Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - Start of spin cycle trips GFCI

Hi there,

About a month ago, my washer would just stop at the start of the spin cycle. The water would not be drained and that would be all. I found that the breaker on the GFCI outlet that the washer is plugged into had popped out. Pressed it back again and the washer went humming all dandy and pleased. So was I.

For the next one month I had no problem. And then yesterday it started again. We reach the spin cycle and GFCI trips. Resetting the GFCI gets washer working but it trips again at the start of the spin cycle.

I plugged the washer into a non-GFCI receptacle and problem goes away.

Am I dealing here with a faulty GFCI or something potentially wrong inside the washer? I am going to replace the GFCI this afternoon as it is quite old, but still wanted some expert opinions here.

Thanks much in advance.:coffee:

You answer your question within your post really....change out the GFCI.Although there is a small possibility that it is not the whole problem,it is likely a major part of it.The only real way to determine if the washer is also faulty is to change the receptacle and with it also being "old" it's not a bad idea regardless.It's not a hard job to do and the receptacles are not expensive so there ya go.

Front loader type washers Whrilpool type have a ground switch that if not pushed will some times pop the GFI. The only type washer I know of that will do it.

Running GFCI's on appliances can be a blessing (will prevent you from getting a sustained shock) and a curse(if they go out unexpectedly, on an ongoing nuisance basis). They are more sensitive. Someone I knew had their garage freezer on a garage GFCI outlet, and their freezer went out, and food started thawing. I told him to, at the least, use an HD extension cord, with a lighted plug end, and have the plug end exposed next to their garage door so they can always see the light, to know outlet is working.