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	Subject - GFCI. PROTECTED OUTLETS WELLSEROUSKI IT'S BEEN MY EXPERIENCE WIRING HOMES THAT PEOPLE PUT FREEZERS OR REFRIGERATORS IN THEIR GARAGES WHICH THE OUTLETS THEY ARE PLUGGED INTO ARE PROTECTED AND THEY TRIP OUT. IV'E CALLED TECH. SUPPORT AT LEVINTON AND THEY WON'T ADMIT THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM. I KNOW ANY DEDICATED OUTLET FOR AN APPLIANCE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PROTECTED BUT AS USUAL THIS IS THE USUAL CASE WITH HOME OWNERS. WHY DO THESE CIRCUITS TRIP WITH THESE APPLIANCES? blackrd good question. I would think it shouldnt happen if the appliance is fairly new,in good working condition. Most fridges Ive seen in garages have been pretty decrepit, thats the only thing I could think of, unless theyve got a cord set plugged into the other plex,and thats laying across the damp concrete, laying outside, etc. Ryan_J The problem is fridge has too much leakage current. Like Blakrd said, they are typically old and decrepit units. New fridges shouldn't trip a GFCI. kbsparky You will often find that garage outlet circuit also feeds one or more outdoor receptacles. Whether there is something plugged in out there or not, a driving rain can have an adverse effect on that GFCI device sitting there in the garage. Too often we will blame that tripped GFCI on whatever is plugged into it. Just remember the number of times we have had calls that found a tripped GFCI receptacle with nothing plugged into it! ME thinx that outside influences such as powerline surges, moisture in an outside receptacle, etc. can contribute to an appliance's apparent tripping out of your run-of-the-mill GFCI. By itself, that refrigerator or freezer would not have leaked enough current for it to trip the GFCI, but if you add in the other factors, it may be enough straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back lctrc789 I do not know the reason for a GFCI to trip when a fridge or freezer is plugged in, I do somewhat agree that the floor of the garage and the outside outlets do have a lot to do with this. Pool motors, garden tubs and hot tubs all have GFCI breakers or recpts, and they seem to work fine.... I try to practice the fact that if you have have a fridge or freezer on these you could have problems, nothing worse then losing a freezer or fridge full of food. blackrd It sounds like alot of us series wire the gfi in a garage, that is feed into the line side out on the load side of the gfi, using standard receps for the rest of the job. I havent been doing this myself. Its more expensive to gfi every recep in the garage, but easier on you ( and your fridge or freezer) when you kick one outlet and the others are still all hot. I was under the impression Mr.W was faulting only on the gfi at the fridge, and that all the other appearances were protected individually, and werent the problem.. Alfred Blackrd I always put refrigator and freezer on their on dedicated circuit. I advise home owners to to the same. If you can get advanced information before the home owners move in then most of those problems would be solved! Thanks Alfred Johnson blackrd Good point. Communication is the key to good service, good service is the key to repeat buisness, repeat buissness is, ah you get the point. lctrc789 You are right, I explain till I am blue in the face, as well as give letters of explanations (about new services) read previous post where I stated that these really help a lot. I supersede the code requirements when it comes to circuits, recommend, freezers, fridges, and almost all recpts. in kitchen be on a seperate circuit. I know that does mean a litlle more wire and a few more breakers, but I do not get calls about tripped circuits and have had several repeat customers for years. Explain, understand, and listen is all a part of good quality workmanship to the customer who has little or NO knowledge.... WELLSEROUSKI Clarification..The way I wire garages is that I put two GFI. protected circuits in. Nothing going outside and only general purpose outlets on the circuits. I've even run into the problem where the buyer install a sprinkler system and the installer plugs the transformer into one of these protected outlets and it trips when the cycle begins and there is nothing else plugged in other outlets.What-up with that??