Hello. I have an EdgeStar BR2000SS mini-fridge. Early in March, I plugged it in before I went to sleep to get cold since I was planning to get a new keg in the morning. When I checked the fridge in the morning, it was warm. I read about non-cooling fridges and started with the compressor relay. I removed it and shook it, and alas...there was a rattle inside indicating it was bad. I went to a local appliance parts shop and bought a relay that may not have been identical to the one that went bad. I took it home, put it on, plugged in the fridge and there was a light buzzing, but the fridge never got cold. Overnight, the compressor got really hot. So I unplugged the unit and ordered an exact replacement for the relay and waited 3 weeks for the part to arrive from China. In the meantime, I checked the compressor windings with a multi-meter and I got correct readings indicating that the compressor was still OK. When the relay arrived, I put it on, plugged it in...and still nothing. No buzzing, no clicking...nothing. Completely dead.

Now I am wondering if I should have gone and ordered a replacement for the Compressor Thermal Overload Protector since it was so cheap. Could a bad overload protector cause a fridge to not turn on at all? I'd have to likely wait another 3 weeks for it to arrive so I am wondering if that is even worth it.

So I am now wondering if the first replacement relay burned up the compressor. I left it on overnight, and the compressor got very hot, which leads me to believe the overload protector never shut it down.

So could a relay and overload protector go bad at the same time? Is the compressor dead?

Please help! I am close to junking this unit but I would love to resurrect it...I only got to enjoy 2 kegs in the fridge before it died. Thanks!

Sounds like a coolant leak. Likely all the coolant leaked out which in turn caused the machine to constantly run the compressor and burn up the relay. The other option is that there is a restriction in the sealed system not allowing coolant to circulate. Edgestar and Summit are both questionable in their sealed system performance. If the compressor is running, but it's not cooling at all, it's absolutely a sealed system problem and not worth the money to repair it. Sorry for your loss. Hopefully there wasn't a keg in it that got skunked!

Coolant leaks aren't generally visible. Especially slow ones. It could also be a restriction, likely at the filter drier. Either way, defiantly a sealed system problem. I do a lot of warranty work for edgestar and summit and they just replace units with sealed system problems. Only sealed system work I get into anymore is on high end built in units like Northland and Subzero. Unfortunately, in today's world the answer is more often replace it than fix it.