I have a B&D Electric lawn mower. Its worked great for the last
year. Now when I use it it trips the circut breaker to the outlet that
Im plugged into. Its the same outlet I've used in the past. Any
suggestions on what could be wrong?

wrote:
I have a B&D Electric lawn mower. Its worked great for the last
year. Now when I use it it trips the circut breaker to the outlet that
Im plugged into. Its the same outlet I've used in the past. Any
suggestions on what could be wrong?

The first thing to do would be try a different extension cord.

Over time, outdoor extension cords are exposed to lots of bending and
stretching, they're dragged over rough surfaces and sharp stones, and they
sit in the sunlight. All those conditions wear-down the jacket, and small
perforations begin to develop. When you turn on the mower, the current draw
creates heat in the cable, and eventually, laying in grass will provide
enough moisture to get in these perforations and cause the micro-second
change in current that trips the GFCI. Problems with the mower itself would
be more likely to cause the mower to operate differently, or shut itself
down.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
What's on TV? See the new fall network schedules online:
http://www.holzemville.com/television/fall2005.html

Perhaps the blade is very dull and the motor is working harder.
Or you have an additional load on that circuit that was not there last
season.

Perhaps the blade is very dull and the motor is working harder.
Or you have an additional load on that circuit that was not there last
season.

Or the motor is rusted into a lump and won't turn.

wrote:
I have a B&D Electric lawn mower. Its worked great for the last
year. Now when I use it it trips the circut breaker to the outlet that
Im plugged into. Its the same outlet I've used in the past. Any
suggestions on what could be wrong?



I presume you are using a ground-fault protected outlet. If the breaker
trips immediately on plugging in the mower, my guess would be that a
ground fault has developed - perhaps in the extension cord, perhaps in
the mower itself. Try a different extension cord, and see if that helps.
If not, then the fault is in the mower somewhere.

If the breaker trips after some use, my second guess would be that some
fault has developed in the machine itself, so that it draws too much
current. (I presume you have done routine maintenance such as making
sure there has been no build up of dead grass in places where it might
impede th blade, etc.)

Either way, it's not a fault you can fix yourself. If you have a good
small appliance repair shop handy, they may be able to help you. Since
you have owned the machine for a year or so, it's probably no longer
under warranty, but it's worth trying for a warranty repair or
replacement anyhow. Your model may be one that develops a common fault,
and the mfr may have issued a recall or extension of warranty (they
don't need to tell you about these things, they just have to "publicize"
them.)

OTOH, too often, machines like this are not worth repairing - the cost
of repair is often too large a proportion of the cost of a new machine.
That will be your judgement call.

Finally, a breaker can weaken, especially it it's used as an on/off
switch (which is often done for outside outlets - it's a handy way to
turn Christmas decorations on and off, for example.) In this case, the
breaker will trip on a much lower load than its rating, and if the mower
draws current close to the breaker's rating, the breaker will trip when
it shouldn't. You might want to call an electrician to test and replace
the breaker.

HTH&GL

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a B&D Electric lawn mower. Its worked great for the last
year. Now when I use it it trips the circut breaker to the outlet that
Im plugged into. Its the same outlet I've used in the past. Any
suggestions on what could be wrong?


Also what else is on that particular circuit? Have you added any:
appliances, pumps etc? If so you may have been at the threashold and now
you're over the limit?

Djay

Appreciate the advice. I'll try another cord.

Al

I have nothing else on the circuit.

Im am using ground protected outlet. It's worked 30 times prior to
this.
I have changed cords 2 times. The cord that I'm using now, I have used
3 or 4 times so far, before this problem arose. It is still under
warranty, so
I will probably end up taking it to the shop.