So this weekend in the snow storm I had an electrical issue... My snow blower is equipped with an electric starter so I can plug it in to start it, rather than pulling the cord. The back of the unit has the male end of a plug; I of course plug an extension cord into it, then into my wall in the garage. The snow blower itself has a standard 3 prong grounded outlet. I started it this weekend, unplugged it and the damn ground pin snapped off the unit and was stuck in the extension cord. I've called the retailer... of course I'm 2 months out of warranty. To replace it, I'd need to buy a whole new starter unit, that's $375 plus labor... damn snow blower is only worth $900 So my question is, can I just yank the ground pin from my extension cord and keep using it? I assume since the snow blower can often be wet the ground was there for a reason... It still starts just fine without it, but I assume I'm at risk there? Secondly, if I bought a portable GFI... Plugged that into my electrical outlet in the garage, plugged my extension cord into it, then into the snow blower... does that reduce/eliminate the risk of the missing ground connection on the snow blower itself, because of the GFI connected at the wall?
I actually saw that yesterday after posting this and PM'd him; and he was very helpful, so I believe that.
What was the answer? Can you use it as-is or not? I know next to nothing about electricity and found it a really interesting question....I'd like to know.
Yeah, but the way the starter of the unit is made, there unfortunately isn't a cord I can easily cut and replace like that.