Thanks. Cord looks ok as far as I can tell.

A ground-fault condition can be created by moisture, grease, corrosion, etc inside the smoker. I'd open it up to check it out.

It's definitely somewhat greasy (just build up over the course of using it for 2 years). Is there somewhere specific I should be looking for these issues? Thanks again.

What happens if you plug it into a different gfci protected circuit?

I'd be looking at the control circuitry and where the power cord is connected.

Indications are that another current path has been found other than the 2 wires feeding the appliance.

A GFI works by monitoring the current in the two wires connected to the load. It trips when it senses a difference of current in the 2 wires. Nominally, the GFI is adjusted to trip at 5 milliamp (.005 A) current difference.

Is this smoker utilizing a long cord, or extension cord? GFCIs will trip for loads that have a lot of magnetic starting currents on a small and/or long wire - e.g. motors and long lengths of small wire feeding relatively robust current loads.

The problem is when a motor load or magnetic load is initially energized, more current rushes in to establish the magnetic field, than the amount of current that is returning to the source - albeit very brief, it is enough to be greater than 5 milliamps that can cause a GFCI to activate (trip).

(If curiosity abounds you, try this experiment) - take a hundred foot (or two 50') extension cord (which are too often, a miniscule 16 gauge conductor... even 14 gauge may work), and plug in a drill motor, or a healthy shop vacuum. Turn it on and often the GFCI will trip.

So, first, check for wiring failure as stated previously, then try minimizing the length of smoker cord. As a last resort, even try plugging in the smoker to another GFCI circuit to check for tripping.

There's no motor in that smoker. The thing is just a pair of resistive heating elements.

Still can happen with a long cord, but not nearly as likely. Best to try resistance readings between the conductors and between conductor and the casing of the smoker.

If it's tripping the breaker, it's probably a short or load problem. If it's tripping the GFI, it is likely a grounding issue with the smoker. My electrician quickly determined the GFI outlet was fine. When I told him it didn't trip until the heating element came on, he suspected a leak, and quickly found a 7 milliamp leak between the heating element and the interior box of the smoker. Remove the heat shield by removing the 3 screws on the right side of the smoker and the 4 screws on the corners of the shield itself. I used a degreaser (carburetor or brake cleaner works great) and steel wool to clean the flange above the heating element and the back wall above the flange. I then dried partially with a hair dryer. I then plugged into a non-GFI outlet and heated the smoker to 225 degrees to finish drying. I plugged into the GFI outlet and it worked fine. Next step was to make sure the area just above the flange and the top of the flange were super clean for better sealant adhesion. I carefully put some heavy duty foil behind the top edge of the flange and folded it over extending about 1/2 inch below the top edge of the flange. Final step was applying a bead of 2000 degree Hi-Temp stove & oven gasket cement across the seam between the back wall and the foil covered flange. Follow directions on the sealant.

Dan

This happened to me on a replaced element that was 8 months old. With the controller not plugged into the element, GFI was OK, b ut when plugged in GFI tripped in a couple of seconds. I had read that moisture in the element could be the problem, so I plugged the unit into a non-GFI outlet and let it heat up for 5 minutes keeping an eye on it. Then I switched to a GFI outlet and it was OK. Like I said, this was a relatively new element.