FFTR1713LW Frigidaire freezer plastic melt

[tonycontera]

Model Number

FFTR1713LW

Brand

Frigidaire

Age

6-10 years

Hello,
What could cause the burn at top and behind the refrigerant tube in the freezer?
Last night the fridge tripped the GFCI.
Tried another GFCI (possibly on the same circuit) and it tripped that too.
But when I tried a regular outlet for few minutes I started smelling burning rubber or plastic.
I opened the freezer up and saw this.
I am not sure if that burn is related to what happened last night or whether it was there from before.

I disconnected the defrost heater wire, thermostat wire and fan - fridge still tripped the GFCI.
I plugged the fridge into a regular outlet again with all these wires disconnected, the compressor works fine.
I plugged the fan back with the other wires disconnected, the fridge works fine, fan is working albeit without a defrost cycle.

Do you think the burn on top of the refrigerant tube is related to what happened?

thank you for your help

 

[jeff1]

Hi,

Just a guess.....I don't see anything that would cause a mark like that.
looks more like this happened when the evaporator was welded into place.

Shorted defrost heater element?
Shorted defrost thermostat?
Both shorted?

FFTR1713LW

Missing a digit.

Refrigerator defrost thermostat kit
Refrigerator Defrost Heater Assembly

jeff sr.

 

[tonycontera]

Hello Jeff, thank you for your reply. missing digit is 2. FFTR1713LW2

I cannot make sense of what's shorted and what's not because I disconnected both and the CFCI still tripped - I'm puzzled by that.

I am thinking that because of the burnt rubber smell it is most likely the heater element gone bad.

 

[jeff1]

I cannot make sense of what's shorted and what's not because

Meter test them both to the outer shell (body of the part) to make sure if they are shorted to ground.
If the heater was staying on, you would think we would see melted or damaged stuff down closer to the element.

jeff sr.