Why does my hair dryer keep tripping my afgi breakers?

Answer by  Bugmann (130)

GFCI breker outlets, as installed in bathrooms are designed to interrupt a ground fault. If your hair dryer is consistently tripping, the dryer has issues and needs to be replaced.

Answer by  Steve95 (108)

A hair dryer pulls a lot of amps, it can quickly overheat the dryer, outlet, or cord. The GFI looks for an open circuit so if it thinks the dryer is pulling to many amps it will pop. Could be too much on one circuit breaker or time to replace your dryer.

Answer by  dfgospgfj (164)

An AFGI is designed to trip when an arc is detected in the circuit. Your hair dryer's motor may possibly be beginning to fail. If possible, try a different hair dryer of similar amperage and see if the problem remains.

Answer by  Zon (122)

Interrupt breakers are rated to specific wattage. If your hair drier exceeds that rating, or has a fault the breaker will open to protect you. You may be using too small a breaker, have a fault in your drier, or your breaker may weaken from too many resets. Try another protected outlet to see if it fails. Be safe.