OT: Refrigerator problem?

Circuit breaker has tripped twice on one kitchen circuit in last week. Never done that in last 10 yrs. On it is a Admiral 20 yr. old sidexside refrig.-freezer, a new Kenmore microwave & clock. Micro gets used seldom & not more than 1 minute. Don't think it is the problem since it doesn't trip when in use. Refrig gets very hot in the panel between frig & freezer. Almost too hot to hold onto but other times cool. Ideas?

Have you vacummed or blown out the coils since new?

BIL had a similar problem recently. When he went to clean coils he found a strip of foam fell on the condenser fan and prevented it from spinning. Do you have air flow on the condensing side?

You may have a problem with the thaw circuit so the coils are iced up if it is a frost free one.

The panel getting warm is normal. That is the defrost cycle working.

Lots of places to check. Could just be a bad circuit breaker. Has anything else been added to that circuit? Might be time to think about a more energy efficient fridge? If it's an overload, what is causing it? Do you have a meter that can check amperage draw? Does the amperage draw exceed the stated amps on the data plate?

I had to run a single circuit for my microwave. Check the amp draw on it. Doesn't matter if you are only using it for a minute.

Some places even want a single circuit for the ref.

Every other plug in the kitchen must be on another circuit you run two 20 amp circuits and connect them two every other plugin. Very few houses unless wire in the last twenty five years will have this. Don't put in 20 amp breakers unless you have # 12 wiring.
Walt

Too much load for the circuit. I have my microwave oven on a 20amp breaker with 12 ga wire to the HD 20 amp socket, but if running the washing machine ( on the same circuit) , and I kick on the microwave, it will trip that breaker within 15 seconds.

The warm panels in the frige may be the self defrost heating elements on when warm, cool when their not.

Not true. Code says there must be 2 20 small appliance branch circuits in the kitchen,dinning room area and they must be evenly divided among the receptacles. NOT every other one. Microwave is supposed to be on a separate circuit and so is the washing machine(laundry) which could include the power for a gas drier.

If the only appliances on the circuit are the fridge and microwave, and the breaker doesn't trip when using the microwave, the problem just about has to be either the fridge or the breaker.

Easiest place to start would be replace the breaker. Also look at the buss bar in the breaker panel where the breaker attaches, be sure the connection is good.

If the problem continues, you'll need to check the fridge. Check for the obvious first, clogged coils, condenser and evaporator fans free and working, pinched, rubbed, chewed wiring.

You'll need an amprobe to test the run and defrost circuits. Find the info tag and note the amp draw specification. With the compressor running, be sure the amperage is not exceeding the rated amps. If so there is a problem with the compressor or a fan or some component that runs when the system calls for cooling.

If that tests good, find the defrost timer. It's usually under the front cover at the bottom, or in back. With the amprobe in place, slowly rotate the timer overide until the defrost cycle starts. Watch the amp reading, see if it exceeds the tag ratings or exceeds the 20 amp breaker rating. If so there is a problem in the defrost, probably a shorted heating element.

I just looked up specs on a 23' GE SXS and it is rated 120v/15A/60 Hz. The microwave runs on 10A if a 1200w like mine. Add the two together and you have an overload for a 20A ckt. The starting surge on the SXS is in addition to the ratings.

The SXS is supposed to be on a separate 20a ckt and the uwave usually sharing one of the two or more kitchen 20A circuits over the drainboard.

On getting hot, the frig. condenser coils are either behind or beneath the unit. I think on SxS they are on the bottom and fan cooled. Usually the freezer condenser coils are connected to the steel shell and are radiant/natural convection cooled so yes the sides of the box will get hot when running. The frig coils require cleaning periodically also.

If this problem just started occurring then yes you may have a problem. Don't overlook a sensitive breaker as a source. Also don't overlook dirty condenser coils under the box.

At your earliest convenience I'd opt to separate the loads.

Mark

Added thought: If the house is hot the ambient temp that is used to cool the condenser coils raises and that raises the head pressure of the compressor. More head pressure means more hp required to spin it and compress the freon. More hp is more amps.......

Additionally, the same goes for dirty/lint clogged condenser coils. If you can't blow adequate air across the coils to remove the heat from inside the ref, the head pressure will go up again with the added heat of the freon and the same thing applies.

When is the last time you cleaned them?

HTH find your problem.

Mark