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Compressor oil smell through the vents, that was my clue
Pulled a fridge in Akron last month that kept tripping the breaker randomly. I checked the relay, the start capacitor, all the usual stuff. Then I got a whiff of that burnt oil smell coming out of the bottom grille. That's when I realized the compressor was internally shorted, not the wiring. A simple oil smell test saved me two more hours of chasing a ghost. Anyone else use the nose test before pulling the compressor?
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angelaellis7d ago
Ha! The nose knows, right? I've been burned so many times by bad diagnostic gear that I pretty much trust my sniffer over my multimeter these days. My wife says I've got a professional-grade nose for burnt electronics, which is just a fancy way of saying I've inhaled way too much freon and solder fumes over the years. But seriously, that oil smell is like the compressor's last cry for help. It's saved me from ripping apart perfectly good condenser fans and chasing loose wires that were never the problem.
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