I have an 11-year old Amana refrigerator that has stopped cooling. The
evaporator fan runs but not the compressor. I replaced the compressor
relay but that made no difference. When I plug in the fridge the relay
makes a clicking sound, like it's trying to start up. Is there
anything else I can check, like the start capacitor, or is the
compressor shot?

On 13 Feb 2006 06:33:11 -0800, "mjb920" wrote:

I have an 11-year old Amana refrigerator that has stopped cooling. The
evaporator fan runs but not the compressor. I replaced the compressor
relay but that made no difference. When I plug in the fridge the relay
makes a clicking sound, like it's trying to start up. Is there
anything else I can check, like the start capacitor, or is the
compressor shot?


Bad news, if the compressor is shot.
A few years ago, I quit chagning compressors in older boxes, because
it had become uneconomical, because unless I practically gave away
the labor at flat rate per compressor swap, and sold the compressor at
cost, no job.


A "Hard Start" kit, like a 3-in-1, might help.
If a 3-in-1 don't start it, and the amperage is abnormal, then it's a
goner.

If it's just stuck, hitting the compressor (isolated from the rest of
the box) directly with 220 volts for a split second might free it, but
this is a hack, at best, and you'll probably be looking at a
replacement down the road soon, anyway. And never use the 220 "jump
start" trick with the hard start kit connected, or you'll instantly
fry the capacitor.



--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info

~~~~~~~~
"The first step in intelligent tinkering is to
save all the parts." - Aldo Leopold
~~~~~~~~

a 11 year old fridge probably isnt worth fixing, but the good news is
replacing it will cut your utility bill. new fridges are way more
efficent

it is possible it is the capacitor. you will need either the compressor
model# or bring the capacitor with you to match up the correct
microferrets I probably spelled that wrong. a meter that is capable of
testing microferrets would let you know if its good or bad, it will
read the range on the side of the capacitor. If the capacitor is good
then compressor is junk. If it is not a built in fridge like some
subzero's Ive seen but a normal run of the mill fridge. I agree it is
not worth fixing


--
hiebs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I've not seen a refrig with a compressor start cap. At least not original
equipment. You can try a Supco boost kit, or try to find a repair guy who
has em and can install em.

Since you've already done the relay, you're obviously comfortable with
electricity. I did a quick Froogle search, and didn't find the one I use.
Ah, well.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"mjb920" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have an 11-year old Amana refrigerator that has stopped cooling. The
evaporator fan runs but not the compressor. I replaced the compressor
relay but that made no difference. When I plug in the fridge the relay
makes a clicking sound, like it's trying to start up. Is there
anything else I can check, like the start capacitor, or is the
compressor shot?

Christopher, either comfortable with electricity or stupid. There is a
capacitor shown on the wiring diagram for the fridge. Looking back, if
the capacitor is working correctly, shouldn't I have gotten a shock
when disconnecting the relay?

Stormin Mormon wrote:
I've not seen a refrig with a compressor start cap. At least not original
equipment. You can try a Supco boost kit, or try to find a repair guy who
has em and can install em.

Since you've already done the relay, you're obviously comfortable with
electricity. I did a quick Froogle search, and didn't find the one I use.
Ah, well.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

"mjb920" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have an 11-year old Amana refrigerator that has stopped cooling. The
evaporator fan runs but not the compressor. I replaced the compressor
relay but that made no difference. When I plug in the fridge the relay
makes a clicking sound, like it's trying to start up. Is there
anything else I can check, like the start capacitor, or is the
compressor shot?

On 15 Feb 2006 20:11:02 -0800, "mjb920" wrote:

Christopher, either comfortable with electricity or stupid. There is a
capacitor shown on the wiring diagram for the fridge. Looking back, if
the capacitor is working correctly, shouldn't I have gotten a shock
when disconnecting the relay?

No.

Besides:

Many fridges either have no external start /run cap, or it is
internal (built into the compressor).

I have seen external caps on older fridges, but they are becoming
less and less common.

A lot of old GE and AMANA built (not branded) boxes had them.

If your model has an external capacitor, just replace it.
It's only a few bucks.
But then again, a hard start kit is only about $25., max.

Why attack Chris? That's the REAL shocker!


