Will a microwave run on a GFCI circuit or will it trip the GFCI?
I read somewhere washers will not work on a GFCi circuit-
what about a microwave oven?
Thanks
Will a microwave run on a GFCI circuit or will it trip the GFCI?
I read somewhere washers will not work on a GFCi circuit-
what about a microwave oven?
Thanks
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Replies
Should be ok.
We have 7 or 8 sitting on counter tops, and next to sinks. No nuisance tripping to my knowledge, and I am the building maintenance electrician. We also have ice /water machines on similarly protected circuits.
Dave
IIRC, Code says small appliance circuit must be GFI-protected. Unless you run a dedicated line for the micro, it'll be connected to the SAC and on the GFI. Never seen a tripping problem with this yet.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Thanks.
Some web sites -maybe old- talk about the possibility of tripping.Thanks again
"IIRC, Code says small appliance circuit must be GFI-protected. Unless you run a dedicated line for the micro, it'll be connected to the SAC and on the GFI. Never seen a tripping problem with this yet."Not exactly. It says those receptacles serve the kitchen counter top have to GFCI protected.But other receptacles in kitchen, dinning room, and pantry can be on the small appliance circuits. So if it is a wall recepctacle and the MW is on a cart then it does not need to be a GFCI.Also the microwave could be in a home theater or rec room..
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Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
"IIRC, Code says small appliance circuit must be GFI-protected." "Not exactly. It says those receptacles serve the kitchen counter top have to GFCI protected."
Ahh! True enough -- I equated countertop receptacles with SAC receptacles and assumed that's where the micro would be plugged. Not necessarily so! However, the reason I mentioned it was that probably 90% of micros are plugged into GFI-protected countertop receptacles and I've never seen any problems caused solely by doing so.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Would that would apply if the the MW was an under the counter or in upper cabinet too? Usually a dedicated or at least semi-dedicated one is in the cab for built-in from what I have seen.
No. Only those receptacles that serve the countertop need GFCI protect. I have to look up the exact wording. But basically those on the backsplash area. But there are options where you can use tombstone receptacales (typically on an island) or mounted on the outside of the cabinet within a few inches of the top. Again typically on an island counter, but can also be used for handicapped accessibility.No other receptacles need to GFCI protection. That includes refigerator, disposal, DW, wall mounted receptacels alway from the counter top such as around a dinnet area.And safety wise this all make sense.The orginal requirement was only countertop recept with 6 ft of the sink. That was because of the possibility of the dropping an appliance into the water and trying to fish it out.But the water is not the only grounded surface around. You have the refigerator, stove, and most built in appliance. And the portable appliance typically aren't ground and are continously beint plugged adn unpluged so that there is much more likely a chance of wear and breaks in the cord and plug. While a refigerator, DW, disposal, microwaves, etc all have grounded connections and once plugged in they stay plugged in until replaced years later..
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Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
once plugged in they stay plugged in until replaced years later
And having the fridge on a gfci protected circuit can mean finding out about a trip by discovering the light doesn't come on and the beer's all warm . . .
I know of a particular AHJ, where there's a commonly-built tract house by a big builder--and said builder hangs an outlet at 54" behind the fridge off the protected circuit from the 18" cabinet run next to the fridge. Always much ballyhoo on those project when the BI comes around. Either they're " 'spoused" have a GFI for the fridge, or they're not. Either argument is silly, as the houses are always wired with just the two GFCI breakers to the kitchen; what receptacle is hung in the box is middling irrelevant.
Only about 20' LF of counters in these marvels--so where a person puts the coffee maker, MW, a toaster, and charger for the TADS/cordless phone, and a tv is pretty "iffy" anyway. At least, the first few times they run 5-6 things at once, the whole kitchen will mostly go dark (but for the lights) ought to at least hint at the quick fix before the chicken all thaws in the freezer. Mostly.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Should run fine.
While I'm not an elctrician, I believe code in these parts require a dedicated circuit however, for a microwave. (This may not apply to counter top models)
Happy
Holidays
No GFCI required here in upstate NY.
But I would not put it into a circuit with GFCI receps. No way.
My sparkie puts a MW recep into its own breaker, and uses a special breaker that has a little delay feature in it, to keep it from tripping. Those machines can spike a load somewhat when they fire up.