Chest freezer keeps tripping breaker...

[JVD_X]

It could be the outlet itself. I had a house that was a good 60 years old and the outlets were probably redone sometime in the 70's... the plastic was crumbling and a few of the outlets would constantly trip even though the load was minimal. I replaced the receptacles and everything was fine.

BTW - check your grounds... most of my receptacles were not grounded.

 

[Coastarine]

Do you know what kind of breakers they are?
Federal Pioneer, Siemens, Westinghouse,
The Federal Pioneers (Stab-Lok) AFCI Breakers are Light blue and have a small test button on them. They work similar to GFCIs but are meant to trip if they detect a small arc in the AC wires. Here in Canada they are required by the Electrical Code in all bedrooms. And certain electrical appliances will trip them. Usually, these appliances are not typically found in bedrooms. Appliances with relays, and larger motors will sometimes trip them. But a Lamp will not. To make things worse, the same appliance can trip an AFCI once, and might not again for a few days.

dp

Wow, you sir may be a genius. I just went out and looked at the breakers. There are two that are not like the others, and this is one of them. It's GE, light grey, and has a small white rocker switch. One side says "test short" or something like that and one side says "test arc". It has now been hours since it tripped.

 

[Coastarine]

It could be the outlet itself. I had a house that was a good 60 years old and the outlets were probably redone sometime in the 70's... the plastic was crumbling and a few of the outlets would constantly trip even though the load was minimal. I replaced the receptacles and everything was fine.

BTW - check your grounds... most of my receptacles were not grounded.

I am the first person to live here since the owner redid the whole interior. All of the outlets are new. From what I can tell he does good work.

 

[Dpostman]

Well, A freezer compressor IS definitely an appliance that can trip and Arc sensing breaker. If you want to leave the Freezer in that room and don't want to keep an extension cord in the way, you can plug the freezer in an old UPS, and it will filter any arcing that the compressor would create and not trip the breaker. Or Swap out the breaker for a Standard one, but if your electrical codes are like here, if that room could be used as a bedroom, those breakers are required.


dp

 

[Coastarine]

...you can plug the freezer in an old UPS...

What's that?

 

[Pete08]

My used keezer was working fine, then I opened the lid, fiddled around, and my radio went off. I checked, and the GFI tripped. With the keezer plugged in, it would not reset. I unloaded the %*#@ thing and wheeled it to my neighbor's for his diagnosis. I plugged it in an extemely high amp outlet at his place , it came on and cycled. I shrugged my shoulders, wheeled it back home plugged it in and reloaded. 1.5 months later, no problems? His diagnosis-a possible air lock in the compressor that the extra amps were able to overcome. Whatever, it works!!

 

[Dpostman]

What's that?

UPS: Uninterruptible Power supply. The Battery backups that yo plug computers into in case of power interruptions.

 

[Coastarine]

I'm going to try putting it in the laundry room which is on a 20 amp circuit, not arc sensing. The laundry room is not air conditioned, which may put a little more load on the fridge, but the fridge was putting more load on the AC if it's inside the house I guess. It's not as hot as it would be outside/in the sun so I don't think it will be a big power increase.

 

[Coastarine]

Interestingly, in the laundry room when I plugged it into the GFCI it tripped immediately. It's now sharing the washing machine outlet and doing well.

 

[Dpostman]

GFCIs are also a little finnicky, the ones in our washroom trip routinely with my hair/beard clipper.

I'm glad the freezer is going to work out for you.

dp

 

[Howler]

My father, who does a lot of construction and electrical work, says that compressors should not be plugged into GFIs. We had to run a new line in my garage for my kegerator. I don't remember if he said that the compressors will trip them a lot, or if it can hurt the compressor. As a side note, the Plug for the fridge in a kitchen is typically the only one not on a GFI.