Space Heater Issue

[SuperDave456]

I have had the same electric Fan/Heating element space heater in the back room of my house for 3 years.

In the past month it has been acting up.
The GFCI plug keeps popping. It's on a circuit that already has a 6 year old GFCI breaker at the breaker box.
This house had a new Circuit Box put in after we moved here because the last one had been recalled in the 80's for burning down houses.

Do I just replace the cheapo GFCI plug that it came with with a standard plug and call it a day?
Do I get some kind of surge protector and try to isolate it?

The GFCI pops on the heater when nothing else is operating downstream of it. I've isolated the heater and turned it on. It runs for a bit, turns itself off when it reaches 65 degrees, then it will pop when it turns itself back on. Sometimes it will turn itself on just fine, only to pop the GFCI a few cycles later.

What would you do?

 

[CT8]

Try another heater.

 

[Ethan1]

Did you consider the possibility that something is wrong with the heater, not the house wiring? I would start by trying that heater out on another circuit. If it trips the GFCI on another circuit, throw it out. Heaters are cheap.

 

[flatlandtacoma]

The GFCI plug might be just fine. There could be an intermittent short in the heater.

Or the plug might be bad. If you replace it and it still pops you'll know it's the heater.

edit: Ethan types faster than I do

 

[zzyzzx]

Try the heater on a different GFCI circuit and report back.

 

[eljefino]

So you have two GFIs fighting? Try it on an outlet/ breaker without GFI so you only have one.

 

[Michael_P]

Heaters and 1+HP capacitor start motors are known for kicking GFCI circuits. I own a bread machine that kicks GFCI circuits. I use a non GFCI circuit with no problems with the bread maker for the past 15 years.
Some appliances just don't play well with ground fault / arc fault circuits.

 

[SuperDave456]

Just an FYI
It's kicking the GFCI breaker built into the plug of the heater. Not the one that is apart of the house circuit breaker box.

I'll go try it elsewhere.

Thanks.

 

[spackard]

Look for any heat damage on the branch breaker and on the main.
You're looking for anything that would raise the resistance a little; more resistance equals more heat on that spot.
A loose screw, a breaker not inserted securely or not sitting flush.

Awhile ago I had strange/not obvious issues on one branch circuit. Eventually a whole leg dropped power. That finally went away when I found one leg of the main breaker damaged by heat and had it replaced. It was not sitting properly.

 

[dishdude]

GFIs detect voltage leakage, there is a lot in a space heater as it isn't a precision electronic device. IMO, normal operating characteristics.