Thanks so much BTDretire. I hadn't known about the appliance boards but it seems a good place to start. Samsungs also seem to have a great reputation for poor customer service, lousy warranties, and investing more in the washer playing a song to you when its done than having the machine work.
I'll check with neighbors if they have an AC amp meter. Is a 20 amp full scale just the capacity of the AC amp meter or a separate measuring device? Sorry for my novice question. Thanks too for putting this in perspective. It looks like in general I need to add a non GFi outlet to the laundry room for the washer.
Ya, that's why I said I'm somewhat of an electronics guy, I have meters available that I could adjust/modify to
read 1/2 scale while the machine is running and watch for sudden increases of the current being drawn. Most likely to happen during a change in the cycle. This would just be part of the troubleshooting sequence. Yes, just a 20 amp AC meter, because that is the max continuous current draw before you pop the breaker, but be aware a motor could draw as much as 40 amps for a few milliseconds at start, the time is so short the analog meter needle would not make it to 40.
ithenderson, may be on mark with the motor capacitor failing, if that is the case, without equipment to test, it may be easiest to just get the proper one for your washer and replace it.
If the capacitor is going bad, I suspect what may happen is when the electronics tell the motor it is supposed to start it won't, but it will draw current in a stalled state and then in a second to 10 seconds the excess current will pop the breaker.
It is possible when the motor is under light load that it will start rotating and all will seem normal, but if you have a heavy load the motor can't start rotating and pops the breaker.
Did you find any questions about your model in the google search I posted?
Post your Brand and Model, maybe someone can find something.
I have got appliance parts from Ebay, Amazon and other appliance part supply companies, so mostly easily available.
Might cost you $10 to $20.
Last capacitor I had go bad was on the fan motor of my air conditioner condenser unit, I just happen to have
a squirrel cage fan in my shop with proper value, I swapped in and it worked until my Amazon order arrived.
Cost me $12.
It was a smaller motor so didn't draw enough current to pop the breaker, but it got extremely hot setting stalled.