Surge Protector Keeps Tripping

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mechelement

New Member
Dec 30, 2013
33
Kuna, ID
I shut the Whitfield down today because of how warm it was. I started it back up tonight, but the surge protector keeps tripping. Not sure why. The stove keeps shutting down and I'm left with a burning pile of pellets.

It won't trip if I reset it, then immediately turn the pellet stove off.

It will trip if I turn the pellet stove back on and right before or just after ignition.

Time for a new surge protector?
 
Try it W/O the surge protector..... unless of course the lights in your house are flickering ;)
 
Surge protector is integral within power cord. I don't have another cord. I'm going to have to pull some of the back panel out just to get this thing unplugged because the connector isn't fastened to the panel as it should be.

Sorry I didn't mention... Whitfield Profile 20 FS.
 
I got the thing unplugged... The surge protector is indeed a an inline GFCI. Ericson XG-14-6S, 120V 15A 1800W 60hz.

Now I need an appliance cord and a true surge protector.
 
That GFCI is primarily a "ground fault circuit interrupter" and not a surge protector, unless it has that function built into it somehow. It protects you from electrical shock if something is amiss with the wiring that causes the electricity to go where it's not supposed to and will trip the circuit to protect you.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/question117.htm

If the stove is properly wired internally and does not have a fault I would not think it would trip a GFCI unless a problem had developed somewhere, although GFCI can fail within themselves. This linked tester is cheap and might be a worthwhile purchase to check your electrical outlet. If you have an old house the wiring might not be grounded properly
http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-3-Prong-Receptacle-Tester/16561511

Does the GFCI trip with nothing plugged into it and plugged into the wall outlet?

Yes, you should have a surge protector for the stove. It protects the electronic control on the stove from transient voltage surges/spikes that may occur on the power grid.
 
Never put a GFCI on a washing machine or pellet stove. The large motors cause them to trip!
 
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Don2222 said:
Never put a GFCI on a washing machine or pellet stove. The large motors cause them to trip!
Click to expand...
Inrush current?

I think per electrical code (MA), I believe in a cellar where there is a concrete floor or near plumbing, a GFCI is required to be installed either at outlet or at the breaker panel. Most washers are usually in these types of locations. Pellet stove does not have a large motor. Swimming pool pump could be a fairly large motor and requires a GFCI.
http://homeinspectionmassachusetts.com/know-your-home/gfci-receptacles/

The OP doesn't need or require a GFCI on the pellet stove, but if the GFCI is not faulty in itself, it brings to question if there may be a problem with the outlet circuit or the stove, at least to me.

What is being delivered by the "hot" side of the AC is not going back through the "neutral" side and is possibly going where it shouldn't be.
 
I have found GFCI's way too fussy for me and use them as little as possible (I would rather be electrocuted then having to constantly "reset") Since most power tools are double insulated, I have never had to pay "the price" I work in the chit & shine-ola all the time...mud up to my eyebrows..._g
 
MarkF48 said:
What is being delivered by the "hot" side of the AC is not going back through the "neutral" side and is possibly going where it shouldn't be.
Click to expand...
Or the Chinese POS ...GFCI has "chit the bed"
 
No large motors on a pellet stove.

My stove is on an AFCI (GFCI on steroids).

That GFCI is telling you something isn't exactly correct.

Most of my house is on one or the other.
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
No large motors on a pellet stove.

My stove is on an AFCI (GFCI on steroids).

That GFCI is telling you something isn't exactly correct.

Most of my house is on one or the other.
Click to expand...
I have never seen a pellet stove work on a GFCI try it Smoke
 
I tested the receptacle and it is functioning correctly. I used a tester similar to the one posted above. The house is 6 y/o where the pellet stove is installed.

The inline Eircson GFCI that keeps tripping is Made in the USA. A properly functioning GFCI pointed out that my old coffee maker's element cracked and was exposed to water.

I hope the issue is the Ericson GFCI and not the stove.

Home Depot claims to carry Tripp Lite surge protectors. I'm going to see if they have an appliance cord and quality surge protector.
 
mechelement said:
It will trip if I turn the pellet stove back on and right before or just after ignition.
Click to expand...
Since it appears to be related to the operation of the ignitor, I wonder if there is carbon or other contaminent build up on or around the ignitor that could conduct back through the ground of the stove and the power cord and thus imbalances the AC current that should flow back to only the neutral. As I stated before it's not needed or required on a pellet stove and so long as the outlet serving the stove tests good it's unlikely the stove would pose a shock hazard, which is the primary reason for a GFCI.

Some GFCI's do fail and get overly sensitive and that is a possibility. Hook it up to something else for a while and see what happens.

It might be interesting to contact Whitefield and explain to them what is occurring and see what their spin is on it.
 
I believe Whitfield no longer exists.

It definitely trips when the ignition blower is on and right before the pellets ignite.

