aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA
 ·Verizon west (ex G..
| my fridge just died
I just noticed this morning that it stopped working.
I can hear that the fan turns on, runs for about 10 - 15 seconds, (blowing some room temp air) then stops. But I do not hear the compressor -- which used to be rather loud -- to start. Does anyone know from this what it might be?
Obviously, the compressor is not running, but why? Relay, fuse, blown motor? It's an older GE, probably around 15 years old.
TIA
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HRM
God Bless America
Premium,MVM
join:2002-02-03
Darien, CT
clubs:  
1 edit | I hate to spend money, but with things like this, you will recover your investment much faster than you think. Just get a new one. Something like new ones run 50% more efficiently than 8 year old ones. Anything wil big motors have come a long way.
EDIT: well not so much of a difference. 50% would be a 35 year old one, but you get the idea. |
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joe40
join:2005-11-26
Danbury, CT
 ·Comcast
| reply to aurgathor
it depends
going on safety because of low pressure
a worn out compressor
was it always cold in the freezer
that a good way to tell it has pressure
it cost about $250 or more for a guy to work on your compressor.
get a estimate , if it is more the 30% of what you bought it at
then it time for a new one |
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aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA
·Verizon west (ex G..
| said by joe40  :it depends going on safety because of low pressure How can I check for that?
was it always cold in the freezer
that a good way to tell it has pressure
Well, not really.
Ice cream that was hard when I brought home became noticeably softer in the freezer, even though it was still frozen.
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PrntRhd
join:2004-11-03
Fairfield, CA
·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..
| reply to aurgathor
Our parent's refrigerators used to run for 50 years before needing to replace them, unfortunately those old fridges sucked power at an alarming rate.
The new Energy Star ones use very little power but they run close to the edge to get those high efficiency numbers and the compressors do not last nearly as long. Seven to 10 years is a reasonable estimate for the life span of a modern refrigerator.
I would guess either the compressor is dead or the relay that turns on the compressor is dead. Time to buy a new one as the repairs will be nearly as much as a new one. The new one will also have a warranty and the repaired one will not. |
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joe40
join:2005-11-26
Danbury, CT
·Comcast
| reply to aurgathor
said by aurgathor :said by joe40 :it depends going on safety because of low pressure How can I check for that?
was it always cold in the freezer
that a good way to tell it has pressure
Well, not really. Ice cream that was hard when I brought home became noticeably softer in the freezer, even though it was still frozen. because of the gas(might be CFC) only a repair tech can have anything to test levels ,repair or fill the gas if needed.
ask a appliances store how mush it cost to repair.
well on ice cream
a store freezer will be colder
but stuff like a ice cream cone should stay hard in your freezer
if you have the money to spend you can get a good deal on a new one.
some areas are running a appliance cash for clunker deal. |
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rex0
join:2002-02-10
1 edit | reply to aurgathor
Having just dealt with this last weekend on a whirlpool this is what I found. If you google with your exact model number you might find appliance forums listing the most common points of failure. For my model it was the relay and protector that starts the compressor. After pulling it and confirming with my meter I was able to replace the relay and protector for less then $100 (cheaper online but it's hard to live without a fridge while waiting for shipping.) Unless prices are vastly different in your area, if the compressor is gone just look at a new fridge. It was basically 1/2 the price of a decent fridge or 1/3 of the price of a top of the line model for a new compressor plus installation; not to mention the energy savings. |
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aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA
·Verizon west (ex G..
| I do have another fridge, though it's dorm size (18"x20"x33") but at least I could put the meat and milk in there, and the less perishable items (bread, veggies, eggs, etc.) went out into my shed in a basket.
Obviously, if it's a major item like a compressor, I'll just junk the fridge, but if it's just a relay, or it's in a need of a recharge, then it probably makes more sense to fix it.
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Coma
neuro anomalist
Premium
join:2001-12-30
Nirvana-Land
clubs:
| said by aurgathor : . . . if it's just a relay, or it's in a need of a recharge, then it probably makes more sense to fix it.
Then you will have a working 15 year old fridge, that may keep working for another few years.
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rex0
join:2002-02-10
2 edits | reply to aurgathor
Well as far as I know these types of systems are completely closed so it should never need a recharge unless there's a leak. Unless they can find the leak it's only going to happen again.
Are all the coils clean? Is there a set of coils behind the grill on the bottom? If they've never been cleaned the compressor may have overheated and blew the protector. Check the compressor some have a combination relay and protector and the diagnosis can be as simply as shaking it: if it rattles its broken. If you have a meter you can test the relay. Things like fuses would be model specific, but there should be a wiring diagram located somewhere inside that should show where the fuses if any are.
Edit: here is one of those links with the common points of failure: »www.applianceaid.com/refrigerator.html |
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Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
·Time Warner Cable
 ·Time Warner VOIP
1 edit | reply to aurgathor
said by aurgathor :said by joe40 :it depends going on safety because of low pressure How can I check for that?
was it always cold in the freezer
that a good way to tell it has pressure
Well, not really. Ice cream that was hard when I brought home became noticeably softer in the freezer, even though it was still frozen. but it did make it easyer to scoop right?
or you were bending spoons
still? |
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aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA
·Verizon west (ex G..
| reply to aurgathor
Well, I just opened up the back, and removed the relay from the compressor (3 connections arranged in a triangle) -- with the relay disconnected from the compressor, I could measure around 119V between one pair, around 78V between another one, and 0V between the last one.
Is that what I should be getting? What is the 78V for?
Because of the presence of AC, and because the compressor was kinda loud before, to me that would seem to indicate compressor failure, possibly a seized bearing since I also measured resistances on the compressor side, and they were a few ohms each. (the $1.99 meter from HF is not very accurate under 20 ohms or so)
I'll measure voltages with the relay connected to the compressor, but that requires a bit more preparation.
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zen1
@optonline.net
| said by aurgathor :Well, I just opened up the back, and removed the relay from the compressor (3 connections arranged in a triangle) -- with the relay disconnected from the compressor, I could measure around 119V between one pair, around 78V between another one, and 0V between the last one. Is that what I should be getting? What is the 78V for? Because of the presence of AC, and because the compressor was kinda loud before, to me that would seem to indicate compressor failure, possibly a seized bearing since I also measured resistances on the compressor side, and they were a few ohms each. (the $1.99 meter from HF is not very accurate under 20 ohms or so) I'll measure voltages with the relay connected to the compressor, but that requires a bit more preparation. if the compressor was seized, you'd hear a clicking sound from the protector every couple of minutes, as it trips. and probably lights on that circuit dimming, and the couple of ohms on the compressor side indicates it's good. it would probably run if 120v was applied to the compressor directly as a test. you could check the resistance of the protector, it should be near 0 ohms. if not it's bad, else the relay is bad, unless of course, the ref. has a self defrost, and the defrost timer is frozen in defrost mode.. in which case a new timer would fix it. |
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TheMG
join:2007-09-04
Edmonton, AB
·TELUS
| reply to PrntRhd
said by PrntRhd :The new Energy Star ones use very little power but they run close to the edge to get those high efficiency numbers and the compressors do not last nearly as long. Seven to 10 years is a reasonable estimate for the life span of a modern refrigerator. Let me rephrase that:
New fridges run very close to the edge in order to minimize the cost of parts as much as possible, yielding a lower quality product which will not last as long as older fridges which were built much tougher than they needed to be.
Durability does not have to be sacrificed in order to obtain higher efficiency. The manufacturers simply choose to set the quality level. After all, if their fridges lasted 100 years, they wouldn't keep selling many of them a few years down the road now would they? |
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