code is concerned, are you doing work on something that will reguire an inspection...?
GFCI outlets are very sensitive to protect people from getting shocked; the compressor may be drawing a peak amperage draw that exceeds the 15 amp GFCI and thus trips or may have a two wire system and getting some backfeed on the neutral (white wire) from the compressor and tripping the GFCI. You might attempt to replace it with another 15 amp GFCI and see if it continues... There're about $8 - $12.
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My six cents, Jim  |
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johnieG
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« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2002, 06:17:44 pm » |
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 Stop! does this machine have a 2-wire plug with a pig-tail ground wire? Or a 3-wire grounded plug? Also do you have a voltage meter handy? (not a neon light kind) |
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Spoon-feeding Newbies since 2001...  Yeah..220,221 whatever it takes. Remember, all it needs is a shot of Freon! The Vendo V-83 is the '59 Edsel of the coke machine world. ;p Spray painting does NOT restore a compressor 11 is louder than 10... "Hope" is good, but it's not an action plan. |
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johnieG
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« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2002, 10:35:27 pm » |
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You can do a quick test of the compressor windings using a neon tester, But DO be careful! this will check for shorted windings to ground, the neon tester will limit the current to a fraction of an amp. see the example.
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Spoon-feeding Newbies since 2001... Yeah..220,221 whatever it takes. Remember, all it needs is a shot of Freon! The Vendo V-83 is the '59 Edsel of the coke machine world. ;p Spray painting does NOT restore a compressor 11 is louder than 10... "Hope" is good, but it's not an action plan. |
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Guest
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« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2002, 11:16:43 pm » |
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The circuit has an outdoor GFCI receptacle, with three additional receptacles wired from it. There is also a ceiling fan and four bulb fixture wired into this circuit. The Cavalier is plugged into one of the three additional receptacles. When it trips the circuit, I need to go reset the outdoor receptacle to re-power the circuit.
I am not too anxious to give up the GFCI protection since the whole circuit is in a pool area.
I had to replace the original GFCI receptacle, because the original would no longer reset. The new receptacle also trips as soon as I plug in the Cavalier. I tried some other loads including an 1800 watt hair dryer, and they do not trip the circuit.
The Cavalier has a three prong grounded cord. I have a multitester, and measured 130 volts at the receptacle today. I also have a Cavalier manual, and followed the troubleshooting guide, but couldn't find any unusual readings. I notice some cracked wires to the compressor and replaced them ... but still didn't solve the problem.
Today I tried firing up a generator with 110 volt AC (no GFCI) and the Cavalier started up and ran fine. Then I tried plugging a GFCI extension cord into the generator and plugged the Cavalier into the extension cord. It still ran without tripping the extension cord's GFCI. But if I try plugging it into the regular outlet, the circuit GFCI trips right away.
With the Cavalier running from the generator, I tested the compressor terminals, and measured 130 volts across the black and white leads, and 100 volts across the red and white. The whole machine was drawing about 260 watts. I did not know about testing for a shorted compressor winding and will check that out tomorrow.
Thanks in advance for any additional suggestions.
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Jim
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« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2002, 09:40:15 am » |
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That's very strange... It trips your GFCI outlet but not the one in the extension cord... If the compressor was grounding out, it should have tripped any GFCI device; so maybe we can rule that out...
You mentioned that you have replaced this GFCI outlet before; what prompted the replacement last time? Was the cooler plugged into this receptacle prior to the replacement?
Simple as it may sound, but have you checked to make sure the ground is still entact on the cooler or cord?
I'm beginning to get to the end of my list of solutions...
Good Luck!
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My six cents, Jim |
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Guest
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« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2002, 07:58:48 pm » |
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A GFCI measures the imbalance of current between the hot and nuetral, and trips when the imbalance exceeds (I think) 60 micro or milli amps (been awhile since I saw the specs.). It is not intended to limit current, as a breaker does, but to prevent someone from being electrocuted when the current in the hot leg (the device and someone in the circuit to ground) exceeds that in the nuetral (the current through the person plus the normal current would be greater than the current through the nuetral.
So -
Look for a high resistance short to ground from each of the terminals on the compressor to the shell. While one of those terminals is neutral, it should not be "grounded" to the compressor casing. And the other two terminals are the start and run windings for the compressor. Check for any high resistance film on the comprssor terminals, the start relay (or start cap and relay). This can cause the same problem.
Mark
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