Seemingly simultaneously the water dispenser on my 5 year old Amana fridge
(side by side) stopped working and the fridge had a meltdown. Now it's not
cooling well. The compressor doesn't seem to be turning on, but the fan is
working periodically. Anyone know what's the problem? Any help would be
appreciated ...

Well, it seems the system is working still, but poorly. The fridge is
essentially room temp while the freezer is slightly cold at the bottom. I'm
not sure what's working and what's not. The water dispenser is not working
and I have to assume that it may have something to do with the problem or is
at least a clue. I just unplugged the unit to defrost any potential
freezing. If it works when I plug it in I guess I may need to replace the
defrost thermostat. We'll see ... I wonder how much those run?

"Dipan Loken Patel" wrote in message ...

Hi,

Seemingly simultaneously the water dispenser on my 5 year old Amana fridge
(side by side) stopped working and the fridge had a meltdown. Now it's not
cooling well.

The chilled water quit?....or the icemaker?...the icemaker often will
not go once the freezer temps rises too warm. Chilled water quiting
might be a coincidence?

The compressor doesn't seem to be turning on, but the fan is
working periodically. Anyone know what's the problem? Any help would be
appreciated ...

Model#?
http://www.applianceaid.com/model.html
Model# helps.

The compressor doesn't seem to be turning on

Is the compressor clicking on and off?...if yes, bad start relay, bad
compressor, dirty condensor coils, slow/not working condensor fan
motor are some trouble makers.

http://www.applianceaid.com/frig_notcold.html
http://www.applianceaid.com/clean_condenser.html
http://www.applianceaid.com/refrigerator.html#clicking

jeff.

Appliance Repair Aid
http://www.applianceaid.com/

The chilled water quit. I think the icemaker quit also, probably because of
the high temp. Seems like them quitting together might be a big
coincidence.

The model # is SCD23VW

I do believe the compressor is clicking on and off, but not very often at
all. After doing yet some more research (love the web), I took a look at
the condensor. I didn't actually realize this was INSIDE the freezer.
Anyways, there is frost on it and the stuff at the bottom of the freezer is
still frozen but the stuff at the top is thawed. I'm guessing the frost
shouldn't be there. I'm also guessing that since the inlet for the water
line is in the same area as the condensor (but on the back of the fridge),
that maybe it's frozen and that's why there's no water at the dispenser (the
dispenser still clicks when I try to get water). I'll have to take it apart
a little more, but I believe someone is coming by today to take a look to
see if it is repairable under warrantee.

So now I'm thinking that either the defrost thermostat or the heating
element on the condensor needs replaced. Whaddya think?

Ooops ... I guess I meant evaporator instead of condensor above. Can ya
tell I'm an amateur?

Well, nearly everything in the freezer thawed (sorry for the dramatics ...
no fires or anything), except for stuff at the evaporator area at the
bottom. The refrigerator also became essentially room temp. The fan that
was working periodically is the condensor fan. I didn't know until recently
that the "coolness" is distributed from the evaporator to the upper freezer
and the fridge also via another fan ... controlled by the defrost thermostat
apparently. I spoke with an Amana repairman and he states that it is common
for my particular fridge, since the water reservoir is at the bottom of the
refrigerator, to freeze the reservoir if the defrost thermostat or, less
commonly, evaporator heating coil, has gone bad ... just because of it's
proximity to the frozen evaporator. Anyways, after having it defrosted and
plugging it back in, the water dispenser works ... so I must assume that it
was frozen somewhere between the intake and my glass of water. The new
defrost thermostat also brought the fridge back to life.

So, my contribution to this thread, aside from taking much away from it, and
having a fixed refrigerator, is that if the water dispenser stops working at
the same time as the defrost system fails, it's likely because the water
line is frozen somewhere along it's path near the frozen evaporator. At
least on my fridge the defrost thermostat not only controls the heating coil
on the evaporator, but the evaporator fan itself. I'm not sure if every
system is like this, though.

Thanks again everyone!

"Dipan Loken Patel" wrote in message ...
The chilled water quit. I think the icemaker quit also, probably because of
the high temp. Seems like them quitting together might be a big
coincidence.

The model # is SCD23VW

I do believe the compressor is clicking on and off, but not very often at
all. After doing yet some more research (love the web), I took a look at
the condensor. I didn't actually realize this was INSIDE the freezer.
Anyways, there is frost on it and the stuff at the bottom of the freezer is
still frozen but the stuff at the top is thawed. I'm guessing the frost
shouldn't be there. I'm also guessing that since the inlet for the water
line is in the same area as the condensor (but on the back of the fridge),
that maybe it's frozen and that's why there's no water at the dispenser (the
dispenser still clicks when I try to get water). I'll have to take it apart
a little more, but I believe someone is coming by today to take a look to
see if it is repairable under warrantee.

So now I'm thinking that either the defrost thermostat or the heating
element on the condensor needs replaced. Whaddya think?

Hi,

Anyways, there is frost on it and the stuff at the bottom of the freezer is
still frozen but the stuff at the top is thawed. I'm guessing the frost
shouldn't be there.

The evaporator coils should have frost on the coils, but the coils
should be lightly and evenly coated...if a build up is occuring on the
cooling coils the cold air cannot be circulated by the evaorator fan
motor.

http://www.applianceaid.com/frig_notcold.html#ff
Frost free info.

http://www.applianceaid.com/amana_fan_motor.html
Amana fan motor - common problem.

jeff.

Appliance Repair Aid
http://www.applianceaid.com/