[the old guy]

For the last year or two, the fridge attempts to start up. It tries 4 to 8 times, with each attempt having a little longer humm. Then it finally starts and runs okay. The fridge keeps everything cold, but is rather annoying listening to it. This happens every time. Any idea on what needs to be replaced?

[richappy]

You have a hard starting compressor. This assumes no problem with the cold control. If the fridg runs for short time, shuts down, then tries to start soon after shutdown, you have a bad cold control. The compressor may be repairable if you have a ohms meter.

[the old guy]

Thanks for replying. Your reply caused me to try a few additional things.

The fridge, when it finally starts, runs normally and shuts down after reaching normal temperatures. When it again becomes time to start up, it again takes around 8 attempts to start, each attempt is less then 2 seconds.

I have a "Green Plug" manufactured by green technology, that I used with this fridge quite a few years ago. However, it didn't seem to work very good, so I removed it. The fridge plugs into the unit, which is plugged into the receptacle. It is designed to save energy. I tried using it today after receiving your response. The compressor just tried and tried, over 50 times and never kicked in.

After plugging the fridge directly back into AC, the fridge started working and is currently working okay, no longer multiple attempts to start. I have no idea why.

I wonder if the capacitor needs replacing?

Yes I do have a couple ohm meters.