About 1.5 weeks ago our freezer section started warming up, to the point where some things were frozen and others weren’t. We cleaned things up from the vents and adjusted the settings but it got worse, to the point where it wasn’t close to freezing a couple days ago, which is when I got serious about finding what was happening.
I took the back off and found the compressor fan had an obstruction which I removed (poor mouse, I have no idea how he got in the house as we’ve never seen any before), it span right up and I figured everything would be fine after that. Things were quite warm/hot near the fan but cooled off quickly after the fan was working. The fan spins fast and has great airflow, there wasn’t much dust so I cleaned up it, put the cover back on, and left it running overnight.
The next day the freezer was barely cooler than room temperature. I removed the back panel in the freezer and found a big chunk of ice around the top/beginning of the evaporator unit (big meaning perhaps 3 inches in diameter in an oval shape), a little frost on the pipe leading to the radiator but only a little at the beginning of the radiator. I turned it off for a couple hours to let it all melt away.
After it had melted I turned it back on, a couple hours later the beginning of the radiator has a tiny bit of frost but very little actual cooling happening.
A friend who has more experience than I (and a clamp-on ammeter) checked the compressor and we can hear the relay click on and it will stay on using about 10 amps for about 10 seconds and then click off for a few minutes, repeat. Otherwise the compressor fan and evaporator fans are working fine, we just have no cooling. My friends thought is it is the compressor, perhaps locked up from getting too hot.
Any other things to try or is it time to get a new fridge? Thanks for any advice.
- Airin asked 10 years ago
Airin, this is what happened when the mouse got caught in the condenser fan motor. The mouse stopped the motor that removes the heat and keeps your compressor cool. In turn this overheated the compressor and shut it of on the resealable overload . The overload relay did what it was supposed to do it is a safety device. What happened was you most likely damaged the overload & relay due to the heat and short cycling. To correct your issue I would start with a new relay overload kit, I sent you a hyperlink below just click on it and it will take you to the part. It will have two parts options on the page use the option that is the best cost as they are the same part. This part will cost under $20.00 and is a 90% fix for your issue. there is a 10% chance you damaged your compressor in most cases it would not be cost effective to repair. The directions are on the package and its easy to install in less than 5-minutes. I have also provided a video link on how to install the part. Good luck Matt Ace technician
- AV Repair Help answered 10 years ago
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I installed the RCO410, the pump seems to be working (it vibrates a little, and after a few hours keeps drawing 1.2 amps (measured inline from the power in on the RCO410). My less accurate meter the fridge is plugged into says it’s totaling 1.3 amps (there are two fans running). After leaving it on for 12 hours yesterday with no ampmeter and getting no cooling inside the freezer or fridge, I hooked my multimeter up today to measure current going to the RCO410 and after a couple hours of it being 1.2 amps (it did start a bit higher, about 1.5, but went down within a few minutes to 1.2) it’s still taking the same power with no cooling.
Before installing the RCO410 I checked the ohms on the compressor pins and say 3-8 depending on which pair I checked. My gut feeling is I it had a leak when it overheated which means it’s time to replace, any thoughts?
- Airin answered 10 years ago
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Thanks for the quick reply, I’ll be getting one of those and am crossing my fingers!
- Airin answered 10 years ago
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