defrost cycle kicks gfi outlett off

[bigjim4839]

the defrost cycle was not working. I saw on a website to bypass the thermastat by plugging the heater in without the thermastat. When I did this and turned the timer to defrost it kicked the gfi outlet off. Now when I turn the timer to defrost the outlet kickes off. If I unplug the heating element the compressor and fan turn off and it does not kick off the outlet. The heating element tests 25 ohms and no short between the lead and outside or the element. Is there a test to see if I shorted out the timer? or do I have to try to track down a wire short?

[bigjim4839]

the fridg is a fridgaire model frs20zrg

[Dan O.]

the fridg is a fridgaire model frs20zrg

That model number is incomplete by 2 digits. Did you get it right off the appliance's model and serial number identification tag?

You can find tips for locating the model and serial number identification tag on your appliances at the following link:

LINK > Model Number Tag Location Guide

no short between the lead and outside or the element

On what ohm scale?

Something in the defrost circuit sounds to be shorted. The heater would be most likely. Since you say the limit thermostat was disconnected at the time, it should be able to be ruled out. The only other thing I can think of is a short in the wiring to the heater.

I suggest you retest the heater for a short to ground on the highest ohm scale available on your meter. It doesn't have to be a dead short to cause problems.

JMO


Dan O.
Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[bigjim4839]

I used the 2m ohm scale today to test heater coil short and readout started at 1.850 and slowley read down to .524. Does this show a short to ground? I read about the same from the heater coil lead to the evap coil.

[Dan O.]

.
There should be NO continuity (ie. infinite resistance) between the heater leads and the outer heater sheath. Of course, if the heater is touching the evaporator testing between it and the heater leads would show the same short as they are in contact.

If the readings you describe are correct, the heater is likely defective and needs to be replaced. Which heater yours takes will depend on its exact model number. A couple of possibilities are linked below.

LINK > Frigidaire FRS20ZRGB1 Defrost Heater

LINK > Frigidaire FRS20ZRGDA Defrost Heater

JMO

Dan O.
Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

.

[bigjim4839]

Thank you. Where will I find model number? the number I found is on a sticker inside fridge side (frs20zrg ). I can not find another number.

[Dan O.]

Use the link provided

Where will I find model number?

In my very first reply to you I gave you a link titled, "Model Number Tag Location Guide". Try using it to located the identification tag on your appliances.

JFYI

Dan O.
Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

.

[HayZee518]

heater and a gfci

I guess first question is why do you have the heater plugged into a gfci? a GFCI is there to protect personnel against electric shocks if you are in direct contact with earth or a known ground source. the gfci is constructed with an electronic circuit which measures current imbalance between the black and white wires. say you have 4 amps fed to the heater and only 2 amps come back, then the other 2 amps are going someplace, either through a wire to ground or the case ground.

[Dan O.]

.

It's the refrigerator that is plugged into a GFCI. When in defrosts it trips.

.

[Nestor]

I've been kinda keeping up with this thread too.

Big Jim: You say your problems started when you operated the defrost heater without the defrost thermostat in the circuit. Did you actually cut the wires to the defrost thermostat and connect the ends of those wires together? Or, did you use some other way of getting power to the defrost heater?

You see, if you were working on your fridge with the freezer door open and the evaporator cover panel off, the ambient temperature in that freezer compartment would quickly warm up just because of the surrounding room temperature air getting into the freezer compartment. So, the defrost thermostat would soon get warm enough to open and prevent power from getting to the defrost heater.

In a case like that, I can see someone realizing what was happening and attempting to get the defrost heater to work anyhow by applying 120 volts directly to it. The problem is that they might have gotten that 120 volt power from a DIFFERENT receptacle than the one the fridge was plugged into.

If you did that, but did it incorrectly, you might have gotten 240 volts across your defrost heater instead of the 120 volts you were expecting, and that's what may have caused the damage.

Certainly, that would have tripped the GFCI the fridge was plugged into because NONE of the amperage being provided by the GFCI would have been coming back through the white wire in the GFCI. It would have all gone into the hot wire of the other receptacle.

I really don't know if that would have been enough to cause damage to the actual wires carrying that super high current in your fridge tho. It would seem to me that if you never noticed any damage to the connecting terminals when you disconnected the defrost heater, there probably wasn't any significant damage to the wires either.

I'd get Dan's input on this, but what I'd be most inclined to do if I was in your shoes would be to simply take a piece of lamp cord and wire it to a female cord end. Crimp the same kinds of terminals onto the other end of the lamp cord as you have on your defrost heater. Now, connect that lamp cord to where your defrost heater normally connects, and plug a radio into the female cord end so that the radio comes on when the defrost heater normally would.

Now, plug the fridge in and let it operate for a few hours to get cold enough for the defrost thermostat to close and allow power to flow through it. Then, turn the defrost timer shaft to advance the timer into defrost mode and see if you hear the compressor and evaporator fan go off, the radio come on for 10 to 20 minutes, or thereabouts, and then the radio go off and the compressor and evaporator fan come back on again.

If that's what happens, then you know there's nothing wrong with your defrost timer or wiring, and the problem is likely to be a short in the old defrost heater.

If the GFCI trips off as soon as the fridge goes into defrost mode, then I'm afraid you're dealing with a wire short somewhere inside the fridge, and the best thing to do would be to sell that fridge to someone you don't like very much.

I'm not a physicist and I don't know if the metal cabinet of a fridge would prevent radio waves from penetrating into the freezer compartment. You could instead use an electric clock or clock radio and note whether the time on the clock advanced by 10 to 20 minutes between the compressor and evaporator fan going off and the compressor and evaporator fan coming back on again. If so, the defrost timer is fine. If there was no movement of the clock during that time, your defrost timer is busted.

But, as I say, Dan's the resident deity in here, so see what he thinks.

[bigjim4839]

I just replaced the heater and for good measure I replaced the thermastat. so far so good. Ill give it a few days to see if it works right. Thanks for all your inputs.