Electronic devices can sometimes conduct short circuits of electricity or commonly known as electrocution or electric shock. Many factors cause this to happen. The refrigerator is no exception.
The refrigerator is an electric device for storing various foods. Refrigerator consists of many components such as compressor, condenser, evaporator, and others. So there is a high possibility of a short circuit in the refrigerator causing the refrigerator body to electrocute.
And also because the refrigerator body is mostly made of metal, so it is very easy to conduct electricity if the refrigerator has short circuit problem.
This is very disturbing because there will be an electric shock when you touch parts of the refrigerator, especially the body. In addition, you can use a multitester or testpen to check whether the refrigerator body has short circuit problem.
There are several reasons why a refrigerator causes electric shock. Here are the causes of the refrigerator electrocution and how to overcome it.
1. Short Body Refrigerator Compressor
The compressor is the main component of the refrigerator. This compressor, if it has a short body or the coil from the compressor peels off on the coil of the compressor wire and attaches to the compressor body, it will be electrified.
Compressor shorts can also be caused by unstable or frequent home power outages. This affects the performance of the compressor so that it will have a shorter life and be damaged more quickly.
The coils in the compressor cannot withstand the current so that it will cause the compressor to have short circuit to the refrigerator body. To overcome this, you need to replace the refrigerator compressor with a new one.
2. There is a Peeled Cable
The second cause of the refrigerator electrocuting is the peeling of the refrigerator cable. The peeling cable will conduct electric current to other components of the refrigerator so that the refrigerator feels electrocuted.
To overcome this, you must first find out which cable has been peeled off. You can use a multitester or testpen to check which part of the cable is short.
After knowing the peeling cable, next you need to patch the peeled part with insulation or if necessary replace the cable with a new one.
3. Broken Frame Heater Cable
The damaged heater frame cable is also one of the reasons why the refrigerator can electrocute. When this cable is damaged, the cable can flow unstable electric current to the refrigerator body.
However, this is very rare especially in the current output refrigerator because the current output refrigerator is equipped with an electric current safety feature so that if there is a damaged heater cable, the consequences can be minimized.
And also rarely happens in home refrigerators because the heater frame is usually found in large-scale refrigerators such as for restaurants or food storage areas with a large enough capacity.
To overcome this, the heater frame cable that is damaged or burned must be replaced with a new one so that the current is stable and does not shock the refrigerator.
Overcome the Electrocuted Refrigerator with Grounding
There is also another way to deal with an electrocuted refrigerator, namely by installing grounding. Grounding is a step to conduct electric current directly to the ground when there is a short-circuit leakage. Usually, the sockets in homes have been grounded.
There are several ways to ground the refrigerator. Here’s how to put grounding on the refrigerator.
- Peel the skin of the cable first so you can see the copper wire inside.
- Attach the cable with screws to the refrigerator body frame by loosening the bolts using a screwdriver but do not let it loose then wrap the copper label around the neck of the bolt and then tighten the bolt.
- Sort the cables according to the refrigerator cable path until it is close to the refrigerator plug and then tie the refrigerator cable with the grounding cable that was sorted earlier with insulation.
- After the grounding cable is connected to the refrigerator body frame, then connect the cable to one of the hydropower plants located on both sides of your home socket. The plate can be seen from the outside of the outlet.
- There is also another safer way that you can do to connect the grounding cable that has been installed on the refrigerator body frame with the grounding plate found on the wall outlet.
- The trick is to replace the flat-shaped refrigerator plug with a round and large plug. The plug has two plates on the outside that will connect to the plate on the wall outlet.
- By using this type of plug, the grounding cable connected to the body frame will automatically connect to the grounding plate located on the outlet.
To replace the flat plug of the refrigerator with a round plug, do the following:
- Unscrew the plug bolt using a screwdriver.
- Pry the plug for easy removal.
- Remove the screw that secures the copper end of the refrigerator cable.
- Unscrew the round plug using a screwdriver.
- Attach the copper end of the cable in each place for each end of the copper cable and hook it up.
- Tighten each bolt that attaches the end of the copper wire.
- Close the plug by tightening the plug bolt.
There are many types of refrigerators, but in general the causes of refrigerator shocks are as described above. Make sure you are careful with it.