Kitchen Small Electric Appliances - Whirlpoo Microwave keeps tripping GFI

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sqwirls1
02-26-09, 09:44 PM
My Whirlpool microwave recently has tripped the GFI in the kitchen, which is the same switch it has been plugged into for the last 4 years. I ran an extension cord to another bathroom gfi switch and plugged the microwave in, and it trips the bathroom gfi as well. I also plugged the microwave into a non-gfi switch and the microwave work perfectly. Any ideas on what I should be looking for?

idmason60
03-01-09, 04:32 PM
Its apparent that the ground faults have detected a ground return short and are doing exactly what they are suppose to do and that is trip. It could be just about anything electrical inside the unit including the cord. Most of these units come without any schematic to trouble shoot and there are some seriously high voltages inside... as high as 4000 volts on the magnetron.
Unless your familiar with this type of circuits it might be better to leave it to professional or just purchase a new one. I would not under any circumstances use the microwave on a non GFCI
circuit. It might cause a possible fatal shock to the user.