GFI?`

[picksbigwagon]

so we are having an issue with our 2 year old high eff. washing machine. The machine keeps stopping and won't turn on. The "technician" from sears came out and told my wife it was not the machine's fault but the GFI and that we should get rid of the GFI and put in a regular plug. He claims the GFI is wearing out and that is why the machine stops working. OF course my wife pointed out to him that the GFI has NEVER POPPED....so is he right or am I correct in my analysis of his shortcomings as a repairman

[JohnMickish]

GFCIs do go bad.

Motor run appliances will trip GFCIs because of the induction caused by starting the motor.

If the GFCI and/or breaker does not trip and the washer does not run, the sears guy is wrong.

Hope that helps.

[CAMAN]

An easy way to test his theory would be to grab a heavy duty extension cord and plug it into an outlet on a separate circuit. If it runs you probably do have an issue somewhere in the circuit. Also check your voltage at the outlet. But any competent repairman would NEVER recommend removing a GFCI from a wet location.

[picksbigwagon]

But any competent repairman would NEVER recommend removing a GFCI from a wet location.

EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!! I think I will be calling Sears tomorrow morning and requesting a different repair technician to be sent out and look at the 2 year old machine.....

The GFI NEVER TRIPS either....but he didn't want to acknowledge that when my wife pointed it out to him

[Dave]

I have a similar condition I'd like to ask opinions on. When my house was built, there's two GFIs next to the breaker box, for temporary service while under construction.

Last year, the bottom GFI, that I have my air compressor plugged into, would trip the breaker during cold weather compressor start ups. The GFI does not trip, just the breaker.

I plugged the compressor into the other GFI and everything works fine.

The GFI's are on separate circuits.

I just verfied these actions minutes ago with today's temperatures. During the summer, both GFIs will power the compressor. Only during colder temps will this one GFI outlet trip the breaker when used for the compressor. Other items are powered just fine.

Do I have a weak breaker?

Thank you

[delcecchi]

Breakers are for overload conditions. GFCI is for shorts to ground (like through a person). Sounds like the breaker. Both the same type and size?

[Dave]

Yes, same size. I guess I've never had a weak breaker. Thanks.

[JohnMickish]

Compressors are hard to start when cold which leads to the over current condition. I wouldn't be so quick to jump on the weak breaker bandwagon without putting a meter on it first. It could just as easily be the other breaker is a bit stronger than it should be, or it could be of different design, like a shunt trip instead of a mag trip.

[Dave]

Oh, don't worry, I'm not gonna make work and replace the breaker....lol. I'll just use the other one.

[Surface Tension]

Some new compressors come with break in oil and should be changed after so many hours.

Even if you've done that, if the compressor is stored in an unheated space I'd replace the oil with a synthetic. If you don't, there is a good chance the other breaker will start to trip like the other did. Yes they go bad and if they've been tripped often they go bad sooner then if they haven't been.

As to the washer stopping without tripping the GFI.

I'm only guessing that the repair guy thought maybe you have a cheap $1.99 GFI.

Of coarse replacing that with a 25 cent receptacle wouldn't be an upgrade either.

Anyway could be the contacts inside the receptacle are worn out. Take a look at the plug for any evidence of bad connection. Could be the smart washer is detecting a drop and shutting down. Or it could be that your using the wrong type soap and the washer shuts down.

[picksbigwagon]

Thanks Frank, the funny thing is, the dryer is hooked into the same GFI and we haven't had an issue with that at all......

[LightningBG]

Picks,

Is there a laundry sink near the washer and drier?

If not, I don't believe you need a GFI. (unless unfinished basement, outside, in the garaged, etc.)

Also, depending on you appliances, maybe you are overloading them and the washing machine is sensing some type of irregularity and shutting down. (I'm not sure how "smart" these new machines are).

If it were mine, I'd pop a regular outlet in there and give a few days. Maybe the guy is right after all. I'd certainly rather replace an outlet vs having to wait around for another service guy to show up.

[Dave]

22 year old house. I don't believe my washer/dryer outlet is GFI.

[picksbigwagon]

Hasn't happened again since he left.....he didn't do a thing to it, I wonder if unplugging it just did something. Yes there is a sink right next to it

[cavalierowner]

There is another outside possibility. We had the same kind of issue with a Whirlpool Cabrio. It did that shutdown thing just once in a while. In the beginning, we could get it started by just unplugging the washer for a while and plugging it back in. Finally even that didn't work and the front panel (brains) had to be replaced. If fact it was replace again once more for the same thing a year after that. When it started acting up a third time I got mad and junked it!! Thank goodness we had an extended warranty the first two times, those things are EXPENSIVE!!

[McGurk]

Sounds like a poorly grounded outlet (GFI or not) to me. I had a buddy that went through 2 refrigerators (under warranty after some not-so-kind words) before I came and had a look. The outlet used for the fridge had NO GROUND, and was simply hot and neutral. My father in law has sold and installed appliances for most of 40 years, and said that a lot of new appliances need a good ground in order to not fry themselves out. He has to pony up for the warranty replacements in some cases, so he makes sure his installers check the outlets they are plugging into. Sometimes looking in the outlet box isn't enough, and you have to trace it back to the breaker box and ground strip, too.

GFI's aren't going to do any good unless they have a SOLID ground lead, either. They will either pop all the time or not when they need to if they aren't wired correctly, and in some cases just replacing on non-GFI with a GFI isn't enough to make it do what you are hoping it will when it needs to.