Replies sorted oldest to newest
My SM045 was tripping my patio GFCI outlet since day one. It trips after about 5-6 minutes of use. So I just plugged into another internal receptacle with extension and it has worked fine since. Today I tried again and same thing, after 6 minutes the GFCI trips. So I tried running an extension to another GFCI circuit in one bathroom and it worked just fine, no tripping. So I am pretty sure I have bad GFCI on my patio circuit. I'll replace it. It is rather new too so seems odd, but these things do happen.
GFCI outlets do go bad. Make sure it is wired same as those that do not trip. Good luck.
So I did a bit of trouble shooting. The SM045 has a 750w heating element. In my outdoor patio outlet the GFCI trips after exactly 6 minutes, so it is a timing issue, long term. I plugged it into a different GFCI via an extension cord and it worked just fine, no tripping. The same GFCI that is tripping is where my wife also plugs in her 2,000w hair dryer and she can run that beast for over an hour, no tripping. I suspect I have a bad wiring out to my patio as this makes no sense to me. I have an electrician coming over and will ask he investigate. A neighbor of mine said he had exactly the same problem, same wiring scheme with out door patio outlet connected to the master bath GFCI, same tripping on his Traeger. Electrician fixed it. Said all the house in my area were built by same builder and most likely all have similar issue.
I contacted CS and they at first suggested my element was leaking and may be bad, but after it worked just fine in another GFCI we concluded it was something to do with that circuit/outlet. Need an electrician to fix.
I hope the electrician is able to find the fault and correct it. Safety first. I would be interested in knowing exactly what is found and how it was corrected.
I had a similar experience in my old house. I did the same thing as the original writer, bypassing the outdoor receptacle with an extension cord into the kitchen. That worked. Electrician replaced the GFCI but the problem recurred after about a year. He then said he had heard that humidity built up inside the smoker might be the cause. I tried airing out the smoker for about an hour before using. That seemed to solve the problem.
However, I moved to a new house 4-5 years ago and have never encountered the same problem. I’m still in the Northeast so no real difference in climate conditions. Go figure.
Tom
Excessive humidity can indeed be a problem. Glad your problem is fixed.
@TomSCT posted:I had a similar experience in my old house. I did the same thing as the original writer, bypassing the outdoor receptacle with an extension cord into the kitchen. That worked. Electrician replaced the GFCI but the problem recurred after about a year. He then said he had heard that humidity built up inside the smoker might be the cause. I tried airing out the smoker for about an hour before using. That seemed to solve the problem.
However, I moved to a new house 4-5 years ago and have never encountered the same problem. I’m still in the Northeast so no real difference in climate conditions. Go figure.
Tom
To be clear I'm not bypassing the GFCI, just connecting to a different one via an extension cord. I tried it in two other GFCI outlets and in both cases the smoker worked fine. It is just the one GFCI in my Patio that keeps tripping after 6 minutes. So my conclusion is there must be an issue with that GFCI or that receptacle, nothing is wrong with the smoker. I'll post when my electrician resolves it.
I recently purchased the SM025. I had the same problem. The unit would trip the CFI after about 5 minutes. I eventually plugged the unit into an outlet with a 30 amp fuse and CFI. I wasa able to do the complete 'burn in' on that outlet with zero problems.
The next morning I plugged the unit back into the patio outlet wich is 20 amps. I have had no problems since and have done 5 cooks in it.
I contacted CookShack and explained what I experienced. The response was that humidity can cause this problem. I live in the Pacific Northwest about 50 miles south of Seattle. There is little humidity here and besides the problem was right after unpacking the unit. Perhaps it was humidity that got into and condensed after the manufacturing was completed. That is a guess. Either way, all good now and very happy with the unit.
Good luck!
Sometimes, if it is a humidity issue using a hair dryer around the heating element and back wall for a few minutes may help.
GFI receptacles now come in an outdoor rated version, so if anyone has a problem in the future make sure you use the outdoor rated version. They are easy to replace, just turn off the power and pay attention to which wires are going into the live vs load terminals. If you get it wrong, it does not damage anything, it just will not work.
I would usually replace the cover at the same time, my favorite in use cover is by Eaton/Cooper.
@oldsarge posted:Excessive humidity can indeed be a problem. Glad your problem is fixed.
I’ve read that as well. had a new line put in just for the patio and still happened. Now I open the Amerique door to let it “air out” for a bit first and seems to take away the issue. Cookshack needs an engineer to redesign something to make these problems go away as it seems to be a design flaw.
Maybe the links below will help in understanding current leakage. Although minor when current on the feed line is greater than the return, it is exacerbated by moisture. Hope they help:
oldsarge: I couldn't get either of those links to work by clicking, "Error 404". The second I got to work directly by typing the address.
Same here. But I get the gist, minute leakage to ground is measured and when too great it trips the breaker. It is not the same as a circuit breaker overload. GFCI will react much quicker than a standard breaker.
However you slice it, its a design issue that is because of low quality parts, low quality assembly, and/or an actual engineered design flaw and they should fix it.
Evidence for those claims? Most users do not have these problems.
yes all the people over the years here reporting the same gfi outlet problem.
I feel that I have to defend the product.
Yes, I had this problem through two changes of GFCI units.
Yes, the problem seemed to resolve when I followed my electrician's suggestion re humidity and "aired out" the unit for an hour before lighting off.
BUT, in the 4+ years since I moved into my new house the problem has not recurred.
I have owned my SM-45 for over ten years. It sits outside under a canvas cover through all kinds of New England weather and, except for a handful of instances of this problem, it has been 100% reliable.
There are no design issues with the CS smokers or those offered by 2 other well known companies of very similar design. A double hulled stainless steel box, glass insulation, a heating element and a controller.
