[duckstheword]

Hi all! I love this site and was hoping someone could help me with my problem.

My side by side is not getting cold at all. The freezer and the fridge are both saying they are 76 degrees on the electronic display on the inside top of the door frame.

When I plug the fridge in, it "turns on", but it does not begin to cool. It just sits and stays warm.

I was hoping someone could tell me where to start diagnosing or if they could point me to a related thread. I did search by my model number and it returned nothing. This must be the first problem ever with this fridge.

Thank you for your help!

[richappy]

If everything running including the compressor, you have system problems for a pro.

[duckstheword]

Thank you rich for your reply. I think I posted prematurely as there was plenty of info for me to start with. I literally just took off the back panel to check the components. So far, the condenser fan (I believe) comes on, but the compressor does not vibrate or move at all, so I think it is either toast or hopefully I just have a blown fuse/relay/switch of some kind.

What you recommend I check first?

I attached a couple of pics to show you what I'm working with. The white fan turns on when I plug it in and I took a pic of what I'm pretty sure is the electrical connection to the compressor.

Thanks again!

[richappy]

You probably have a bad motherboard in the back AP4436216 I would pull it out and check the solder connections in back of the compressor relay, probably bad. You can easily re-solder them.

[duckstheword]

Thanks again for the reply rich.

Is the relay one of the black boxes on the board? Just to clarify, I take the board completely out and look on the back of it to see if the connections are good?

[richappy]

You can leave all the plugs in, just pinch the nylon tabs with pliers to release the board, then look in the back. Oh, and clean the condenser too!!

[duckstheword]

I looked on the back of the board and it does have a gray/black spot on the back like something blew about an 1 - 1.5" in diameter. It looks to centered on one of the solidering connections on the biggest black box (is that a relay?) on the board, labeled 832A-1C-S.

So what do I do from here. Do I take the board completely out? If so, what's the best way to release the big white connectors?

Thanks again!

[richappy]

Shine a light on the board and pinch the tabs on the nylon pins, should come out. Best to take the board completely out so you can carefully work on it, rather easy repair as the area around the big compressor relay is not very dense.
When they wave soldered the boards, the solder did not "build up" around the pins due to their higher thermal mass, so just make sure you use enough rosin core solder to allow the solder to build up sufficiently. The old solder acted as a fuse because it was so thin.

[duckstheword]

I will do that tonight and report back. I really appreciate your help, rich.

[duckstheword]

You were right rich. The relay thing blew out the back.

And I suck at soldering, that's for sure. I've attached some pics to show you what I'm doing.

Needless to say, I plugged the connections back in, plugged the fridge in and it turned on. Thankfully, nothing caught on fire. However, the compressor did not turn on.

Am I getting the solder on well enough? Is the board even worth soldering or is it toast? Did I ruin it?

Any tips on how to solder would be greatly appreciated.