Help! The refrigerator is broken.

S

Sid Post

Joined
Oct 14, 1998
Messages
4,725
Good time to to loose the fridge huh? :grumpy:

Well, at first I thought the water line was broken and dripping. Turns out everything in the freezer was thawing out and just making a mess.

I pulled the fridge out away from the wall and took the back off. The black round thing about 12 inches across and 8 inches high which I assume is the compressor is hot. It's not too hot to touch but, definitely hot. Neither copper line going into or out of it is cold. One line is maybe 90 degrees and the other 120. I'm assuming this is my compressor and it has gone bad.

The radiator looking grates the copper line run to are not really hot or cold, just a little above room temperature. The fan is running strong and I can hear the compressor cycling on and off.

  • Is there any hope of saving it with some tinkering on my part?
  • Do I need to call an appliance mechanic and hope for the best?
  • Will the expense of the repair be enough to consider buying a new one?

I should note this is a ~25 cubic foot Kitchenaide side-by-side model that is about 6 years old.

Any help or wisdom you can provide is greatly appreciated!
 
Sid Post said:
Good time to to loose the fridge huh? :grumpy:

Well, at first I thought the water line was broken and dripping. Turns out everything in the freezer was thawing out and just making a mess.

I pulled the fridge out away from the wall and took the back off. The black round thing about 12 inches across and 8 inches high which I assume is the compressor is hot. It's not too hot to touch but, definitely hot. Neither copper line going into or out of it is cold. One line is maybe 90 degrees and the other 120. I'm assuming this is my compressor and it has gone bad.

The radiator looking grates the copper line run to are not really hot or cold, just a little above room temperature. The fan is running strong and I can hear the compressor cycling on and off.










  • I had a similar problem with my 20 + Maytag piece of crap. The repairman replaced a small breaker box & charged me $144.74 in about 15 minutes. I had him here before to work on the icemaker. Watched his every move & now I fix it once every month or so when the feed line freezes.

    Very handy,these hairdryers ?

    Uncle Alan:mad:


    [remember Maytag setting us up telling that their repairman was bored from being idle ?]
Click to expand...
 
Is there any hope of saving it with some tinkering on my part?
Do I need to call an appliance mechanic and hope for the best?
Will the expense of the repair be enough to consider buying a new one?
Click to expand...

1. Based on your technical description of the refridgerator parts, no.
2. Unless you like warm beer, yes. ;)
3. Depends on how much you paid for it in the first place.

Find out what the repair guy will cost in advance. Some services charge pretty hefty fees just for showing up, then more for the work, so you could be looking at a good chunk of a new fridge.
 
Geraldo said:
Find out what the repair guy will cost in advance. Some services charge pretty hefty fees just for showing up, then more for the work, so you could be looking at a good chunk of a new fridge.
Click to expand...

Yea, that's what I'm trying to figure out. With 6 years of life, I figure it is about 50% used up. A similar replacement will cost around $1100 based on what I saw in the paper today.

I'm a little leery of getting a $300 or $400 repair bill. For ~$150, it's probably worth it.
 
If the cooling unit is frosted or frozen over inside the fridge/freezer, unplug and completely thaw the unit, using a hair dryer to speed the process.

After the unit and lines are all at room temp restart the fridge. It may take up to a day to stabilize the temp. Keep all food away from the the cold air so it can circulate. It might be an easy fix. :cool:

Good luck! :)
 
The relay on the compressor may be shot. I just fixed mine a few weeks ago. It is about a $35 part and only takes a few minutes to replace on my Whirlpool model. If the fridge tries to cycle when you open it (light flickers or dims for a sec) that is the compressor trying to cycle. If it does not kick in the relay may be bad. The relay should be located on the compressor and should be easy to remove. If the coils are frozen you can look in the freezer. Remove the panel on the inside of the freezer back wall. If it is caked with ice then thaw as ADD suggested. Mine is also 6 years old and never gave me trouble until recently. Fortunately my Dad was an appliance repairman for 29 years and can tell me the problem over the phone just by hearing what the appliance sounds like when trying to work.
 
None of the air inlets are blocked. In fact, the freezer is basically empty because all the frozen stuff thawed. What I salvaged is in the Ice Chest but, I figure anything not cooked and eaten today is headed for the trash tomorrow.

I wish it was as simple as letting things thaw out unfortunately, everything is either hot or room temperature, not cold and definitely not frosty or frozen.

I can hear the compressor kicking in and out but, no cooling is produced. At this point I think I'm converting the electricity into heat.
 
I just checked the compressor again and it's pretty hot. I don't have any flickering of the lights so, I doesn't seem like an electrical problem.
 
If the compressor is hot then it is probably working. Have you checked the coils on the fridge side for dust and dirt? Also check the freezer coils if you can. If you place your hand on the cover plate for the freezer coils and it is cold then the coils may be frozen.
 
