Help! Rip Fridge

[rehnton]

hi all
my fermentation fridge died yesterday! It was running fine then all of a sudden it shorted my whole house out. as soon as its turned back on the fuses blow again. For those of you who are electrically savvy - is this the end of my fridge or is it worth looking into getting it fixed?

im guessing this is a dificult question to answer without seeing the fridge but i dont want to waste $$$ (that could be put toward a replacement) paying a mechanic to come out & tell me its stuffed!!!!

 

[beerguide]

Same thing happened with my old fridge - turned out (in my case) that there was a loose wire connecting to the motor which was arcing and shorting out when it was turned on. The effect was everything else on the same circuit 'blew' also.

I fixed it with a few cents worth of solder and some heat shrink wrap.

Have you tried plugging something else into the powerpoint other than your fridge, to test that it isn't the powerpoint itself ?

I'm not an electrician by any means and I'm only working on my own experience here - trying to save you some cash also

 

[KGB]

^^^ Good point about testing out the powerpoint.
How old is the fridge? It could be something simple as suggested and there really isn't that much to a fridge motor so you can usually see most if not all the components pretty easily. Have a look and let us know how you go.

 

[J.T]

Flicking the circuit breaker straight away usually means a short to earth. Meaning electricity is making its way to the frame somewhere. This could be either directly touching via wiring somewhere or via a short within the compressor.
Or indirectly, as i had recently, when water had found its way onto some electrical wiring as the freezer defrosted. This tripped my CB. I thought it was stuffed, but i let it dry out for a week or 2, tried it again and it was fine.

Hope this helps.