Nuisance Tripping GFCI Commercial Kitchen Receptacle

[mdshunk]

I know that the UL standard for home use appliances only permits 0.75mA of leakage current. Is this the same for commerical equipment?
Don

I darned near typed that yesterday, but I'm not sure. That would be something interesting to look into. I was unable to snag a UL file number from a piece of commercial refrigeration equipment to use as a starting place.

 

[M. D.]

I know that the UL standard for home use appliances only permits 0.75mA of leakage current. Is this the same for commerical equipment?
Don

Isn't that a larger number than .006 and isn't this the amount of current that a gfci should have tripped at??? I'm confused ,...they tell me new fridges should not be a problem ???

 

[480sparky]

A milliamp is 0.001 amp. 5 milliamps would be 0.005 amps.

Don stated 0.75 milliamps, which would be 0.00075 amps.

Unless my math is wrong.....

 

[sparkycheesehead]

Thank you all for the feedback. I should have megger results today then I will hopefully have the option of forcing the manufacturer to fix their problem (I don't know why this did not occur to me - Thanks Marc).

 

[sparkycheesehead]

For what its worth, here is what a manufacturer of GFCI receptacles provided to me:
"Per the NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) 'Application Guide For Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters', refrigerators and freezers should be effectively grounded. These types of appliances may have high electrical leakage caused by moisture. When these appliances are on a GFCI protected circuit, the leakage currents could exceed the GFCI trip threshold and cause the GFCI to trip. (NEMA 280-2002, para. 5.20) Please note, this applies to GFCI receptacles (Class A)"

NEMA recognizes this as a problem related to refrigerators and freezers. Thanks again.

 

[dnem]

NEMA recognizes this as a problem related to refrigerators and freezers. Thanks again.

Recognizes is step one but what is their solution or suggested course of action ?

 

[jim dungar]

Recognizes is step one but what is their solution or suggested course of action ?

Get rid of the moisture?

NEMA is stating that there is leakage current in excess of 5mA. This is a dangerous condition and is not a "nusiance". What solution would you recommend if an outdoor portable fountain pump kept causing a GFCI to trip?

 

[dnem]

Get rid of the moisture?

NEMA is stating that there is leakage current in excess of 5mA. This is a dangerous condition and is not a "nusiance". What solution would you recommend if an outdoor portable fountain pump kept causing a GFCI to trip?

Replace the pump with one that has a sufficient moisture barrier between the water and the motor windings.

 

[mdshunk]

For what its worth, here is what a manufacturer of GFCI receptacles provided to me:
"Per the NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) 'Application Guide For Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters', refrigerators and freezers should be effectively grounded. These types of appliances may have high electrical leakage caused by moisture. When these appliances are on a GFCI protected circuit, the leakage currents could exceed the GFCI trip threshold and cause the GFCI to trip. (NEMA 280-2002, para. 5.20) Please note, this applies to GFCI receptacles (Class A)"

NEMA recognizes this as a problem related to refrigerators and freezers. Thanks again.

I understand what NEMA's saying, but I disagree on their assessment of the cause. Save for these units I just talked about with leaky mullion heaters, each and every refrigeration unit that I've found to be leaky was due to hermetic compressor internal trouble. I very much suspected winding breakdown to be the root cause. There is no moisture inside a hermetic compressor, since domestic refrigerators and freezers are cap tube systems, and any moisture at all would cause the unit to not refrigerate.