Debug advice Kenmore coldspot 106-59422801 stopped refrigerating

No, that's NOT normal; the 'start relay' should be 5 ohms, cold.

I think your problem is the start relay. The 'hum' happens when the motor only gets AC on the 'run' winding, and not on the 'start' winding (which is supposed to connect with the 'relay'). The 'overload' clicks off because the nonrotating motor doesn't have enough back-emf. If you replace everything EXCEPT the start relay, and the symptom is exactly the same...

There would be gurgle sounds, and the overload would NOT click off, if the start function was happening.

Please realize that Danny D claims to answer all questions, but usually ignores the important questions, even when asked several times. Danny D appears to pick and choose what he sees, and what he does. Even though he says I've helped diagnose a couple of problems for him over the years, he's lost my help on this refrig issue. I can see a couple things that may very well be big problems (and some simple things he can do). But, not until he goes back and answers the questions I've asked two or three times.

"for the last time" is a very wise thing to write. I hope you keep your own word, and stop feeding into this guy's analysis pyralysis.

If it had been my refrigerator, it would have been fixed and running, long time ago. Danny D doesn't appear to want it fixed, he's just doing break down, analysis, flow charts, web pictures, and videos.

Why spend any more time on a guy who's not serious? I'm to the point where I glance at and delete the posts with little attention to what he's playing with.

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Christopher A. Young 
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When you go back and answer my question, I'll consider answer yours.

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Christopher A. Young 
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If you'd done what I said, and played along, this could have been fixed last week. Hope you are enjoying your self.

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Christopher A. Young 
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I don't see why you're so angry.

I'm trying to fix the frig while keeping my sister from saying "I told you so" and while my wife is constantly asking me when she can have her kitchen back.

I've never even *looked* at the back of a frig before (although I know basic refrigeration theory from high-school chemistry).

The 1/2-to-1/3HP hard-start cap isn't working. Half the time it starts the compressor, and half the time it does NOT start the compressor.

Thanks for that suggestion.

All

All I know, at this point, is that half the time the compressor starts and half the time it won't start, even with the hard-start cap installed.

It sure is!

That seems to be the case. This morning, after sitting overnight, it did NOT start with the hard start cap, and pulled 13.5 Amps.

Let's hope that the cap is just too small for the motor horsepower.

Unfortunately, the motor doesn't say the horsepower (which is odd for a motor but this is a motor/compressor combo):

Given it takes about 3 amps of current when running, googling, I find the formumla for horsepower (for single phase?) to be: (Volts x Amps x 1.732 x Eff x PF)/746

I assume an efficiency of, oh, I don't know, maybe 0.65?

I don't really understand power factor for a single-phase motor:

So I will just assume a power factor of 1.

120volts x 3amps x 1.732 x 0.65efficiency x 1 power factor)/746

I think that makes it about 1/2 HP motor, but, I also think it pulled 1.5 amps before, so that makes it really about 1/4 horsepower (I think).

So, I'll split the difference (not knowing any better yet), and call it between 1/3 and 1/4 horsepower, which means it is the correct sized capacitor.

Going back to the package, hmmm... it seems to be for that size:

The fan "inside" the frig? There's a fan inside the frig?

I opened the frig, and didn't hear or see any fan or feel air movement, but, the freezer seems to have a fan, which seems to be working. I don't know *where* that freezer fan is, but it's near the top (I think) behind the bulkhead somewhere, I think. It seems to be working from sound alone.

Is there another fan I'm missing?

Even so, the compressor won't start now. It started once out of about 10 tries, and it went off only because the wife wanted the wires cleaned up (snaking across the kitchen floor) and I accidentally unplugged it.

Hi Oren,

I guess that means you're actually looking at the pictures!

We know the cap is needed, based on that, so, it makes sense that the test jig without the cap wouldn't ever have worked.

This morning it wouldn't start, even though it was cool, so I started wondering if the power coming out of the refrigerator cord was being shunted in some other circuit, since the hard-start cap was hooked to the same power as the rest of the refrigerator:

To give the compressor its own dedicated power, I created a test cord with alligator clamps so that I could have a dedicated power for the compressor.

