On Sunday, September 7, 2014 7:42:22 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 9/7/2014 7:16 AM, trader_4 wrote:
November 2001
So it's a lot older than previously reported. At that age, it's a lot
more likely to not be worth fixing.
CY: Who can tell? Might need a simple part.
I guess the repairman for a fee can give a qualified opinion as
to the extent of the problems. But even he can't tell you what
happens a couple more years from now, after you sink hundreds
into an old fridge. All I'm saying is that with a 13 year
old basic fridge when it stops cooling like this, the probability that
replacing it is going to be the best solution is a lot higher than if
it's just 4 years old.
1) found the Condense Fan motor leaking oil and replaced it:
no symptom change
That still troubles me. AFAIK, that type of fan doesn't have oil to
leak. There is a tiny amount in the lubricated for life bearings, but
to have enough that it leaks out, doesn't sound right. And
if the fan was still working, blowing a reasonable amount of air
that wasn't real hot, I would not have replaced it, until I found out
what's really wrong. IF the compressor won't start, the fan is irrelevant.
CY: Two fans in the fridge. Neither should have any
signifigant bit of oil. They both use bronze bearings.
3) cleaned out the dust from the coils under the bottom front
left (my left) and any I missed from the back. Went fishing.
No symptom change.
CY:Very often, dust will cause a no cooling problem.
A) removed the relay from the condenser. Ohm'ed out
the three pins:
CY: Condenser is a set of tubes and fins. Compressor has wires and can
be checked for ohms.
Yeah, I was wondering about that too. Relay in the condenser?
bottom to bottom: ~14 ohms
bottom left to upper: ~10 ohms
upper to lower right: ~9 ohms
CY: That's about right.
B) measured the voltage on the connector that I removed
from the relay: ~115 VAC
CY:Which is good.
5) while fishing, I asked my wife, who has every sound that
goes "bump in the night" cataloged, what the compressor sounded
like when it fired up: "A snap, followed by a motor whoosh".
She also said she hasn't heard it for the last few days.
CY: No sound at all suggests either bad compressor, or bad relay.
A) the compressor is hot to the touch. (You can leave
your hand on it for a few minutes.)
B) there is no sound coming from it whatsoever. No rattle.
No clunk. Absolutely nothing.
That's different too. From the previous description it sounded like
it was running for 30 mins at a time. If the compressor gets warm, but
isn't running, could it be a start capacitor? They are very quiet these
days, but I think when you have your head right next to it you should
hear something when it's running. Also, any evidence that the condenser
gets cold at all? Evaporator gets warm at all?
CY: Hot compressor but not running sounds a lot like
bad start relay. BTW, condenser should never get cold,
as it's the part that gets hot to release heat. Evap
should never get warm, as it's the part that gets cold
to absorb heat.
My bad, I mixed them up, but you get the obvious point, which is
to see if the compressor is running at all.
7) figured out that the welding, cleaning out of tubes, and recharging
are over my head when it comes to changing a compressor.
CY: Might not be needed.
Game plan submitted for you guys approval.
1) change the relay (get some dry ice on the way back
from the parts store).
CY: From what you write, this is probably the
part you need.
I wouldn't just swap parts without some basis to think it was the
problem.
CY: He just wrote a list of symptoms and tests
which all point to bad start relay. I'd call
that basis.
It's not even clear to me what he measured as the description isn't
clear. But if he wants to go buy more parts, he can certainly do so.
2) if that does not help, call a repairman.
At that age, depending on other factors, I'd put just junking it
on the list too.
CY: I suspect the replacement relay or a Supco
will do the job. If it does not, then the compressor
is bad. But I don't suspect that at the moment.
What's a supco?