[Shop-talk] Treadmill tripping gfci

[cornerexit]

Howdy,

 

I have a treadmill in my shop and have been experiencing difficulties with
it tripping the gfci, or tripping the little internal breaker on the
treadmill itself. Usually happens at about the 20 minute mark into a 30
minute walk. Seems intermittent, some days it works fine other days not so
much. Tends to trip more on me (heavier) than my son, obviously I'm putting
a bigger load on it. Also trips more when it is cold out. It was 30 degrees
in the shop today and the treadmill only made it 15 minutes into the
session.

 

When I wired the shop I wired each circuit with a gfci in it, usually at the
beginning of the circuit so that the downstream outlets would be protected
as well. The circuits are 20 amps, with appropriate wire, breaker, and 20amp
gfci outlets, all to code, passed inspection etc. There are no other devices
operating on the circuit when the treadmill is going.

 

Are treadmills usually pretty hard on a circuit? I've tried different gfci
outlets and it still trips them. Should I pull the closest gfci outlet to
the panel and replace it with a non gfci 20 amp outlet and see if still
trips the breaker on the treadmill?

 

Thanks

Wayne