Debug advice Kenmore coldspot 106-59422801 stopped refrigerating

Hi Chris, I answer *all* questions, so I apologize if I missed one of yours.

Thanks to you, I had the courage to pry harder on the combined "Refrigerator Overload and Start Relay" to pull it off.

The "courage" here is better than a shot of whiskey because you give me the confidence that I just need to try harder! :)

Here is an annotated picture of some quick test results:

After cooling down the motor overnight, plugging it in, we can hear the solenoid click on and the motor hum until it clicks off. (I'm trying to find a way to upload that video for you but it's 13MB).

I checked resistance of all that I could with the following results:

1. Compressor contacts: Any two of all three pegged the ohmmeter needle to the zero ohms end. Assumption: The two wire coils inside are good.
2. Overload & Start Relay contacts: Any two of all three pegged the ohmmeter needle to the infinite end. Assumption: I'm not sure what to make of that because it's clearly getting power to the motor in some way and then shutting off in some way.
3. Run Capacitor: I don't have a farad tester, so, I just checked to see if the contacts were shorted but they are open to a Radio Shack needle ohm meter (AAA battery).

And, won't prevent you from being a Mormon.

Thanks Huckleberry for always being there for me!

That page was helpful but confusing at the same time partly because I was hoping that I could jump 120 volts to two of the three terminals of the compressor to see if it runs. If it runs, that would be proof that the compressor is fine - which - after all - is the only part that would kill the frig if it wasn't working.

The page talked about various letters stamped on the relay, and a magnetic switch but mine has no letters on it and there is no magnetic switch.

Anyway, I think I'll just replace both the cap and the overload/start relay combo, and if that works - you guys are heros. If not. Well then, you're Elderberrys!

:)

Elderberry

Since you missed the question the first time.

Hi Uncle Fridge Monster,

We let it cool overnight and reassembled the cap & start relay and plugged it in a few times. Here is a video of what happened.

Can anyone tell, from that video, what is happening?

If I become a Mormon, do I have to tell my Italian wife?

Maybe I'll make a deal with her: Mormon for the refrigerator?

PS: Is polygamy still allowed?

On 7/9/2016 12:36 PM, Danny D. wrote: ...

Agree

There should not be any connections between these contacts. They will have connections to the input power contacts and the cap contacts. Involving the relay. Without know the internal circuitry, you can't diagnose it.

You know it's not shorted (unlikely from the start). To check for not open:

- put the meter on the highest ohm setting

- momentarily short the cap contacts

- touch the cap contacts with the meter leads

- the needle should swing to a high reading as the cap charging current flows & then fall to zero as the cap becomes fully charged

Bob

On 7/9/2016 12:47 PM, Danny D. wrote: ...

Yep - this video is telling the same story as the first one: the motor tries to start & the overload clicks open when it overheats from the excessive current. (It's probably a bimetal leaf.)

Classic signs of f***ed compressor.

Since you missed the question the first time.

Yes. I can. Totally what I diagnosed yesterday.

CY: Yes, many Italians are Mormons.

CY: She'll love it!

CY: Not since 1890.

Says you. I've worked on more than a few of these, and the compressor was fine.

You doubt the opinion of someone who spent his life hanging fire extinguishers on walls?

The sealed unit contains at least a motor and compressor. I dunno about a solenoid. It gets hot when the motor can't start because instead of the electrical energy being converted into mechanical energy which is then distributed throughout the fridge system it is converted directly into heat. The reason you can't replace the sealed unit is because it is connected to the system that circulates the refrigerant and cutting the copper tubes will let out the refrigerant and lube oil and let in air. So be careful when working around the copper tubes. If they are bent enough to constrict the flow the fridge won't work properly and if one breaks the only thing you can do is either get someone with the proper equipment to fix it or buy another fridge. Eric

Went to a great appliance store in San Jose where the guy behind the counter tested the cap and said it was good.

He said the compressor not working could be three things:

1. Bad compressor
2. Bad relay
3. Restriction in the freon lines

He strongly suggested I not buy his relay from him before testing it, and he explained how the relay works (the white part is the thermal switch by the way).

He said to plug in the power to the relay (two spades) and check that the backside of the relay (3 pins) has power to common.

To do this, he told me to create a test jig where I can put 120 volts to the Start and Main/Run pins of the compressor, with the neutral on the common pin, and then pull off the start once the compressor starts.

He said if the compressor doesn't start - then that's it for the frig.

So I went home empty handed and then picked up some alligator clips, spades, and butt connectors and am slapping together a test jig as we type. The wife and sister were very unhappy that I came home, essentially, empty handed. But the guy was right that I didn't do enough diagnostics.

The test jig will have two spades on the incoming end, which will plug into the existing power cable (hot and neutral), and then it will have three outputs which will be tube-connectors (two hots and one neutral).

The procedure will be:

1. Unplug power
2. Hook two male spades to female spades in power cord
3. Hook a butt plug to Start (hot) and to Run/Main (hot) and to neutral
4. Plug it in
5. Yank off the start wire as soon as the compressor starts

If the compressor starts, then it's good. If not ...

The guy at the parts store showed me a type of relay that has a semiconductor disc inside which shatters, and when you shake the relay, if it's broken, it rattles.

The one he had on the counter rattled, but he said mine isn't that kind (probably a bimetallic strip as you said).

He really talked me out of buying both parts. They were each about 50 bucks, and he said I'd just be unhappy. So he sent me home to do some more diagnostics with a test cable, which I'm gonna make now.

Danny, are my posts making it through your server?