Brand: Kenmore
Model Number:10679852990
Main Symptom: Tripping breakers/ground fault
What happens & when: Tried using multiple outlets and it trips protected (GFCI) and breakers on non-protected outlets.
With the defrost heater unplugged, the fridge/freezer run fine and don’t trip anything. I figured the heater was bad but it tested fine at roughly 36ohms. Moved on to the thermostat and it doesn’t appear to have any continuity at room temp or in cold water. No reading on the multimeter.
Is it possible that a faulty/damaged thermostat would cause this issue? There are no visible signs of damage to any wiring.
For clarification, does it trip your house breaker or just the GFCI breaker? Try this, locate the defrost timer, you have a mechanical timer. insert a flat head screwdriver into the dial and turn it clockwise until it shuts off. All the fans and compressor should be running before you try this. When it goes into defrost, all fans turn off and the compressor as well turns off. If it trips the GFCI or main breaker at that point, you know the problem is in the timer or the defrost heater element. A thermostat is just a switch, off or on, they typically do not trip a breaker. I know it is in the electrical code to use GFCI systems, but they can be a real problem, especially if you were out of town and it tripped, you would loose all your food. let me know what you found.
I had it plugged in to multiple outlets. I tried running it on a standard outlet in the house and it tripped the breaker. The fridge won’t run at all while the defrost heater is plugged in. If I disconnect the heater, the fridge runs fine. Should I try adjusting the defrost timer while the fridge is running with the heater disconnected?