dozer
Structural
- Apr 9, 2001
- 504
I hope you'll excuse a structural engineer sticking his nose in here and asking a homeowner type question but I can't get a straight answer from the people I bought a washer from. I just had a brand new washer delivered and when they started it, it tripped the breaker. It's a 20 amp GFCI circuit. The genius delivery guy says he's seen it happen before and his recommendation was to replace the 20 amp breaker with a 25 amp breaker. What the . . . ? He said it's a big washer and it pulls more amps. I was in utter disbelief. I finally found the sticker and it said 11 amps. When I challenged him on that he said there is a spike (my word for what he was trying to say) when the motor starts. Ok, this is where my knowledge of electricity gets a little shaky, but I know that is true but I can't believe it's going to be a large enough spike (or long enough?) to trip the breaker.
Anyway, I sent it back suspecting there is something wrong with the washer. Our house is only 5 years old and we've never had problems with this breaker before. My nagging fear is that our breaker magically broke between the time we unplugged the old washer and plugged in the new washer. Or perhaps more likely, my understanding is GFCI is it's pretty touchy (feel free to correct me on this point). Maybe it was just a fluke.
So, I'm curious if folks think when they bring the new washer (same model) if this will just happen again or if everything will be hunky dory. I just mean statistically speaking. I know I haven't given enough info to properly diagnose the problem.
I think I also just wanted to vent. I mean am I crazy or is that nuts to recommend putting in a larger breaker?
Anyway, I sent it back suspecting there is something wrong with the washer. Our house is only 5 years old and we've never had problems with this breaker before. My nagging fear is that our breaker magically broke between the time we unplugged the old washer and plugged in the new washer. Or perhaps more likely, my understanding is GFCI is it's pretty touchy (feel free to correct me on this point). Maybe it was just a fluke.
So, I'm curious if folks think when they bring the new washer (same model) if this will just happen again or if everything will be hunky dory. I just mean statistically speaking. I know I haven't given enough info to properly diagnose the problem.
I think I also just wanted to vent. I mean am I crazy or is that nuts to recommend putting in a larger breaker?