block heater tripping GFI

[BigDaveZJ]

Checked all the connections and they're all dry, or at least the plug in the bumper is. As soon as I plug it in, POP goes the GFI. Not the greatest night for this to happen, supposed to be in the single digits tonight and I have to be at work at 9AM. I moved the extension cord to the one non-GFI outlet in my garage and so far so good, but it's the same circuit that the garage door opener is on and I really don't want it to trip the circuit as there's still several feet high snow drifts on the side of my house by the breaker box. Truck is outside too BTW, hence the need for the block heater.

Anything I can do to help prevent this? We've had snow on the ground and snowpacked streets for over 2 weeks now, and it's not going away anytime soon. Keeping that area dry seems like it would be kinda tought. Only thing I can think of is a plastic baggie and a rubber band around the plug for the block heater. What are you guys all doing to keep this from happening?

TIA

 

[94f450sd]

you cant use a gfi plug.the GFI is made to sense a short circuit and trip.the block heater is basically a short circuit wich is why it keeps tripping the GFI.now if the plug that is on the same circuit as the garage door opener is the only thing other than the door on that circuit you should be fine.

 

[Frankenstien]

yup.... what 94 said... had to learn about it the same way...

 

[whatabudro]

Works fine on my GFCI circuit.

 

[CHPMustang]

What I learned it's all about the quality of the GFCI outlet for there's cheap(new home production) and quality outlets that cost a few bucks more but worth it in my opinion

 

[DaveBen]

CHPMustang is correct. Cheap GFI outlets cause us nothing but problems. We don't even install them any more.

Dave

 

[trackspeeder]

I have no problems with a GFI circuit breaker. 1 breaker covers 3 outlets.

 

[bushpilot]

What I learned it's all about the quality of the GFCI outlet for there's cheap(new home production) and quality outlets that cost a few bucks more but worth it in my opinion

interesting...i dont have this problem on our new house...and i didnt
have any problem on our older house (which was only about 8yrs old)

 

[BigDaveZJ]

It had only tripped a couple times before last night, when it would trip as soon as I plugged it in. But the block heater is on a regular outlet now, I just need to find a way to run the extension cord other than falling from the ceiling right in the middle of the garage!

And my GFI outlets aren't cheapies either. Can't remember what they were, but the buddy of mine that wired them up always goes overkill.

 

[roosterdiesel]

What gauge is your extension cord and how long is it?