Typically when I wake up and get the animals fed and start my coffee maker, I look outside to see if the whiskey barrel pond pump is running. If it is, great. If not, that means the GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) plug in the garage needs to be reset. All the plugs in the garage, outside and the doorbell are connected, so this is usually where I start. Unfortunately that also means the refrigerator in the garage is on the same circuit, so we only keep nonperishable beverages in there, along with eggs. I press the reset button, hear the fridge turn back on, and all is well for a few days to a week until the process starts all over again.
The first few times the GFCI would trip it was annoying, but eventually it just became routine. This morning it apparently was not going to be so much. After pressing the reset button, blue lightening flashed. At first I thought it was a fluke or an ant getting zapped, so I did it again. Same thing. I unplugged the pond pump, reset it, and more blue lightening. Then I unplugged the fridge and reset it and it was fine… until I plugged it back in. If I didn’t have to work, I’d fiddle with it a little more before calling the landlord, but alas, work beckons. Something tells me either the fridge is overloading the circuitry or the GFCI outlet has been compromised, in which case it simply needs to be replaced. However, I must admit that with as often as it trips for apparently no reason, part of me simply wants to switch it out for a standard outlet.
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