[Matt Walker]

I bought one on an on line auction. I was told it was working however it pops the GFI in the shed. I only have fifty dollars in it so it was worth the cost just for a place to keep rods. Curious for opinions on repairing it is it worth having one working if I can get it done for a reasonable cost. Everything I do is in a shed outside not heated or cooled so the elements do take a toll on rods that aren't used right away.

[Poland308]

https://www.nema.org/Products/Documents ... tation.pdf
There may be a very small short to ground inside the cabinent. It may not be enough to trip the breaker but still be enough to trip the gfci. Depending on length of wire from your panel to the gfci you may be tripping due to the heater element drawing power so fast that it trips the gfci. Or the gfci could just be going bad. If code doesn't require you to use a gfci you could just switch out the plugin for a regular one. But before you do I would plug it in to a regular plugin to see if it trips the breaker.

[DLewis0289]

First a couple things......The rod oven is a resistance load not an inductive load so there will not be a high inrush current. Also we have to understand how a GFCI works, a lot of people assume it is a grounding issue (sorta in a bad grounding/bonding way on a fault). The way they work is looking for an imbalance between phase and neutral (or phase to phase). In the simplest terms if you clamp an amp meter on the "hot" wire and then the neutral wire there should be within 6ma (UL requirement) difference anything higher it is saying....."wait a minute I know there should be exactly the same amount of current on both of these wires and if not it is going somewhere, don't know where but it is leaking".

If not in a wet location why connect to a GFCI? Jut follow proper grounding/bonding protocol.

[Poland308]

Some cities require a gfci on any plug within 10 ft of a door that goes to outside.

Edit. I just didn't want to get him jammed up by telling him to get rid of the POS gfci.

[DLewis0289]

Hadn't heard that one. Not NEC must be some local jurisdiction stuff. "All wiring must comply with NFPA-70 (NEC) and Local Jurisdiction Electrical Codes" I have probably typed that a million times on drawings lol.

[Poland308]

Yeah local inspectors can sometimes make a rule on the fly and next thing you know is in stone.

[DLewis0289]

Yep and no matter how stupid it is, it's an argument you will never win and Heaven help you if you get one on your bad side.

[Matt Walker]

Thanks for the advice I'll try another outlet to start.