Fermentation Chamber Defrost issue

[StrmStlkr]

Just a little back story. I have created a temperature controller from a controller I had purchased off of Ebay. Essentially it provides power to a duplex outlet with the hot side tab broken, so one outlet will be for cooling and the other for warming. There is a thread located in this section for it. It works great.

Problem is I have come home twice from work to see that the power was off to the controller and the GFCI outlet I had it plugged into was tripped. At first I thought it was the compressor for the fridge or the start relay. I ohmed both out and they work fine. The problem is that the start relay was never getting any power to it. Looking at the schematic it appears that power is coming from the defrost timer/switch. I reset this switch and the fridge started right up. It appears that the defrost timer/switch is the culprit.

I have a few questions about this:

1. Why would this cause the GFCI to trip? My understanding is that it would just stop the compressor from getting power until its defrost cycle was finished.
2. Can I simply bypass the defrost timer? I have no problem manually defrosting the fridge every once in awhile as long as I can ensure that my fridge is working correctly so I can maintain proper fermenation temps.
3. If the above is possible, why shouldn't I just bypass the thermostat defrost timer/switch and everything. Basically have power going directly from the outlet to the evaporator fan and then to the start relay? My temperature controller is now effectively the thermostat.

Thanks for your help.

~Brian

 

[studmonk3y]

Can't tell you why its causing your GFCI to trip, but why use one in the first place? Most people use them when using electric elements, I've never heard of anyone using them for temperature controllers.

 

[StrmStlkr]

After looking into it a bit more I have a feeling it is tripping the GFCI at the compressor startup. This being an older unit it there can be a spike in current when the compressor turns on, which would cause the GFCI to trip. I have since plugged it into a none GF protected circuit in the garage and will monitor. My last two questions still stand though. Is there any harm in bypassing the defrost cycle or thermostat in this current setup?