refrigerator light

Designing stuff and fixing random things without a schematic are different skill sets. (Or at least that's what I tell my wife when I want to get out of doing appliance repair.) ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Do you think something that simple has electronics? If it's tied into a beeper circuit, it probably does. Which means the fix is probably to replace an expensive controller board.

I just ordered a Kenmore fridge for the cabin. Their stuff is usually pretty good. I insisted on no ice maker, no pushbuttons or displays, none of that junk that will break. The guy said that they all have about the same electronics inside; I don't *want* electronics inside.

If the electronics were decently made, it would be more reliable than electromechanicals, but it isn't. The poster child is the dishwasher with the controls built into the top of the door, right in the path of the steam vent. Beyond stupid.

I insist on gas hot water tanks with millivolt-system (thermopile) controls. That way we have hot water even in a long power outage.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

My guess is that there are two relays. One for the freezer light and one for the refrigerator light. The lights use 120 volts and the circuit board uses 5. So if it is not too hard to get to the circuit board, I would have a look. And if it is hard to get to the circuit board, I would assume the repairman would charge more , so I would still have a look.

If you find it is a bad relay, you can probably find a relay that will work in a scrapped microwave oven.

Dan

Figuring out how to open up most appliances is the hard part. ...Jim Thompson

It's amazing that something like a gas furnace or a refrigerator will last for decades, and the least reliable part is the electronics.

Why do all the gas stove igniters go snap-snap-snap now and then for no obvious reason? That's really annoying. The only fix is to disable the igniters and use matches. We can't use those hand propane fire starters, because they don't work either.

Makes me embarassed to be an electronics designer.

Check the "springy" tab at the bottom of the socket... bend it outward a wee bit. ...Jim Thompson

So there is your first clue.

Does the door is ajar beeper still work for both the fridge and the freezer?

If so, it tells you the door switches are working.

Mark

Do you have a model number? Maybe there is a schematic available.

bad bulb socket contact or bad relay are likely. There's always the effective bodge of installing a 0.5-1w LED and leaving it on all the time.

NT

If you ned to lose weight, pick a colour cycling LED :)

NT

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It's probably a bad connector, 0.250 or 0.1 inch push-on. If there's a gril l on the bottom front, remove it and look for a envelope taped in there som ewhere, it will contain the wiring diagram, if not there, then check the co mpressor compartment behind the cardboard grill in the back. If you start t racing out live voltages, use a low impedance meter, the 10Meg input stuff gives you false readings through quasi open circuits common for this kind o f fault, the old 20kR/V type meters are better for this. When you're finish ed put everything back exactly the way you found it, especially anything ha ving to do with directing airflow.

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ill on the bottom front, remove it and look for a envelope taped in there s omewhere, it will contain the wiring diagram, if not there, then check the compressor compartment behind the cardboard grill in the back. If you start tracing out live voltages, use a low impedance meter, the 10Meg input stuf f gives you false readings through quasi open circuits common for this kind of fault, the old 20kR/V type meters are better for this. When you're fini shed put everything back exactly the way you found it, especially anything having to do with directing airflow.

Yeah (Re schematic) When servicing my stove a while back I found the schematic taped inside.

George H.

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grill on the bottom front, remove it and look for a envelope taped in there somewhere, it will contain the wiring diagram, if not there, then check th e compressor compartment behind the cardboard grill in the back. If you sta rt tracing out live voltages, use a low impedance meter, the 10Meg input st uff gives you false readings through quasi open circuits common for this ki nd of fault, the old 20kR/V type meters are better for this. When you're fi nished put everything back exactly the way you found it, especially anythin g having to do with directing airflow.

It's definitely going to be there. It could be just taped on the outside on the back, or behind a vegetable tray, or stuffed in some nook around the i cemaker, or who knows. He just needs to find it.

I've encountered problems with the center contact on A-base sockets failing. Typically from slight arcing over the years (happened on a refrigerator light and garage door opener light).

OTOH, if you have *multiple* bulbs on a single circuit, that suggests the switch. Most lighting cicuits (for "appliance bulbs", not LED lighting) are just line voltage passed through the door switch. Often, there is a wiring diagram on the back of the 'frig -- sort of like the "tube locations" diagram you'd find on ancient TV's.

Does the alarm work for *both* doors? The "sensor" might be something as trivial as a coil/resistor in series with the lamp load. My old Trendata 1200 used a similar scheme to power up the electronics whenever the Selectric (I/O) was switched on (sense the flow of electricity to the Selectric's motor)

Depends on how much you value your time, the challenge and the light! Personally, I enjoy these little puzzles. Not a lot that can go wrong...

The interior lights in my 8-year-old LG French Door refrigerator (purchased from Sears under the Kenmore brand) have stopped working. Very irritating, trying to find stuff in there in the dark.

At first I thought the lights were burned out, but no, a new bulb didn't help, plus the old bulb filaments are fine. Also the old bulbs worked when swapped with the freezer section.

Then I thought it was a bad door switch, but no, there are two doors, which would mean two bad switches, and what's-more if you leave either door open or ajar for a minute, the fridge starts beeping to remind you to close it.

So now I imaging its a problem with some electronics somewhere. My wife says, you're an electronics expert!

But I'm inclined to call a repairman. Advice?

Yep, The internet is full of info, finding the right group and you will find someone who has had your problem. I have a 20 year old Kenmore Fridge/freezer. So far, I've replaced the icemaker water valve, reinstalled a roll pin connected to a solenoid for the icemaker, readjusted the water level in the ice tray*, replaced the defrost heater for the evaporator in the freezer.

• I thought the water tray had a leak into the ice tray and was slowly building up ice in the ice tray and locking the cork screw. After several iterations I found lowering the water level in the water tray solved they problem.

Mikek

The model number is 795.77544

If you can even FIND where the controller is for the doors (possibly all shared with the ice maker/dispenser, etc.) then you can likely trace the wires from the lamps to a mechanical relay. You can then get a replacement for the relay, or possible put a solid state relay in that location.

Jon