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I just ripped out the wall behind my refrigerator and decided to among other things, to re-run the circuit to for the fridge. The refrigerator was on a standard outlet with all of the lighting and other outlets on that wall, I replaced it with a 20A GFI, and a 12ga home run to a 20A circuit.

It was fine for a few hours til the GFI tripped.

I hit reset and once again it was fine for a few hours.

Plugged the refrigerator into a different circuit(another 20A GFI on the other wall) reset the new GFI and left it over night. The next day, neither had tripped.

Tried plugging it in again, and left the refrigerator open to get the compressor to cycle a few times, still good. Left it alone and an hour later it tripped again.

I double checked the wiring at the receptacle and the panel. No issues, no damage to the wire, or the refrigerator cord. Solid connections.

I have seen bad GFI's in the past but they usually tripped much quicker. Could it be the refrigerator? Whatever the problem is, it does not seem to be deterministic. Any ideas about what I could try?

mreff555
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    Get rid of the GFCI. It provides very little improved safety for a grounded refrigerator, and introduces the risk of loss of food. Also, hard to reset a GFCI behind a fridge. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 10 '22 at 23:14
  • My electrical code requires it. – mreff555 May 10 '22 at 23:50
  • @DrMoishePippik yes, I’m happy with that answer – mreff555 May 11 '22 at 00:47
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    Since you found another GFCI that does *not* trip with the refrigerator, swap the GFCIs or buy another one of the exact same make/model. While all GFCIs are functionally identical, there are minor differences in sensitivity, particularly to the peculiar problems of refrigerators. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact May 11 '22 at 01:05
  • True. I bought a 3-pack. I guess I could try one of the others. – mreff555 May 11 '22 at 01:06
  • While standard code typically lumps refrigerator in with everything else in the kitchen to require GFCI, you *may* be able to get an exception if you (a) have a dedicated circuit (which based on your question you have already done) and (b) have a single receptacle so you can't plug in anything else. Note that a single receptacle on a 20A circuit must be a 20A receptacle, unlike a duplex where it can be duplex 15A or duplex 20A. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact May 11 '22 at 01:32
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    Only countertop receptacles need GFCI. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 11 '22 at 01:54

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