11amp microwave trips GFCI breaker?

[edog1973]

I'll start with a little background. I'm going though things on the holiday rambler to get ready for summer. The AC breaker box had a 20 amp GFCI breaker for the circuit in the bathroom and a regular 15 amp breaker for the circuit in the kitchen area.  The existing GFCI breaker was not working (the test button did not trip it) and I wanted GFCI protection in the kitchen plug as well.  To achieve this a picked up a new Siemens breaker box, a 15 amp GFCI breaker, a 20 amp GFCI breaker, and a couple of other  breakers for the main, ac, and water heater circuits.


After installing everything I found that the microwave is now tripping the 15 amp GFCI breaker.  (Everything else seems to work  just fine.) The microwave will turn  on and run for about 15 seconds then blow the breaker. To troubleshoot I disconnected everything else on the circuit to isolate the microwave. I plugged in a basic plug tester to confirm there no short/wiring/ground issues. I used a kill-a-watt and see that the microwave is pulling 11 amps. I plugged the microwave into a plug on the 20 amp GFCI breaker and it worked fine (did not trip).  I even installed a regular 15 amp breaker and the microwave does not trip it.


It seems to me like the 15 amp GFCI breaker is defective because it's tripping with just  11 amps load.  Would you agree? Is there anything else I should check before trying to return it? Any other segistions you may have?

[stanDman111]

I think your diagnosis is correct

[edog1973]

Just a quick follow up to close this one out.  I returned the breaker 15 amp gfci breaker and got a replacement.  When I explained all the steps I had gone through to troubleshoot they they replaced it without issue.  Plugged the new one in and everything works fine, microwave does not trip the breaker. It seems that the first one must have been defective, or labeled incorrectly.


Thank for your help.