GFCI burning up fan

fulshearAg96

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6:50p, 8/30/25

AG

Hopefully there are a few electricians on here that can help me out...

I have 3 ceiling fans on my back porch all wired to the same wall switch. If the GFCI trips one of those fans basically dies and I have to replace it. It is the same location every time.

Example:
Power washing back porch... get some water in patio outlet... GFCI trips... When I reset the GFCI one particular fan is dead and I have to replace it...

Any thoughts on root cause and resolution?

Thank you,

JP76

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7:39p, 8/30/25

Have your tried replacing the gfci outlet ?

FWIW electrical motors do not play well with gfci outlets

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BenTheGoodAg

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7:44p, 8/30/25

AG

There's nothing inherent about the way a GFCI's internals operate that should burn out a fan. ie, it's not injecting some signal or filtering power, but often motors will cause a GFCI to trip due to leakage in the windings. So it's unlikely to be the GFCI alone, IMO.

Also, the same location each time seems to indicate wiring is off for that one fan. Does the fan have other functions like lights? Do they still work if you burn the fan out? I would be checking what is burning out if I could (motor vs capacitor vs power module, etc.) I think it'd take some troubleshooting to get to a real root cause.

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fulshearAg96

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7:47p, 8/30/25

AG

Thanks fellas… the other two fans continue to work fine. The wiring for the fan that dies is still hot. So I am lost.

Ribeye-Rare

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9:49p, 8/30/25

AG

Any chance there are electronic circuits in that fan that are 'blowing' in the same manner as they might when responding to a power surge?

If so, you might try an in-line surge suppression device for the fan, or re-wire the GFCI so that its feed (line side terminals) power the fan rather than the load side terminals.

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UnderoosAg

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1:47a, 8/31/25

AG

1. House buried on ancient Indian burial ground. Move.
2. House built by same builder as Thunderstruck's house. Move.
3. You've got *****y wiring at the death fan. If you're remotely handy, use a basic multimeter to measure voltage from hot to neutral, hot to ground, and ground to neutral (based on wire colors) at the death fan, and then other fans, both with GFCI energized, and then when tripped (hit the test button). Smells like something gets dead shorted when you re-energize the GFCI. Or move.

Deus Vult

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In reply to fulshearAg96 • 9:25a, 8/31/25

fulshearAg96 said:
Thanks fellas… the other two fans continue to work fine. The wiring for the fan that dies is still hot. So I am lost.

Just curious, manually trip the GFI. For the wiring to that fan check the voltages, hot to neutral, hot to ground, and neutral to ground. Then reset the GFI and recheck those 3 voltages again, use a volt meter not just a voltage tester.

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tgivaughn

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2:37p, 8/31/25

AG

NOT an electrician here & this might not be your case:

Reporting one client's GFCI problem with his spec.house
GFCI tripping would burn out a motor similar to your story

His pro fixed the load supply side of his GFCI outlet somehow,
which was producing low voltages to motor(s)
which made them draw more current = a fire hazard.

Note that voltage surges/fluctuations can also burn up motors.

Gotta draw since me got no grammar MasterArch '76

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