Beer Fridge Shorting

[bcp]

My fridge is tripping the safety everytime it tries to come on. You just hear the compressor try to start and... the safety goes again. Fortunately the weather in melbourne means the current brew is sitting on the right temperature

For those who know these things, when a fridge shorts like that, is it usually really bad news? Or is it likely to be something simple? Having just blown most of my spending money on the new brew shed and a new DSLR camera I'm not wanting to spend money on someone to tell me it's dead if i should spending it on a replacement.

Yeah, i know you can't know without looking at it, i'm just wanting to know whether the odds of it being something simple are worth bringing in the repair guy.

 

[QldKev]

No fridge mechanic but I'm calling a compressor seize, if so time for a new fridge.

QldKev

 

[michael_aussie]

My fridge is tripping the safety everytime it tries to come on. You just hear the compressor try to start and... the safety goes again. Fortunately the weather in melbourne means the current brew is sitting on the right temperature

For those who know these things, when a fridge shorts like that, is it usually really bad news? Or is it likely to be something simple? Having just blown most of my spending money on the new brew shed and a new DSLR camera I'm not wanting to spend money on someone to tell me it's dead if i should spending it on a replacement.

Yeah, i know you can't know without looking at it, i'm just wanting to know whether the odds of it being something simple are worth bringing in the repair guy.

I purchased a fridge from an AHB member. He had used it for a long time with no problems.
As soon as I plugged it in it tripped my RCD. I don't think he had a RCD.

To cut a long story short, the fridge had a heating element behind the condensate drain gutter thingo......
This was damaged. I disconnected the heating element and bingo.. the fridge hasn't missed a beat since.

FRIDGES TRIPPING
The first question that needs to be answered is ... are you sure it is the safety switch tripping?
I ask this because sometimes the safety switch (RCD) is integrated with the overload.
Unless you know what you are looking at, it may not be entirely clear what has actually happened.
Has the circuit tripped from over current or has the circuit tripped because it has excessive earth leakage??

Assuming it is earth leakage it could be hard to track down, and it could be too expensive to justify repairing an old fridge.

Possible earth leak trippers are:
your compressor motor
an elements in the fridge - butter warmer, condensate drain defroster, frost free fridges can also have other heating elements.
switches (thermostat, timers etc).

To actually locate the fault can be time consuming, and could entail disconnecting each sub-circuit until you locate by elimination the culprit.

Good luck .. maybe it would be easier (cheaper) to buy another s/h fridge. You can get fridges very cheap .. anywhere from FREE to $100 if you are willing to search and wait.

 

[rclemmett]

I replaced the start relay on my last fridge about a year ago, the part cost me $70 if my memory serves me correctly.

It will probably be cheaper to replace the fridge.

On a side note, does your temp controller have a delay for the compressor because if it doesn't this can cause alot of wear on the relay and compressor.

 

[bcp]

I just looked on ebay and there are some really cheap deals.

On a side note, does your temp controller have a delay for the compressor because if it doesn't this can cause alot of wear on the relay and compressor.

I use a fridgemate. Does that have built in delay? Or what should i use?

 

[rclemmett]

I use a fridgemate. Does that have built in delay? Or what should i use?

I'm pretty sure they do... I think you can set how long the delay is on the fridgmate.