bertram31.com

I am almost finished with the new cabinets I am making for "Phoenix". One built in item is a three burner Seaward "Princess" electric stove I was given by a friend who removed it from his boat. It has two 1,100 watt and a single 550 watt element. I don't have any installation instructions for it, and can't find any online.

My problem is this...

I was told by my surveyor friend that when this stove is installed in my boat it should be protected by a GFCI, so I am testing it at home in a GFCI protected 20 amp circuit.

When I test this unit in my shop and turn on any one of the elements it works fine and gets hot for several minutes but then the GFCI eventually kicks out. I have not connected the ground lead from the frame of the unit to a house ground, but have connected the green ground lead in the 120 volt conductor, which I believe also grounds the frame, and my circuit tester shows the house ground, hot and neutral sides are all OK with my supply.

My experiences with GFCIs is that they instantaneously disconnect power when they detect current flowing in the ground side of a circuit, but what I am experiencing is not instantaneous. I am really not sure how a GFCI works, so I don't know if I am misusing it or if connecting the frame ground is necessary to protect the GFCI.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Sounds like it is drawing more amps than the circuit is rated at.

Try hooking it up to a non-GFIC outlet and see if it trips the breaker in the house when you turn it on.

If it does not then try another way to ground that green wire.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in.

This should be interesting...

By way of closing out this string, I just wanted to report on my findings on this issue...

I spoke with the electrician who wired my house, a marine electrician, another yacht surveyor, the head of tech service for a GFCI manufacturer, and the customer service manager with the stove manufacturer...

I now have 5 different answers!

The stove will be installed wired directly into the 120 volt breaker panel, without a GFCI in it's circuit.