Any electricians or do it yourself experts on here?

[ClassicBlue]

My house was built in 1996, so almost 18 years old. Just replaced the water heater, both a.c. units(thanks Captain Dave), currently saving for a new roof. Not old by any means and should be up to code. Yes, the GFIC's have been here from the beginning.

 

[DaveTheMinion]

My house was built in 1996, so almost 18 years old. Just replaced the water heater, both a.c. units(thanks Captain Dave), currently saving for a new roof. Not old by any means and should be up to code. Yes, the GFIC's have been here from the beginning.

The time for new lol.

 

[sniper22]

My house was built in 1996, so almost 18 years old. Just replaced the water heater, both a.c. units(thanks Captain Dave), currently saving for a new roof. Not old by any means and should be up to code. Yes, the GFIC's have been here from the beginning.

I'd use a non gfi circuit to do the initial burn off and would definitely replace the gfi receptical. They go bad and once they start tripping they only get worse. It could actually be a bad heating element from the factory but you will know for sure once you try a non gfi circuit.

 

[testdepth]

It sounds like the previous owner did some piggy back wiring of his own by running a secondary standard outlet off of the GFI one. Find a standard outlet in your home that is rated for the recommended 15A or 20A and plug it in. If the breaker in your main panel doesn't trip then atleast you know there is nothing wrong with the smoker. If you don't have another external outlet then I would run an extension cord out to your smoker and plug it in to a non GFI outlet.