[nhbf]

The Amana BR22TE frig is about 13 years old, and came with the house we just bought. A month ago when we first owned it, the freezer could barely turn water into ice.

A few weeks ago, after cleaning it we turned the temperature control in the freezer to the OFF position, which turned off cooling in both the freezer and the frig. Then a few days ago, when we turned the control
back to 7 (the coldest) in both the freezer and the frig, we found out that neither had any cooling effect any more. The vents inside them keeps blowing air nicely, but the air is just room temperature even after
leaving it running for hours.

We took off the bottom grill kick panel and cleaned the condensor coils, and noticed that the coils were cold to the touch, even after leaving the frig run for a long time. We then pulled the frig away from the wall, and took off the back panels. The fan near the compressor ran nicely, but we could not tell if the compressor itself was working or not. After letting the frig run for about half an hour, the compressor body is barely warm to the touch.

We also tried turning the defrost time knob (that little red knob behind the front grill kick panel to the right). It seemed to work properly, i.e., we could use it to make the frig go silent, and after some time
the frig's fans started working non-stop again.

Any advice for what to try before going for a new frig? Thanks in advance.

-Gang

[richappy]

I would pull off the compressor side cover and look for a burnt wire. There should be a klixon ( thin white item ) and a small black box. If everything looks ok, you probably have a bad compressor. You can confirm by verifying with a meter that it's getting 115 volts.

[ApplianceJunk]

Being the fan near the compressor is running you should have power going to the compressor.

You may need to replace the start relay on the side of the compressor.

[nhbf]

I opened the small black cover at the side of the compressor where wires go into it. I did not notice any obvious burn mark. I'll try to get a multimeter to test the voltage.

Where can I find specific instructions for replacing the relay? What part number and where can I order it? Do I need special tools?

[richappy]

If the compressor parts are a thin, white klixon, and a black start device as shown in the breakdown pictures, just order the parts, but make sure you either take a picture of it or make a diagram where the fridg wires go.

[richappy]

It is impossible to plug in the start device wrong, but you must wire it up like the old one.