[Jeffress77]

Ok, after I replaced the capacitor on the compressor, the freezer/fridge both were working well for a few hours, and worked well enough to make about 30 ice cubes....then it quit again. I assumed that the new capacitor had blown, and was wondering if the compressor was not fit to accept a new capacitor. So my brother ended up pulling the relay out, and the relay itself was all melted and burned up.
So I am pretty sure the new capacitor is still good, and I ordered a new relay.
My question is: What caused this in the first place? If I put the shiny new relay and capacitor on the compressor, how can I be sure that it will not just happen again?

A little background... The unit is from 2003/2004...Never have had a problem. The under-area where the condensor/compressor/cooling fan is located was vacuumed/air-blown about 9 months ago for regular maintenance. When the first outage occurred about a week ago, I cleaned uner there again (wasn't too dirty anyway) just in case the dust/dirt was overheating the compressor. The fan/lights were fine, but the compressor was giving the dreaded clicking sound, and not turning on. Neither side (fridge/freezer) were cooling. I replaced the capacitor, which was blackened slightly and smelled burnt. The unit fired up, and started cooling immediately. 4-5 hours later we had ice and everything seemed great. Then something blew again. The unit slowly warmed up overnight, and the fans/light were still working.
Fast forward..after scratching our heads a bit, my brother took out the whole relay next to the compressor, and it was melted and burnt in back where it plugs into the compressor.
Back to my last question... Why did it do this? and what are the possibilities of it happening again, wasting another $50 worth of parts?
Thanks for the help!
-Justin

[cammyj1967]

You really should check the running amperage of the refrigerator after getting the new relay in. The rating is on your compressor tag. I will tell you that being in the appliance repair business for 30 plus years i have replaced a whole lot of the relays on these whirlpool / Kenmore refrigerators. Always carry replacements on my truck stock. Good luck.

[richappy]

High head pressure, or damaged compressor windings will cause higher running current that will eventually burn out the ptc device.
I have seen run currents approaching 2 amps with attendant high head pressure due to contaminents in the system due to a leak.