If the compressor is working properly it may be too hot to touch for more than a few secs. If you can hold your hand on it then it is not working right.
 
Sid Post said:
Good time to to loose the fridge huh? :grumpy:

Well, at first I thought the water line was broken and dripping. Turns out everything in the freezer was thawing out and just making a mess.

I pulled the fridge out away from the wall and took the back off. The black round thing about 12 inches across and 8 inches high which I assume is the compressor is hot. It's not too hot to touch but, definitely hot. Neither copper line going into or out of it is cold. One line is maybe 90 degrees and the other 120. I'm assuming this is my compressor and it has gone bad.

The radiator looking grates the copper line run to are not really hot or cold, just a little above room temperature. The fan is running strong and I can hear the compressor cycling on and off.

  • Is there any hope of saving it with some tinkering on my part?
  • Do I need to call an appliance mechanic and hope for the best?
  • Will the expense of the repair be enough to consider buying a new one?

I should note this is a ~25 cubic foot Kitchenaide side-by-side model that is about 6 years old.

Any help or wisdom you can provide is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

compressor will run hot, sounds like the themostat might need a replacing. The problem with refrigerators is there is no way to tap in to check charge. The charge is small anyhow, and doubt it loss the charge unless there is signs of oil on the lines or nearby. Oil travels with the refrigerant, so any leak will have signs of oil.
 
check to see if the coils are dirty preventing air movement. these are sometimes located underneath the fridge and looks like something from a car's ac condenser unit.
 
I'd say strip it and get a new, Energy Star one. You could save a lot in electricity. Plus you could sell the copper.

I have 2 fridge/freezers and 1 large chest freezer. A bit back we were offered a pretty new fridge to replace the outside one and my mother noticed a difference in the electricity bill.
 
How long does the compressor run for before it cuts out?
It sounds like it is cycling on its overload.
If that is the case there is either..
No Refrigerant Gas (or not enough)
The relay or capacitor (if it has one) is faulty
It is seized.
It has lost a winding.
The first problem can be easy or hard to fix (needs a tech)
The second problem is cheap to fix (handy if you can use an electrical meter)
The last two are terminal for the compressor.

It has nothing to do with a thermostat or frost.

How long does the motor run before it cuts out is the key question.

Dan
 
Right now, it is cycling on and off for short period of time.

There is no cooling at all in either side of the fridge. Everything inside it is at room temperature.

I can hold my hand on the compressor so, I'm guessing the temp range is in 110 to 120F range.

There is no frost in the fridge. Nothing is frozen. I have taken the back cover off and verified there are no furr balls in there. There was some light dust but, nothing too bad. No plastic bags or other debris was found.

There was some brown stuff on the floor behind it. It didn't really strike me as oil though because it was thick and sticky. Initially, I thought it was thawed crap on the floor but, it was too far away from the door (no trail to the front of the fridge) so now I'm thinking it was possibly coolant and oil.

I hate to see this fridge go. It is/was a really nice Kitchenaide Superba which was a high end model 6 years ago when I bought it thinking it would pay off with a ~12 year service life. It was energy star rated which is one of the reasons I bought to begin with. That stainless steel beauty is headed to the fridge graveyard at this point. I don't want to saddle GoodWill with this so, I pulled the plug and I'm currently setup to have it hauled away.

I have a new GE black side-by-side headed my way so, I can credit the ~$100 to ~$400 cost of a service call or repair to the cost of this new one. I'm a little sad at seeing my Stainless Steel Kitchenaide go to the landfill but, the risk/cost of fixing it just isn't worth it to me.

Thank you for all the help!
 
Maybe you can get it repaired later if you can find a friendly Fridge Tech and use it as a Beer fridge.
It sounds like it has no Refrigerant in it.
The Compressor will then cycle on the overload due to over heating internally.

Cheers.
 
How big a repair bill would it be? :confused:

I bought a 3.6 cubic foot fridge at Home Depot for $100. I can't get a service call for that price. When my new fridge shows up, I will use it as a beer, soda, fruit juice fridge. I figure I can get a case of beer and soda in it with some room left over for fruit juice but, since I don't drink that much beer I guess I'll just have a better selection of fruit juices. ;)
 
I am not sure what they charge in the USA.
Down here its about $60 US per hour + parts. A compressor might be $250 US and about 1 1/2 hours labor.
I was thinking about my diagnosis, It may well be the compressor has lost a valve and is not pumping at all.
 
IF it seized it trips on overload check amp with an ampmeter. Compare amps to name plate. LRA is LOCK ROTOR AMPS if it is listed and the amp draw is great than yes it lock up. As a throwaway unit it cost more to fix than replace. Need to call to see how to dispose the unit. Some states it illegal to dump with the refrigerant still in the unit.
 
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