I had a problem with the condenser motor on my fridge not coming on every time causing the unit to get hot and thaw everything inside. I could usually take the dowel and spin the fan blade to get it to start. I ordered a replacement motor that arrived the other day. I removed and installed the motor as instructed on the paperwork provided. When I went to plug in the unit it now trips the GFCI the fridge is plugged into. I removed the motor to check and see if it was bad. When I place the motor on a 115v AC line it turns the fan motor fine and nothing trips. What is going on here?
Quick response needed as food is defrosting as I type.:eek:
I just checked one other thing. If I turn the defrost control timer dial to the defrost setting and plug the unit in it does NOT trip the GFCI, When I turn the defrost timer dial to start the unit again it trips the GFCI. Almost sounds like a relay is bad or shorting out. Thoughts?
In general, pros. do not recommend putting a frdg on a gfci outlet, too many places for a frdg to have ground currents.
If you have a meter, I would check the new motor for a short to ground and also the compressor.
The fridge is in the Garage and every outlet is GFCI protected. It has been in there for 5 years and has never tripped the GFCI until today. I Ohms tested the motor and it reads .071mhs, the old motor reads .068 ohms. I took the new motor and put it directly to a power strip in the garage connected tot he GFCI and the fan motor turned with no issues. I also reinstalled the fan motor into the fridge, placed the defrost timer to defrost and the unit turns on and doesn’t trip the GFCI, as soon as i turn the defrost timer to the off position normally allowing the compressor to reun, the GFCI trips.
[COLOR=“DarkRed”]I also reinstalled the fan motor into the fridge, placed the defrost timer to defrost and the unit turns on and doesn’t trip the GFCI, as soon as i turn the defrost timer to the off position normally allowing the compressor to reun, the GFCI trips.[/COLOR]
If you do the same test with the fan motor disconnected does it still trip the GFI?
I ran an extension cord across the house to Non- GFCI circuit and the unit works as designed. I guess with it defrosting some condensation must have been in the Compressor circuit. Fixed. THanks