GFCI outlet and Toaster Oven

[coffeefan71]

On Saturday as I was making toast, I noticed the 'Grounded' light on a surge protector (which was plugged into a separate outlet) was slightly blinking. The model of surge protector has two green lights; one for Protected and the other for Grounded. When these are lit, it means the protector is doing it's job.

Once the toaster oven was done, the Grounded light stopped blinking. The outlet the toaster oven was plugged into is a GFCI which I'm guessing is on the same circuit as the surge protector.

On Sunday I plugged a heater fan into the GFCI outlet and ran it. The surge protector light didn't blink, however 5/10 minutes later the GFCI reset button popped out.

Any suggestions/advice, Please and Thank you.

[Marc]

I think the 'grounded' light means that a ground connection is available at the outlet. This is important because surge protectors do not provide any surge protection if the outlet they are plugged into does not have a ground connection. THe 'protected' light means that the power is on.

As for the tripped GFCI, those devices experience malfunctions when a surge protector is plugged in nearby. It has something to do with the circuitry within the GFCI. You should not plug in a surge protector too close to a GFCI device.

Marc

[coffeefan71]

Thanks for your information.

The GFCI outlet is in my kitchen and the outlet where I plug my surge protector is in my living room. It's a 1 bedroom apartment.

These outlets are along the "same" wall, The doorway to my bedroom separates them. Without testing them on the circuit box, I think these two outlets are on the same circuit.

[Marc]

Shouldn't be. Circuits serving the kitchen countertops should not be serving any other rooms.

Marc

[John Kogel]

A tiny apartment in NY, NY might have some wiring anomalies, so it is certainly possible that you 'kitchen' is served by the same circuit as your living space.

There may be an issue with the heater, and the GFCI is doing its job.

If you have plugged this fan heater into this GFCI before and had no problem, then something has changed, obviously. Your landlord should have an electrician repair the circuit. The GFCI may have become faulty, which happens. But the surge protector is sensing something as well, so that seems to indicate a genuine ground fault, either in the wiring or in the appliances.

You should not be using a fan heater without having the wiring checked out first. Is this an older building that was remodeled?

[coffeefan71]

When I first moved in, the majority of the outlets weren't grounded; 4 in the living room, 4 in the bedroom.

When I reported the problem to the super, he wasn't able to fix it and then claimed that since the building was grounded I shouldn't worry. I spoke to an electrician friend and he said that this is wrong and to contact the Housing Authority (who has gotten complaints about my building before) 9 months later an electrician came out and fixed the problem. Though a couple of months after that I slammed a cabinet door closed and one of the lights in my kitchen overhead came on.

The heater fan is only 2-3 years old and never had a problem running it last winter.

Thanks you everyone.