BTW: No, the capacitor passes AC, and you will not necessarily get
a shock, or even an arc, upon disconnection, ESPECIALLY IF THE
CAPACITOR IS BAD! You COULD have some residual charge in the cap, but
it's unpredictable, and flaky, at best.


Give us a break, dude!


I've been repairing appliances for decades.







Stormin Mormon wrote:
I've not seen a refrig with a compressor start cap. At least not original
equipment. You can try a Supco boost kit, or try to find a repair guy who
has em and can install em.

Since you've already done the relay, you're obviously comfortable with
electricity. I did a quick Froogle search, and didn't find the one I use.
Ah, well.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

"mjb920" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have an 11-year old Amana refrigerator that has stopped cooling. The
evaporator fan runs but not the compressor. I replaced the compressor
relay but that made no difference. When I plug in the fridge the relay
makes a clicking sound, like it's trying to start up. Is there
anything else I can check, like the start capacitor, or is the
compressor shot?
--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info

The "comfortable or stupid" remark referred to myself, in response to
Christopher's post saying I was comfortable with electricity, because I
asked about the capacitor shock hazard AFTER working on the fridge. No
offense intended.

~^Johnny^~ wrote:
On 15 Feb 2006 20:11:02 -0800, "mjb920" wrote:

Christopher, either comfortable with electricity or stupid. There is a
capacitor shown on the wiring diagram for the fridge. Looking back, if
the capacitor is working correctly, shouldn't I have gotten a shock
when disconnecting the relay?

No.

Besides:

Many fridges either have no external start /run cap, or it is
internal (built into the compressor).

I have seen external caps on older fridges, but they are becoming
less and less common.

A lot of old GE and AMANA built (not branded) boxes had them.

If your model has an external capacitor, just replace it.
It's only a few bucks.
But then again, a hard start kit is only about $25., max.

Why attack Chris? That's the REAL shocker!


BTW: No, the capacitor passes AC, and you will not necessarily get
a shock, or even an arc, upon disconnection, ESPECIALLY IF THE
CAPACITOR IS BAD! You COULD have some residual charge in the cap, but
it's unpredictable, and flaky, at best.


Give us a break, dude!


I've been repairing appliances for decades.







Stormin Mormon wrote:
I've not seen a refrig with a compressor start cap. At least not original
equipment. You can try a Supco boost kit, or try to find a repair guy who
has em and can install em.

Since you've already done the relay, you're obviously comfortable with
electricity. I did a quick Froogle search, and didn't find the one I use.
Ah, well.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

"mjb920" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have an 11-year old Amana refrigerator that has stopped cooling. The
evaporator fan runs but not the compressor. I replaced the compressor
relay but that made no difference. When I plug in the fridge the relay
makes a clicking sound, like it's trying to start up. Is there
anything else I can check, like the start capacitor, or is the
compressor shot?
--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info

What's a hard start kit?

~^Johnny^~ wrote:
On 13 Feb 2006 06:33:11 -0800, "mjb920" wrote:

I have an 11-year old Amana refrigerator that has stopped cooling. The
evaporator fan runs but not the compressor. I replaced the compressor
relay but that made no difference. When I plug in the fridge the relay
makes a clicking sound, like it's trying to start up. Is there
anything else I can check, like the start capacitor, or is the
compressor shot?


Bad news, if the compressor is shot.
A few years ago, I quit chagning compressors in older boxes, because
it had become uneconomical, because unless I practically gave away
the labor at flat rate per compressor swap, and sold the compressor at
cost, no job.


A "Hard Start" kit, like a 3-in-1, might help.
If a 3-in-1 don't start it, and the amperage is abnormal, then it's a
goner.

If it's just stuck, hitting the compressor (isolated from the rest of
the box) directly with 220 volts for a split second might free it, but
this is a hack, at best, and you'll probably be looking at a
replacement down the road soon, anyway. And never use the 220 "jump
start" trick with the hard start kit connected, or you'll instantly
fry the capacitor.



--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info

~~~~~~~~
"The first step in intelligent tinkering is to
save all the parts." - Aldo Leopold
~~~~~~~~

www.supco.com
a hard start helps a weak compressor get up to speed where it's
original start parts cant. a 3 in 1 comes with overload, relay,
capacitor. a 2 in 1 comes with relay and capacitor. the 2 in 1 leads go
on the run and start terminals on the compressor, you can leave existing
parts connected. and like I said on a different post with all the wires
not connected to compressor terminals take a meter have meter set to
continuity and have one lead to ground and the other touch to each
compressor terminal one at a time if meter reads on any terminal then
compressor is shorted to ground and is junk.


