Author Topic: More breaker tripping ?  (Read 818 times)

VA-Norm

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More breaker tripping ?
« on: November 20, 2021, 01:54:58 PM »
I have the same problem that has been commented on earlier.
My GFCI trips maybe 5 minutes after I turn the smoker on (no matter the temp setting).
The heating element is hot; and the cord has no obvious damage.
I did give it a good cleaning a couple of days ago, after it had not been used for a year or so; but it seems perfectly dry.  It has always been stored in my garage.
Any ideas what these symptoms suggest?

old sarge

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Re: More breaker tripping ?
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2021, 06:18:05 PM »
Hard to tell.  Smoker is fairly old but should be ok.  Find something in the house that pulls the same or greater amps under load (and make sure you load it) or one that generates heat and has same or greater amp rating, plug it in the same outlet, and run it. What happens? If nothing, remove the back of the smoker and look at the connections,  Something might be corroded or a connection has worked itself loose.
After cleaning, there could be residual moisture an area not easily seen. Leave it open where the sun can get to it and maybe dry out what little moisture may be left.
Checking it in the dark, is the element sherry read?  Any dull or dark areas? See this link:
http://www.appliance411.com/faq/test-element.shtml
David from Arizona
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RalphM

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Re: More breaker tripping ?
« Reply #2 on: November 27, 2021, 03:25:29 PM »
Just had the problem with tripping the GFCI a few weeks ago.  The issue was that the internal heating element had developed a high resistance path to ground. The exterior of the heating element should show no reading to either of the connections on the element because the exterior is grounded to the smoker case.    Measured it around 65K ohms.  Just enough for the GFCI to trip.  When I removed the heating element, I re-verified the reading. You can't accurately measure the resistance to ground with the heating element still wired in.