Any electricians in the house?

[montanadave]

My parents have been having problems with a GFCI outlet tripping repeatedly (twice in the past two weeks). The outlet is in the garage and has a refrigerator and a small freezer plugged into it. In addition, there are a couple of yard lights with a photoelectric on-off switch on the same circuit.

Their home is approximately 30 years old and I'm guessing the GFCI outlet is the same age. Do these outlets "wear out" with age and become more susceptible to tripping? When this problem first occurred (and ruined a bunch of frozen goods in the freezer when my folks failed to notice the freezer was off), I thought it might have just been a fluke with the compressors for the fridge and the freezer both kicking in at the same time, but it seems that if this were indeed the cause, it would trip the breaker at the panel, not the GFCI outlet.

Any ideas as to what the problem might be or quick diagnostics which might narrow down the possibilities before I call in an electrician?

[Suwannee Tim]

You absolutely should not have freezers on a GFCI for the reason you recently discovered. The GFCI is not sensitive to current magnitude, as when two compressors come on at the same time. It is sensitive to current balance, if the current out does not equal current in very closely it trips. Current out - current in = ground fault > some small value -> TRIP! You could have a small ground fault which may be hard to find or the GFCI might be on the fritz. Either way, get a GFCI free feed for those freezers. You can rewire the circuit so the freezers are above the GFCI or drop a new circuit. A new GFCI would might or might not solve the problem. Did it rain or snow just before the incident? That may have caused a ground fault.

[MarshallDodge]

I have a similar issue with a freezer in the garage that is on a GFCI breaker. What is weird is that it never trips when we are home but if we leave for a couple days then it will happen. It has never tripped long enough to cause any thawing issues.

There are a couple outlets in the bathroom above the garage that are on the same circuit so I don't want to swap out the breaker for a standard model. My theory is that there may be some capacitance somewhere in the circuit that causes the issue.

[Suwannee Tim]

I doubt it's capacitance causing trips. Could be an intermittent ground fault. Put another outlet next to the GFCI and wire it parallel to the wires entering the GFCI. GFCI has two hots and two neutrals, one of each in and one of each out, and a ground of course. That or move the GFCI to the next outlet downstream.

[MookNW]

Swannee's right
If the GFCI controls the bathroom outlets, you'd change the outlet box to a double and wire the line in to a regular plug, then to the GFCI, then the load out to the bathroom.
If the GFCI only controls the outlets on the garage, (Large garage) you could move the GFCI device to the next outlet in the chain, and replace it with a regular outlet.
If your house is 30 yrs old though, the GFCI probably controls the bathroom plugs.
Either way, change out the GFCI and don't plug a fridge or a freezer into it....or any plug that is controlled by it.

[montanadave]

Montana code requires GFCI protected outlets in all potentially "wet" locations (i.e. basements, garages, bathrooms, kitchen counters, etc.) so wiring in an unprotected outlet "upstream" from the GFCI puts me in code violation. With my luck the freezer blows up, burns down the house, the insurance company refuses to settle, and my dad kills me (with my mom's blessing).

Any other tricks?

[MookNW]

If you wanna come off the existing circuit in the garage, you could install a single receptacle(opposed to a duplex) that would designate it for 1 thing, the freezer.
I recommend running a new circuit from the panel.Hopefully it's in the garage. A single receptacle for a dedicated appliance in the garage is not required to be GFCI protected, nor is a duplex receptacle for two appliances. That's National Code. MOntana may vary.
Reference NEC 2005 210.8 (A)2 exception 2
Sorry, 2008 book is in the truck, it's cold out.
Can't afford a 2011 book.
Perhaps this code has been revised.
-Mook

[ucrt]

.

GFCI do wear out, especially if they've tripped a lot. I'd change it and see how it works.

To stop the nuisance trips: Take a look at all of the receptacles on the GFCI circuit. They could have bad covers allowing water in, bugs (ants) inside that get wet and cause a trip, rust, and so on...

At good appliance/parts stores you can buy alarms for freezers that get above 105 degrees or build something that alarms when the power goes off.

.

[montanadave]

Appreciate the responses and suggestions.

Called an electrician acquaintance this AM who confirmed several of the previous posts. He confirmed that a fridge AND freezer on the same GFCI outlet would definitely cause problems with nuisance trips, that GFCI outlets do evidence "wear and tear" with repeated trips, and the best solution is to drop a dedicated circuit to the garage expressly for the fridge and freezer.

Given that this is my folks' house, not mine, I'm handing this chore off to the licensed electrician who said he'd drop by this afternoon to size up the situation. Again, thanks for the advice.