Samsung Fridge Freezer Tripping Circuit Breaker (Earth Neutral Fault)

Hello there,

First post as I can't find any similar problems on the forums here.

A few days ago, woke up to no electricity around the house. Saw the MCB main connection had tripped and wouldn't come back on. Did the usual checks and turned off all appliances etc. and cut a long story short, found the fridge freezer causing the fault.

This afternoon, checked the flex cable had some chaffing in it, cut it and to test, plugged in live and neutral into an extension cable and tested and it worked fine (didn't plug the earth cable in).

Connected a 13A top plug and plugged it in and the circuit blew. Only difference between the first and second time was the earth cable plugged in.

I therefore isolated the earth cable from the top plug and tested and lo and behold, it started working! This proves that when the earth cable is connected from that appliance, it's tripping the MCB.

Have disconnected the fridge freezer as am not sure what is causing this and how to go about fixing and if necessary, whom to call out to repair this fridge freezer.

 

I've asked a mod to move your post to the Electrics forum....

They should be quicker to respond

 

Was it an MCB that tripped, or an RCD? RCDs have a test button.

MCBs do not trip with Neutral to Earth faults - they do with Live to Earth faults.
RCDs trip for both.

 

Indeed - but, despite the title of this thread, the OP does not appear to have done anything which shows that it is a N-E, rather than an L-E, fault, since all he has done is to disconnect the earth.

To the OP: What you are doing is dangerous - since, if there is a 'Live to Earth' fault, when you try the fridge-freezer without an earth connected (and it 'works'), the entire case of the appliance is probably live.

Kind Regards, John

 

@EFLImpudence - Thank you for clarifying. Once I did my tests and deduced that the Earthing being connected is tripping the Main Circuit Board. As soon as I found the cause, I have disconnected the appliance.

When I connect with earthing, all the other fuses pon the board are fine but the main circuit breaker trips (which is why I presumed it was Neutral to Earth fault).

 

What is my next step - would it be something in the appliance or get a professional in to look into it?

 

Yes.

 

I really appreciate all your help and support

 

What is tripping?

Picture if you're not sure.

 

You cannot make connections to a plug top. It is only a cover or lid.

One assumes you mean a plug.

 

It is likely there is a defrost element which are know for absorbing moisture and tripping a RCD. However our Samsung has a 10 year warranty on inverter and motor so really no option but call number in the warranty paperwork or you will invalidate the warranty, I don't know how likely it is that the inverter could have an earth fault? It may have a filter which may have a faulty capacitor.

The fridge freezer today is a complex device, with a power cut ours shows how warm it got before power returned, and the three phase motor starts up without any shakes or jerks that one saw years ago, although one motor the fridge and freezer are independently controlled and there is nothing stopping the motor from having a variable speed.

If the defrost element is the fault, often the unit will run for some time before it is activated then it trips out.