Frigidaire Gallery Side by Side runs but trips breaker after a few hours

[DOHCIVIC]

I bought this fridge to keep in my garage for drinks for the kids and a extra freezer... well I brought it home and let it sit for about 4 hrs before I plugged it in because I laid it on its side to bring it home and went to bed... I woke up to the GFI tripped... Tried resetting it but it wouldn't reset... Unplugged the fridge and reset GFI.

I though maybe it needed to be on a 20 amp outlet so I plugged it in to a 20 amp... The fridge ran for about 3 hours and tripped the 20amp breaker in the breaker panel... WTF... So I called the guy I bought it from to see if he was having issues with it and of course he says he wasn't and I have to believe him

Well I let it sit for 2 days and was deciding what to do with it... I thought I would try letting it run again and it did for a little over 7 hrs and it tripped the gfi again... I just unplugged it and opened the doors and it has been sitting for about 5 days now... I called a repair guy but he cant get out here till wed... So I thought I would look for a way to fix it my self

Any help is welcomed

Thank you in advance for any help

Gary

[DOHCIVIC]

Also... when the fridge work it is working properly... Soda are cold and the freezer did freeze popcicles

[Dan O.]

Intermittent problems are the hardest to isolate to repair.

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1. A refrigerator should NOT be on a GFI outlet/circuit.
2. A 15 amp breaker should be sufficient, a time-delay breaker preferred. The refrigerator should be the only device on the whole circuit.

I can only guess what the cause may be.

- It might be a partially shorted compressor.
- It could just be caused by a bad breaker or a loose connection in the breaker box but if it occurred on two different circuits, that is less likely. If you just switched the breaker in the panel but used the same electrical circuit, a bad connection in the breaker box could still be the cause.
- Running the unit on an extension cord might result in such a stoppage. The time of day could also contribute. At peak times of day voltage to homes is lower, resulting in higher amperage draw of running appliances.

If you haven't yet, try plugging the refrigerator into a different wall outlet (and without using an extension cord) and one with little to no other devices plugged into that same circuit.

Be prepared! If the problem only presents itself after hours of operation, a service technician may not be able to determine the cause with certainty when he's there. Sometimes an appliance just has to be used until the problem is consistent so it can be found.

JMO

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

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[DOHCIVIC]

Thanks for the help Dan. The bad thing is I don't have a none gfi outlet in the garage so to get it to any other outlet I have to use an extension cord.

I plugged it in again last night and it ran for about 7 hours again... before I went to bed I snapped a pic of the evaporator coil. I will up loaded it once I can remember my photo bucket info

[DOHCIVIC]

Well I can't post photos yet...

[DOHCIVIC]

I have to have 15 posts

[pushkins]

Have you tried a NON GFCI circuit like suggested by Dan ? I've seen this issue raise its head many times with fridges plugged into GFCI circuits.

[DOHCIVIC]

I have tried a 20amp non gfi on an extension cord but I don't have a non gfi outlet in the garage

[HayZee518]

A dedicated appliance is permitted without being a gfci [ fridge, washer etc.] tools on the other hand require gfci-s.

[DOHCIVIC]

I know that Hay... but in my garage I have two different 15 amp circuits coming into it both gfi's... yes my house in my opinion was wired wrong but the outlet I have used to run the fridge is tied to the garage door opener and outside outlets... The other outlet in the garage is gfi and it trips as soon I a plug it in so I don't use that one for anything... I think that one has a faulty gfi

[HayZee518]

ok, do this. your door opener is a straight outlet [no gfci] downstream of this outlet and before you get to the outside receptacles, install a single gang box with a single or duplex receptacle for the fridge. continue this line to your outside box where a gfci receptacle is required.
does your garage have a sub-panel or are the runs from your panelbox in your basement?
what do you mean your house was wired wrong?

[DOHCIVIC]

ok, do this. your door opener is a straight outlet [no gfci] downstream of this outlet and before you get to the outside receptacles, install a single gang box with a single or duplex receptacle for the fridge. continue this line to your outside box where a gfci receptacle is required.
does your garage have a sub-panel or are the runs from your panelbox in your basement?
what do you mean your house was wired wrong?

What I mean by wired wrong... well weird... The garage door opener outlet is tied to one outlet in the garage, one on the back of the house, tank less hot water heater outlet under the house and lights on the front of the garage

[DOHCIVIC]

The other outlet in the garage is only tied to the outlet above it for the TV and two outlets on the front porch

[DOHCIVIC]

ok, do this. your door opener is a straight outlet [no gfci] ?

The garage door is on a gfi circuit... to and to the weird wiring I forgot to add that the grille outlet is in the laundry room in the house right under the breaker panel

[DOHCIVIC]

I swapped out the gfi to a regular plug and plugged the fridge in... it has been running for 8 hrs now... should the evap coil look like this?