[Slowbrew]

And, any outlet downstream from the gfci on the same circuit is also protected.

This makes finding the problems in new construction fun sometimes.  In our addition the outside outlets are wired in the same circuit as a GFCI inside the basement of said addition.  The first time an outside outlet (on a different level of the house) didn't work it took a bit of searching to find the popped GFCI.  Keeps life interesting.   

Paul

[RPIScotty]

And, any outlet downstream from the gfci on the same circuit is also protected.

This makes finding the problems in new construction fun sometimes.  In our addition the outside outlets are wired in the same circuit as a GFCI inside the basement of said addition.  The first time an outside outlet (on a different level of the house) didn't work it took a bit of searching to find the popped GFCI.  Keeps life interesting.   

Paul

Funny you bring this up.

During the past holiday season, I added a spotlight to our Christmas decorations in order to illuminate our Shepard's Hook in our front yard, which we decorate. I typically do a back of the envelope calc of all the current draws for each decoration to ensure that we don't overload any of the household circuits.

I neglected to do so when adding the spotlight and overloaded the outlet on the front deck. I checked the panel box. No trips. I checked the GFCI in the downstairs bathroom. No trips. I checked the GFCI on the back patio. No trips.

Turns out the front outlet is wired to the upstairs bathroom GFCI! Go figure! Old construction and GFCIs can also be interesting!

[blair.streit]

BTW - both of my ferm freezers and my pump are all plugged into the same GFCI circuit in my garage. It's the only power outlet in the garage so without calling out an electrician that's my only option.

No issues doing it this way for a couple years but good to know where to look if it happens.

As long as the instantaneous currents present when the devices cycle doesn't exceed the GFCI rating there should be no problem.

Your limiting case is of course the concurrent cycling/startup of all loads at the same time. If that value is within the spec of the breaker then no worries at all.

Good point. It would be a perfect storm if all three kicked on at the same time, but very unlikely. To feel more confident I should probably look at the surge rating for those freezers. They're both pretty new, which makes a big difference. My parents have a 30 year old freezer that I swear dims the lights in their house when the compressor kicks in.

And sure enough even though this has been running fine for months I went out this morning to find 60F bottles and a tripped GFCI. Luckily nothing was fermenting

We've had a lot of storms so I'm not sure exactly what tripped it, but given the recent discussion the solution was in my mind in milliseconds.

[bob2200]

I suspect it is sparking in the motor that causes thr GFCI device to trip.  Any very small difference in current flow between the hot and neutral wires (i.e., ground fault) trips the protection device.  My old Vitamix blender, that reversed direction instantly, tripped the GFCI every time.