Ignoramus28169 wrote:
Things are getting weirder and weirder. My original post is at the
bottom.

I have received the replacement relay and capacitor today.

Installed them (it was a 2 minute job).

Plugged in the fridge.

The compressor happily started working normally, mildly vibrating and
indicating in all respects that it is running fine.

Happy after 2 minutes, I turned off the fridge, and reinstalled the
rear insulated covering panel and ground.

Plugged in again and I HEARD THE SAME OLD DREADED BUZZING SOUND. Now,
the compressor motor would not start again! It busses fomr several
seconds and the relay clicks and turns it off.

I am completely puzzled as to why exactly it turned on once, but would
not turn on again.

Any idea?

i


On 2010-08-31, Ignoramus20906
wrote:
I have an electronic Kenmore refrigerator 596.50013100. I bought it
from a private party over a year ago and it has been working great
until now. It seems very well made, overall.

Yesterday it started beeping and displaying a strange trouble signal:

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Kenmore-Trouble.jpg

It is right above the word "Kenmore", is red and looks like a crossed
lock and an exclamation.

The temperature in the unit has been rising since then and clearly,
it is not cooling anything. Right now both freezer and fridge are at
46 degrees F.

I tried calling Kenmore, but could only speak to dummies who are
forbidden to give any diagnostics.

My question is WTF does this sign mean? It is meant to tell me
something.

Thanks

i


The lit symbology indicates that the internal temperature doesn't agree with
the set point. From your description, I'd say that the compressor has an
internal problem (stuck valves, galled bearings, dessicant particles in the
compressor, etc). Most consumer grade refrigeration compressors aren't
servicable, meaning that you need to get your checkbook warmed up for a
sizeable deduction from your bank account.

That said, there are a couple things for you to do. First, remove the back
cover, leaving the ground wire unconnected, and see if it kicks off again.
If it continues to run, connect the ground wire to the chassis. If it kicks
off when you connect the ground wire, then you have to find out where the
ground fault is. Most likely, that will be inside the compressor. Don't use
it in this condition; it is a lethal weapon without the safety ground
connected.
If you have an AC clamp meter, measure the current on the hot wire going
into the compressor. It should kick up to 10A or so when the compressor
starts up, and quickly dropping down to its normal running current of a few
amps. If the current stays high after a few seconds, that means that it
isn't starting normally. The overcurrent relay tripping in a few seconds
indicate that fact. In any case, the compressor is highly suspect.

--
David
dgminala at mediacombb dot net