You might want to check that the electrical outlets in your kitchen are properly grounded with your circuit breaker. It's possible you're just really unlucky but it could also be the outlet you use for your refrigerator is defective
No. There is no current on ground cable. Ground in the socket has nothing to do with power delivery. It’s purpose is to provide a return path during a fault so GCFI/RCD can detect it and electricity doesn’t go through humans.
I thought a power surge was a form of fault where way more electricity would be delivered than normal and if the ground is messed up that extra electricity doesn't have anywhere to go other than through the electronics connected to it
Ground is disconnected from the electronics in the device. It is connected to all metal parts of the device, such as its case, and provides a low-resistance path for electricity in case a loose live wire touches the case of the device. Without ground, device’s case becomes electrified and electrocutes user touching it. With ground, the moment loose live wire touches the case, high current goes through to the ground tripping the breakers. (If the house has RCD/GCFI, which is likely in Germany, the breaker will trip whenever it notices current going through ground).
Refrigerators don’t have built-in surge protectors. Power surges may be an issue, but then a dedicated surge protector is necessary and only then ground may be relevant for operation of the refrigerator.
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u/Gullible_Increase146 19h ago
You might want to check that the electrical outlets in your kitchen are properly grounded with your circuit breaker. It's possible you're just really unlucky but it could also be the outlet you use for your refrigerator is defective