# Pelaton treadmill tripping AFCI/GFCI



## JBrzoz00 (Nov 17, 2013)

Just a heads up guys. Recently finished a new home. Homeowner got a new Pelaton treadmill. This is on the ground level under the house in coastal SC so all receptacles are GFI protected. Treadmill trips GFI when the motor starts. I was getting 17mA of leakage current on the ground of the treadmill. This is what Pelaton told me.





Thank you for contacting Peloton!

We are sorry to hear you are experiencing power trips when plugging your Peloton Tread into your dedicated outlet. We believe you may be experiencing this issue because you are using a GFCI or AFCI outlet.

GFCI outlets can be found in bathrooms, kitchens, or other areas where interacting with water is common.
These are often identified by the reset switch on the face plate.
GFCI outlets are designed to flip their breakers if there is too much power flowing through the ground port.

The Tread uses the ground on the outlet to disperse static electricity generated by machine operation and will likely trip the breaker and shut down the machine. If this is occurring, move the treadmill to a different outlet. GFCI breakers often cover other outlets nearby, including outlets that do not have the red reset switch on the plate, so it is recommended that the treadmill is located in a separate area. It is also important that the treadmill is on a dedicated circuit. 

The power requirements for the Tread are: 120V, 60Hz, 15A dedicated circuit (U.S. only).


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

Seems reasonable. The manufacturer says that it needs a dedicated circuit without GFCI protection, tell the customer that.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

Looked at a treadmill this week for the same reason, seen this before, similar thing stated in manual, not compatible with GFCI or some afci.


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## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

I guess the bottom line is treadmill mfr's need to get on the CMP or start hardwiring them !


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## JoeSparky (Mar 25, 2010)

As cool as it is to say bad things about AFCI and tear them out, this is not the problem in this situation. The manufacturer of this treadmill has created a faulty design. I'd be willing to bet at least 1/3 of the treadmills in use today are set up and used in unfinished basements. GFCI is not a new technology and at this point it is a proven technology. 
The treadmill manufacturer needs quite a few of these defective design units returned to them used for a full refund. Just enough so the cost of correcting their design flaw costs less then the returns.
The above is why i have no issues returning nuisance tripping AFCI breakers. Cost the manufacturer enough money where they may fix the problems.


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## CoolWill (Jan 5, 2019)

A treadmill is similar in several ways to a Van we Graaf generator. Static electricity is real. I could see it wreaking havoc with electronics.

An auxiliary electrode could probably fix the problem and still be code compliant with AFCI and GFCI.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

CoolWill said:


> A treadmill is similar in several ways to a Van we Graaf generator. Static electricity is real. I could see it wreaking havoc with electronics.
> 
> An auxiliary electrode could probably fix the problem and still be code compliant with AFCI and GFCI.


Wouldn't the auxiliary electrode have to be bonded to the GEC? I was thinking an anti-static mat might help, but only if the frame was bonded to the mat, which would amount to the same thing. 

I am thinking this is a problem because the static discharge travels through the EGC, and creates little spikes on the neutral, which gives you a blip where the current on the neutral is not equal to the current on the hot. 

I am trying to think if an isolated ground receptacle would fix this. Actually I think it might make it worse. 

Maybe an isolation trasnformer or dual conversion UPS? I don't know what the wattage of the bike is.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

That may explain why the one I looked at, doesn't always trip the GFCI, only occasionally. I didn't think of static.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Best to look for fat, out of shape customers with no interest in physical fitness.


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## CoolWill (Jan 5, 2019)

splatz said:


> Wouldn't the auxiliary electrode have to be bonded to the GEC? I was thinking an anti-static mat might help, but only if the frame was bonded to the mat, which would amount to the same thing.
> 
> I am thinking this is a problem because the static discharge travels through the EGC, and creates little spikes on the neutral, which gives you a blip where the current on the neutral is not equal to the current on the hot.
> 
> ...


The auxiliary electrode can connect to the EGC at the receptacle. The idea being drain the charge locally instead of down the EGC along with the circuit conductors.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

The best thing would probably be to convert their home to an ungrounded delta. It's the right time of year, you could disguise the warning lights as Christmas decorations.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

JoeSparky said:


> As cool as it is to say bad things about AFCI and tear them out, this is not the problem in this situation. The manufacturer of this treadmill has created a faulty design. I'd be willing to bet at least 1/3 of the treadmills in use today are set up and used in unfinished basements. GFCI is not a new technology and at this point it is a proven technology.
> The treadmill manufacturer needs quite a few of these defective design units returned to them used for a full refund. Just enough so the cost of correcting their design flaw costs less then the returns.
> The above is why i have no issues returning nuisance tripping AFCI breakers. Cost the manufacturer enough money where they may fix the problems.


Most people buying a Peliton treadmill that starts at $4300 plus expensive monthly subscription probably aren’t putting it into an unfinished basement.

They can buy a $500 treadmill and spend the $4000 to finish a small room LOL


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

splatz said:


> Wouldn't the auxiliary electrode have to be bonded to the GEC? I was thinking an anti-static mat might help, but only if the frame was bonded to the mat, which would amount to the same thing.
> 
> I am thinking this is a problem because the static discharge travels through the EGC, and creates little spikes on the neutral, which gives you a blip where the current on the neutral is not equal to the current on the hot.
> 
> ...


Forget all that
Just take out that GFI and throw it as far as you can down the road


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## JoeSparky (Mar 25, 2010)

HackWork said:


> Most people buying a Peliton treadmill that starts at $4300 plus expensive monthly subscription probably aren’t putting it into an unfinished basement.
> 
> They can buy a $500 treadmill and spend the $4000 to finish a small room LOL


Sorry. I had no idea what one costs. We are an abnormal family and hang our laundry on a clothesline. Don't need an expensive treadmill for that.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

HackWork said:


> Most people buying a Peliton treadmill that starts at $4300 plus expensive monthly subscription


You should buy one.


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## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

99cents said:


> Best to look for fat, out of shape customers with no interest in physical fitness.


Those people don't buy Pelatrons.

Didn't you see the commercial?


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## paulengr (Oct 8, 2017)

Might be simpler since tread mills are variable speed. A drive of any kind pulses the current on and off...square waves. This is exactly the pattern of current that AFCIs are designed to detect because an arc ignites as the voltage gets high enough then goes out at current zero crossing, just like an SCR firing. You basically can’t put drives on AFCIs because they are too stupid to recognize the difference.


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## NoBot (Oct 12, 2019)

Most Treadmills have required a dedicated non GFCI circuit for a least a decade.


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