Electrical issues royal 804

[pp47021]

I recently put a royal 804 in a location that previously had a 501e. When I plug in the 804 (in the same electric socket the 501 was in) it trips the plug. This location has those plugs with the little button on each plug that trip automatically to prevent fire and such. The socket trips as soon as I plug it in the motor never even comes on in fact I can't even get the plug all the way in before it trips. The only way I can get it to work is to disconnect the ground on the plug but of course that turns the machine into a shocking hazard. I have a royal 660 in a a different location but plugged into a similar kind of plug with no problems. So my question is....is my problem in the machine, or the plug? I just got the machine used and the previous owner says he never had a problem with it, for what that's worth. If you have any ideas or have seen this before please let me know.

[AZVendor]

This means you have a short in one of the 110V circuits in the machine unless you can find damage to your power cord.  If the cord got smashed the wires inside might be shorted together.  Do you have a GFI outlet in the wall and a GFI on your power cord?  If so, the GFI on the cord may be bad as that is a fairly common occurence.  You can cut the GFI off the end of the cord and replace it or use a 15 A plug on the cord. 

 

If your cord is intact with no damage, then you probably have a problem in the machine.  The compressor will have a delay of 3-5 minutes before it comes on, though sometimes it starts immediately after a long power outage.  The 110V circuits are the compressor, the evaporator motor, the lights and power input to the transformer.  You can unplug the compressor inside the cabinet to the left of the condenser and the power to the light ballast can be unplugged inside the bottom of the door.  If the power still trips then you need to remove input power to the 110V (line) side of the transformer (should be mounted inside the door somewhere) and disconnect one wire to the evaporator motor inside the cabinet next to the evaporator.  If none of this changes the situation the GFI in the wall could be bad, but you need to plug something else in to verify that.  I would also use an extension cord to another outlet to check operation of the machine that way and to eliminate the wall outlet as the problem.

[moondog]

I recently put a royal 804 in a location that previously had a 501e. When I plug in the 804 (in the same electric socket the 501 was in) it trips the plug. This location has those plugs with the little button on each plug that trip automatically to prevent fire and such. The socket trips as soon as I plug it in the motor never even comes on in fact I can't even get the plug all the way in before it trips. The only way I can get it to work is to disconnect the ground on the plug but of course that turns the machine into a shocking hazard. I have a royal 660 in a a different location but plugged into a similar kind of plug with no problems. So my question is....is my problem in the machine, or the plug? I just got the machine used and the previous owner says he never had a problem with it, for what that's worth. If you have any ideas or have seen this before please let me know.

The first thing that I would do is insure that your machine actually works - find a non-GFCI plug and check it out with an extension cord temporarily.  I wouldn't put too much faith in what the seller may have told you.  If the machine does work on a standard plug,  then your problem will lie with the GFCI wall plug - these are notoriously finicky with many being manufactured "off shore" even though they have a UL listing.  Do not leave your machine plugged into an extension cord as this can cause problems with voltage drop,

 

If you find that your machine won't work even with a standard outlet, then follow AZ's instructions.  Fortunately there are a limited number of 120v components in your machine which can be disconnected one at a time for trouble shooting purposes.  I would start with the cord itself and then check the compressor, followed by the 120v/24v transformer and then the fluorescent ballast.  Do not plug a GFCI cord into a CFCI outlet - if this is the case swap out the cord - a 12/3 6' cord is always best and can be found at an appliance parts house.  Do not buy a little 16/3 cord from Home Depot.

 

As a final thought,  the Royal 804 is somewhat larger than than the 501e (probably why you bought it) and you may be overloading the circuit.  If this is the case that circuit was technically overloaded in the first place and this was just the final straw.  A 20 amp. 120v circuit should never be loaded past 15 amps and it may be that you were already sitting on 19 or 20 amps there.  This would mean that some other significant electrical device is sharing that circuit ( micro wave, refrigerator, coffee maker etc )