On Apr 27, 9:15*pm, George wrote:
On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:13:36 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"





wrote:
We have an old (c 1980) GE 'Frost Free' fridge
(freezer-on-top).

CY: Ah... generally expensive brand.

Both the freezer and the fresh-food areas cool down only to about
50F. *The evaporator fan runs, and seems OK. *The evaporator coils
are 'cool', but not so cold it hurts to touch them. *The defrost
heater is not on.

CY: 50F is a bit too warm.

The compressor runs, but shuts off after less than 10 mins.
The compressor is quite hot - you can touch it, but it would
burn, if you applied pressure. *(The compressor fan is running,
but shuts off along with the compressor.)

Questions:
- Is that too hot for a compressor? *IIRC, my father used to
say that a motor that you couldn't touch was too hot. *Even if *
true, does the same apply to compressors?

CY: I think your Dad is right. Sounds like the compressor is
running way too hot.

- Would they have a 'self-resetting' temperature cutout on
the compressor, where it would keep recyling after cooling down?

CY: Yes, there is such a device.

- Any other reasons why the compressor would shut off, when
the freezer is nowhere near the setpoint temp?

CY: Either too hot, or too much current draw.

Thanks,
George

CY: As you didnt ask for ideas what is the problem (or how
to solve the problem and make the fridge work again) I'll
limit myself to answering your questions.

I opened up the junction box on the end of the compressor. *There was a
two-wire thingy in there, that I suspect is a thermal switch. *The next
time the compressor shut off, I hit that thing with some spray coolant,
and the compressor started. *So, I think the compressor is too hot, for
whatever reason. *

If you (or anyone) has more ideas, I'd be interested to hear them. *To
be frank, though, we'd already been talking about getting a new fridge,
so anything more I do to this one would have to be pretty cheap.

Thanks,
George- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

29 years of constant? use is pretty good, spring the $$ for a new one,
it will use enough less electricity to pay for itself in a couple of
years.