--
hiebs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hiebs's Profile: http://www.HomeOutfit.com/member.php?userid=69
View this thread: http://www.HomeOutfit.com/showthread.php?t=66886

z wrote:
What's a hard start kit?
((snipped))

A hard start kit is just a big condenser with
connections to go in the compressor circuit. I
had trouble with the original original start relay
in my refrigerator from nearly 2 years on, a
repairman changed it to a newer solid state relay
which eventually went bad, then I put in a hard
start kit and have never had any further problem.
About $10-16. Refrigerator is now 30 years old.

mjb920 wrote:
I have an 11-year old Amana refrigerator that has stopped cooling. The
evaporator fan runs but not the compressor. I replaced the compressor
relay but that made no difference. When I plug in the fridge the relay
makes a clicking sound, like it's trying to start up. Is there
anything else I can check, like the start capacitor, or is the
compressor shot?

Could it be the defrost timer? I had a fridge once where that got stuck.

It has a "defrost control unit", which means $$$.

z wrote:
mjb920 wrote:
I have an 11-year old Amana refrigerator that has stopped cooling. The
evaporator fan runs but not the compressor. I replaced the compressor
relay but that made no difference. When I plug in the fridge the relay
makes a clicking sound, like it's trying to start up. Is there
anything else I can check, like the start capacitor, or is the
compressor shot?

Could it be the defrost timer? I had a fridge once where that got stuck.

On 13 Feb 2006 15:42:53 -0800, "
wrote:

new fridges are way more
efficent


I beg to differ, but it all depends.

Really old fridges were DAMNED efficient.

Insulation sucks on the newer fridges, but they make up for it with
more efficient motors. It's a wash, really.

I'll keep my 30 year old Tappan (built by Amana) side-by-side another
20 years, probably, even if I have to change the compressor someday.
Second to Revco, Amana is tops, when it comes to medium-large
domestic refrigerators.

Yeah, it uses about 4 amps, at 30 to 40% duty cycle.
But no way does it use 400 kWh per month. It's low PF, and the
electric company hates low PF loads. The newer models might only draw
2 amps while running, but have a much higher power factor. Overall,
it saves on transmission losses, but Mr. Edison charges for kWh, not
KVAH. So yeah, in the long haul, newer might be "greener".

But they shot themselves down, in the early '60s, when they went
thinwall. Insulation is [almost] everything, efficiency-wise.
Those without gas or electricity, who have to buy (and haul) dry ice,
already realize this.



--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info

On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 21:25:11 GMT, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I've not seen a refrig with a compressor start cap. At least not original
equipment.

Shows your lack of experience.

Lots of models have external start caps.


You can try a Supco boost kit, or try to find a repair guy who
has em and can install em.

Good. You're not the repair guy. :-)




Since you've already done the relay, you're obviously comfortable with
electricity.


Shocking, isn't it?


I did a quick Froogle search, and didn't find the one I use.
Ah, well.

sarcasm
Talk to Turtle (Terry).
He's got a pinchoff tool he'll probably let you borrow.
/sarcasm


--
-john
wide-open at throttle dot info

"~^Johnny^~" wrote in message

Really old fridges were DAMNED efficient.

Insulation sucks on the newer fridges, but they make up for it with
more efficient motors. It's a wash, really.

Really? When I got rid of an old 12 cu ft fridge and replaced it with a new
18 cu ft frost free, my electric bill dropped $10 a month. Sorry, but you
won't convince me old is better.

After looking at the wiring diagram, it appears to have only a run
capacitor. That wouldn't make the compressor fail to start, would it?

I can get an adaptive defrost controller for about $35, but would that
also cause the compressor to not run at all?

I am at the point where we are definitely getting a new fridge, but if
I could spend a little to get it running and give it away I'd much
rather do that than junk it.

If fridge was stuck in defrost the over load would not be clicking. So
either pay for a hard start kit, but first check and see if compressor
is shorted to ground.. or junk it.


--
hiebs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hiebs's Profile: http://www.HomeOutfit.com/member.php?userid=69
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