I went to www.repairclinic.com, which explained how to check the windings.
The measured resistance between the three windings (start, run, common) was
consistent with what repairclinic.com described. Repairclinic.com also
explained that none of the windings should have a path to ground. However,
I found the start winding in my compressor has one when I went to measure
its resistance, which probably explains why the breaker was tripping. There
evidently is no fix for this, other than a new compressor ($100 + labor).

I'd like to thank everyone for their advice and suggestions ...

Chris

"jeff" wrote in message
om...
"Chris" wrote in message
news:%%Bpc.57053$iF6.5174212@attbi_s02...
Hi,

We have a GE refrigerator/freezer which is about 5 years old. I woke up
this morning and noticed the refrigerator was off, so I checked the
breaker
and found out it was tripped. I reset it and the refrigerator started
to
run. Later in the day, I checked to see if the contents of the
refrigerator
were being cooled, but discovered they were actually warmer than they
were
in the morning. The fan was running, but the compressor wasn't. The
next
think I tried was to turn off the refrigerator from the control inside
the
refrigerator and then turn it back on. This tripped the breaker.

I suspect the compressor is bad. I have previously cleaned the dust out
of
the coils, so I don't think it was running an excessive amount of time
due
to poor heat exchange.

Any ideas on what I might try before having it repaired?

Hi,

Compressor windings may be grounded and blew the fuse, this can be
checked with an ohm meter ( power off ).

A copy...

--First check to see if you have windings in the compressor. Then
check to see if they are grounded. If the compressor has windings and
they are not grounded, you can find which winding is which. First
check for grounded windings by reading from each of the 3 terminals to
a good ground on the cabinet.--

Taken from...
http://www.applianceaid.com/refrigerator.html#clicking

jeff.
Appliance Repair Aid
http://www.applianceaid.com/