Frig Tripping Breaker (GFCI)

[PaulATX]

Model Number: KSCS22QFWH01
Brand: Whirlpool
Age: More than 10 years

It's actually a Kitchenaid Superba made in 1998. Refrigerator kicked the GFCI outlet. I found that it is not defrosting. Disconnecting the defrost heater allows it to run normally except for having to manually defrost it every 3 days (hair dryer on low makes it quick!). The heating element (removed) has -0- ohms resistance which I understand means it is bad. The thermostat has not been tested. Timer seems to cycling correctly. What can be causing a short? Is there something else to consider besides replacing the heating element and/or thermostat? Thanks.

Update - I just tested the heater element and it heats up when wired into a heavy duty extension cord. Help is really needed now!

[denman]

You probably read 0 ohms on the heater because you used the wrong meter scale.
You should have used the 200 ohm scale.

Odds are high that if you plug the unit into a non-GFCI receptacle, it will run OK.
In other words there is not a short in the unit but some leakage current.

The most likely cause is that some mouisture has got into the defrost thermostat.

[Doc Ryan]

From my experience it is usually moisture that has gotten into the defrost thermostat but I have also seen moisture get into the defrost heater.

At 3:07 in the video below you can see what a bad defrost thermostat looks like when it gets moisture in it and it raises up. If yours looks like this replace it.


These are the parts for your model:

Defrost Thermostat - Part # PD00002717 (mfg # WPW10225581)


Defrost Heater - Part # PD00023198 (mfg # WP2323197)