Spent 3 hours chasing a phantom breaker trip on a GE fridge in Phoenix

I mean, I thought it would be a quick 45 minute call. Customer said the refrigerator was tripping the breaker every few hours. Checked the compressor windings, defrost heater, even the condenser fan motor. Everything tested fine. Took me forever to realize the issue was a pinhole leak in the evaporator that was dumping refrigerant into the system and making the compressor pull too many amps intermittently. Had to pull the whole unit out and do a leak check with nitrogen. Total time on site was like 3 and a half hours and I made maybe $80 after the customer complained about the diagnostic fee. Has anyone else dealt with a slow intermittent leak that mimics control board failure?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverhill13d ago

Man these phantom issues are the worst, lol. It's like the universe punishing you for thinking you had an easy day lined up.

martinez.anna13d ago

Used to think people were overreacting but that phrase "phantom issues" totally gets it now lol.