I pulled the back panel and cleaned it all out. I started the stove and watched to see if I could see anything trip. I couldn't see anything that would cause it to trip.

When it tripped, I reset the GFCI and immediately shut the stove off. The stove was full of smoke and ignited. Now it's completing the off cycle. It won't trip when cycling down to turn completely off.
 
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I cut the incomer and outgoing wires off of the inline GFCI, stripped the cord sheathing back, stripped the 6 wires, wire nutted the 3 pair, plugged it in and fired it up. Works friggin great.

We will find out if there's a real issue if the house panel breaker trips. I'm certain the inline GFCI was faulty.

Now I'm willing to pony up for a quality surge protector and new appliance cord.
 
Well... It was working. It shut off when it hit the set temperature.

It won't light. Zero heat whatsoever.

I think the GFCI was working and would trip because of an issue with the ignition system.
 
mechelement said:
I tested the receptacle and it is functioning correctly. I used a tester similar to the one posted above. The house is 6 y/o where the pellet stove is installed.

The inline Eircson GFCI that keeps tripping is Made in the USA. A properly functioning GFCI pointed out that my old coffee maker's element cracked and was exposed to water.

I hope the issue is the Ericson GFCI and not the stove.

Home Depot claims to carry Tripp Lite surge protectors. I'm going to see if they have an appliance cord and quality surge protector.
Click to expand...

I looked for Tripp Lite surge protectors at the Nampa HD and didn't see any, so I ordered mine online.

Lennox makes the Whitfield stoves now.

Does your stove have the Photo Eye to monitor the exhaust gas temperature? See if this page helps: http://www.hearthtools.com/parts/lowlimit.htm
 
I get vintage camera manuals from this guy and after Googling Whitfield it turns out he has some info on Whitfield pellet stoves. I haven't looked at it yet, but I believe there might be a diagram of the control that may be some help in troubleshooting

Maybe you already have this....
http://www.butkus.org/whitfield_pellet_stove.htm

Does the control or other parts of stove have any odor of burnt electronics?
 
MarkF48 said:
I get vintage camera manuals from this guy and after Googling Whitfield it turns out he has some info on Whitfield pellet stoves. I haven't looked at it yet, but I believe there might be a diagram of the control that may be some help in troubleshooting

Maybe you already have this....
http://www.butkus.org/whitfield_pellet_stove.htm

Does the control or other parts of stove have any odor of burnt electronics?
Click to expand...

I've read that page, but may have missed an igniter replacement writeup.

Not that I could tell. When the GFCI kept tripping, I'd have a fire without any fan, so there was black soot accumulation on the tubes inside the stove. When I hard wired the plug and thought it was fixed, I could smell an almost rubber smell coming out of the tubes where hot air comes out, but assumed it had something to do with the soot.

It's going to fall to single digits here within the next day or so. I don't want to run the heat pump and will more than likely manually light the stove. Perhaps this evening.

Everything else seems to function properly - auger and fuel feed, blower fan, combustion air, startup (sans ignition) and shutdown.

I do know that I cannot adjust the fuel feed and combustion air from the control board per the owners manual instructions.
 
Sounds like it is your igniter to me. When my Traeger BBQ igniter is bad, it will trip the GFCI.

Did you see this diagram in the link I posted last night?
 

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ZBrooks said:
Sounds like it is your igniter to me. When my Traeger BBQ igniter is bad, it will trip the GFCI.

Did you see this diagram in the link I posted last night?
Click to expand...

I did, thank you. Is this electrical test performed with the stove off or running? The igniter appears to be under or behind a hopper of sheet metal. I will have to pull the stove from its pipe to work on it. I really don't want to do this until I have the new igniter and fuse because it appears as though fans may need to be removed.

I found an igniter/fuse/no-seize combo here: (broken link removed to http://woodheatstoves.com/whitfield-igniter-element-pellet-stove-ignitor-p-320.html?cPath=499_502)

Looks like the kit to buy.
 
BTT. I bought the aforementioned igniter, pulled the stove, removed the old igniter and fuse. The old fuse was toast. Is it safe to assume the fuse pops when the igniter goes bad? I'm going to install the new igniter and fuse now.

I had to pull a blower motor to get access to the igniter. Since I have it out, I plan on cleaning it all out. not sure it'll really make a difference, but it is dirty. Should I blast compressed air through it to clean the fins? It says these motors don't need to be oiled because they're sealed.
 
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I blow air through the motor itself, too, to get dust off of the windings and internal fan. The first time I did it on my used stove, I was astounded at the amount of dust that blew out. I do it annually now, and some dust comes out, and the motor is clean and running cooler now.
 
That fiberglass gasket on the blower motor didn't survive. So I had to order one. Now I can't even fire it up to see if it works properly.

I uninstalled both morors and air hosed them out, including inside the motor hoisin as well. An insane amount of crap flew out.
 
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