Understanding GFCI configuration in basement

Question

Good day- I am putting a treadmill in the basement of our three-year old home, and the manufacturer warns not to plug the treadmill into a GFCI outlet. Although the outlet I anticipate using is not itself GFCI, I assume it is downstream from the GFCI outlet next to the breaker panel in the basement. Am I then correct in assuming that the same problem would be encountered, and I should not use that outlet? And - what's the fix? Our code officer will likely demand that any outlet in the basement is GFCI - is there another option? Thanks

Answer 1

The warning from the manufacturer is pretty common on treadmills. the outlets just don't like them. Your right about the downstream outlets being connected to the GFCI by the main panel. I would try plugging your treadmill into that outlet and see if it trips. One solution that has worked for me is to replace the individual GFCI outlet with a standard outlet and replace the breaker with a GFCI breaker in the main panel. Don't ask me why, but it works and I've done it many times. Is your basement finished? Code doesn't require GFCI outlets in a finished basement/room. Good luck

Answer 2

I have a hunch the problem is historical.

• The earlier generations of GFCI and especially AFCI (which I suspect is more likely the concern here) tended to have more false-positives due to problems that were not really ground faults or arc faults.
• Older equipment, designed before GFCI & AFCI became common and/or required, would be more likely to have small amounts of ground leakage (causing GFCI trips) or generate sufficient "noise" from motors to fool an AFCI (causing AFCI trips).

So it is quite plausible that the manufacturer, perhaps 10 or 20 years ago, started instructing their technical support & marketing departments to say "no GFCI, no AFCI" simply as a way to minimize hard-to-solve problems that may-or-may-not have been due to actual equipment problems.

With more modern designs of GFCI & AFCI (e.g., your 3-year-old house) and new equipment (a new treadmill), there really should not be much of a problem.

That being said, my hunch is that the problem is almost 100% AFCI and not GFCI. A GFCI (whether with breaker in panel or with receptacles) detects a ground-fault. Nothing more, nothing less. A treadmill should not have a ground fault. If it does, it poses a serious risk - after all, you are standing on the machine, holding parts with your sweaty hands. Not a good place to have a ground fault! But in addition, a ground-fault simply should not happen with any properly insulated device. Unlike kitchen appliances, where water gets "everywhere" and due to size and usage it is truly hard to seal everything well (think toaster - elements are in easy reach of fingers, forks, etc.), a treadmill has essentially two electrical components - control panel and motor - both of which can be sealed/insulated/protected quite well. So a ground fault should not happen, and if it does then GFCI is a very good thing to have - though not always needed in areas where treadmills are installed.

On the other hand, AFCI is required in new houses in most areas and can be fooled by motor issues. So if you have a treadmill with a relatively cheap design (which may not be obvious from the price tag), it might run a real risk of false trips of AFCI as motor issues, e.g., startup or heavy load or changing speeds) may look like arcing to the AFCI's detection mechanism. No simple way around that (except of course not using AFCI).