[Bum Fridge]

My fridge is cold, but every hour or so the compressor cycles on and off every 10 seconds to two minutes. This goes on for about five minutes, then it runs ok for an hour or so.

When the fridge is off and trying to cycle back on, there's a tremendous amount of static on the radio that is on the same breaker as the fridge (old house).

Is there an easily replacable part that i can access, such as the thermostat or do i need to call a repairperson?

[moose49304]

i have whirlpool refrigerator ET8WTEXKQ02 top freezer,but also i'm having the same problem it seems your having,at first i thought it was my cordless phone,because i was getting a buzzing sound ,then a slight interference in my tv,went to the breaker box and my house is only five years old,turn the breaker off that was causing the problem it brought me to the frig and it is on its own circuit,,i would shut the breaker off and the interference would stop,then i notice the frig was cycling to much, and then i started opening the frig door and slightly turning the cold control knob and the interference would stop..but what i did was unplugged the frig and put a 3way plug adapter in and plugged the frig back in to that and got a radio also plugged it into the adapter tune it in on a AM station that would pick up on the interference when the frig go's though that cycle,not sure but i think its one of two parts that is causing this fit! cold control thermostat or evaporative defrost control board,which in my frig they next to one another,i hope this will give you a idea what the problem is,if you find out what your problem is? sure would like a feedback on the cause! if you have any questions moose49304@yahoo.com

[moose49304]

i looked up you model number on frig, your frig has a defrost timer,my has a newer defrost control like circuit board they do about the same thing,do you have power surges in your area,i been told to put a surge protector on the frig count of these newer frig's are so sensitive ....jim

[ripleys]

The easiest and cheapest repair to try would be the cold control ( the control that cycles the fridge on and off ). It could be short cycling, therefore would try and start the compressor to soon after it cycled off. If that does not cure it you may be looking at replacing the relay and overload assembly on the compressor. That should get you pointed in some direction.

[moose49304]

thanks for the help I've been dealing with this for while,the freezer and the frig both are cooling fine,i do notice that at times the evaporative fan in the freezer gets in a cycle where it runs on and off like 15 to 20 seconds on and the some off,would that be in the cold control acting up,also i been trying to find a tech sheet,seems whirlpool doesn't show my model nu. ET8WTEXKQ02