Note in this picture the open refrigerator leads:

But, nothing seems to have changed by giving the compressor its own dedicated wall outlet:

When it works (which right now is about 1 out of 10 times), it draws only a couple of amps, but when it fails (which is most of the time), it draws a whopping 13.5 amps!

I am trying to understand what makes the compressor start sometimes, and what makes it not start most of the time, all under essentially the same conditions.

To debug what's going on, I need to CHANGE some condition. But what condition can I change that will lead me to a diagnosis of what's really wrong?

Forgive me for being a bit strident here.

a) Either your time is worth about US$0.35/hour, or you are willing to expe nd vast amounts of time to avoid landfill. b) I am guessing that the unit is pushing 8 years old, possibly more. c) Replacing a compressor in a home refrigerator is not for the faint of he art or for the uncertified technician. The unit alone is costly, evacuating the lines and flushing out any debris requires complicated tools, and you really will not get your money back as even with all this, the unit will ne ver be "like new".

With all that in mind, and the fact that this will not get any better, star t looking for a new refrigerator. Now. Your wife deserves better than this, and for a fact, Home Depot is having one helluva sale on LG & Samsung, and if you are anywhere near Delaware, the Sears Scratch-Dent store has always treated us well - we have a now 10-year old GE that had a list price of $1 ,299 that we got for $699. Sure it has a gouge on the back, but no torn she et-metal, and it works fine. I am sure you have other local resources as we ll. So, ask yourself: $300 for compressor and related parts. A vacuum pump, rent or purchase. Refrigerant, oil, flush kit and so on. Gonna be at least half the cost of a brand new unit *at retail*. Now, try purchasing the ext ended warranty this time if you really want to avoid this crap in the first place.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Good Lord, replace the cap, they are not that expensive, otherwise buy a new fridge, that costs more money. If the light comes on inside when you open the door the power works, why look beyond that?

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Froz....

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Because he has the emotional maturity of a toddler in the terrible 2s. Just ask DerbyDad03, he had a cow on him for no reason, and I'm sure there are others in this group also.

1) you're obsessive-compulsive

2) you're extremely boring

3) you won't take a hint even when it's delivered with a sledgehammer

4) you need help from a mental health professional

5) you need a new fridge

6) if she hasn't already, your latest wife is about to divorce you

HTH. HAND.

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 (\_/) 
(='.'=)  systemd: the Linux version of Windows 10 
(")_(")

Yes, it's obvious that you don't see.

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Christopher A. Young 
learn more about Jesus 
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Just tell them if they had a penis, they could actually be useful and help.

You know me better'n my mother does!

:)

Here's the thing. I'm obviously not an engineer nor a tech. I'm just a guy.

I had never looked at the back of a frig in my life before. I ask you guys for help because the frig is a riddle to me. I don't need more riddles though.

I tried cleaning the condenser coils with a flexible brush, but that's basically impossible (to get to the other half).

So I cleaned the coils by blowing with an airgun at 100psi or so:

That left a trail of dust devils in the kitchen:

And then I hooked the hard-start capacitor to refrigerator power:

Since that didn't help, I tried hooking the hard-start cap to its own separate power:

I can plug and unplug at will (letting it rest a half hour between):

It only starts sometimes.

The rest of the time it's just pulling 13.5 Amps and not starting:

Hmmm... I'm confused.

The cap "is" replaced. It's replaced by the 3in1 unit.

Or do I misunderstand the advice?

:)

When you run into a problem, you can either do things differently, or force harder, using the technique which has failed up to that point.

I offered you (repeatedly) a chance to do differently, and you ignored me repeatedly. This post is an example of trying to force your failing techniques even harder, and trying to force me to participate with your failings. I'll have you know, that I viewed NONE of the links, and barely read your text.

By way of references, I've been working on domstic refrigerators for over 10 years. I'm fairly sure that if you'd done what I said, it would have been fixed several days ago. I'm also fairly sure I know why your compressor keeps going off.

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. 
Christopher A. Young 
learn more about Jesus 
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