Customer Support 7 days a week

Welcome Guest! To enable all features please Login or Register.

Notification

Icon
Error

New Topic Post Reply
Options
Go to last post Go to first unread
blbrchnk  
#1 Posted : Thursday, December 15, 2016 5:08:53 AM(UTC)
Quote
blbrchnk

Rank: Member

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/15/2016(UTC)
Posts: 2

Hello all, I have been struggling trying to get my Kenmore/LG French door combo Fridge/Freezer to get to the setpoints set on the door panel. The fridge is just under 5 years old. I am an electrical engineer and work in controls so I am familiar with troubleshooting electronics. I found the service manual for the unit and have run tons of continuity/resistance/voltage tests and haven't found much of an issue. I even went ahead and replaced the main board to no avail.

For testing purposes, I set the fridge to 34F and the Freezer to -2F. After 24-36 hours of run time, I only measure about 42F in the fridge and about 10F in the freezer. For a quick list of things I tested:

Freezer:
Defrost heater - 45 ohms
Fuse M - 1.2 ohms
Defrost sensor - 18k ohms when temp was about 54F
Freezer sensor - 4k ohm when temp was about 60F
Compressor hums and seems to run fine. Output line runs around 100F after running.

Which all seem to be in line with what the manual says they should be I believe. Same sort of reading for the parts in the refrigerator section.

Two things that I find odd:

1) When in test mode 1, the fridge/freezer evaporator fans run just fine and give appropriate voltages, but under normal operation, they don't seem to run very frequently (I have door open sensor taped to the closed position to spy on them). Not sure how frequently they should be running, but since I am not hitting setpoint, I figured they would be.

2) I have no idea what is normal in a freezer but within several hours, the inlet to the freezer evaporator has a decent amount of frost built up on it and after 24 hours, the top pass of the evaporator has frost built up half way across it.

Well thats it. I am at a dead end and hoping that someone has some sort of idea for me to try. I am hoping and praying that I don't have a refrigerant leak as I know repairs to the sealed system can be rather costly but if I can't figure this out I suppose I will have to call a pro. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bryan
Sponsor
See inside of your appliance - diagrams and part photos for virtually every model.

powered by AppliancePartsPros.com
 
ThatGuy  
#2 Posted : Thursday, December 15, 2016 11:21:22 AM(UTC)
Quote
ThatGuy

Rank: Advanced Member

Groups: Expert
Joined: 7/27/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,395
United States
Location: near the middle of nowhere

Was thanked: 24 time(s) in 24 post(s)
"2) I have no idea what is normal in a freezer but within several hours, the inlet to the freezer evaporator has a decent amount of frost built up on it and after 24 hours, the top pass of the evaporator has frost built up half way across it."

Could you post a pic of this? I'd very much like to see the frost pattern after a few hours of running.


blbrchnk  
#3 Posted : Thursday, December 15, 2016 2:20:07 PM(UTC)
Quote
blbrchnk

Rank: Member

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/15/2016(UTC)
Posts: 2

Originally Posted by: ThatGuy Go to Quoted Post
"2) I have no idea what is normal in a freezer but within several hours, the inlet to the freezer evaporator has a decent amount of frost built up on it and after 24 hours, the top pass of the evaporator has frost built up half way across it."

Could you post a pic of this? I'd very much like to see the frost pattern after a few hours of running.




I couldn't get the pic to post here but you should be able to see it here:

https://goo.gl/photos/r11y8VzDRiJmiUMz5

This is after a day or so of running time.
ThatGuy  
#4 Posted : Thursday, December 15, 2016 3:08:48 PM(UTC)
Quote
ThatGuy

Rank: Advanced Member

Groups: Expert
Joined: 7/27/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,395
United States
Location: near the middle of nowhere

Was thanked: 24 time(s) in 24 post(s)
That picture looks like there is barely enough freon in your system to fill the first coil. Normally there should be a light coating of frost all over the evaporator coils.

I'd say your refrigerator is low on freon and that would mean it has a leak in the sealed system.






[IMG]https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN-n5nSrlywmSXu8epjt41oAphwSV66vqnaIEU77hTo20AF-bANKgIO8bMG42q0cQ/photo/AF1QipOahpsf4J2GS1n-3FEU_05DJw8Faj04-PQbstzT?key=OFd0SXp1Y1dmOGhXMHl5d01zUk1HU05uSm5IY013[/IMG]
Quick Reply Show Quick Reply
Users browsing this topic
New Topic Post Reply
Forum Jump  
You can post new topics in this forum.
You can reply to topics in this forum.
You can delete your posts in this forum.
You can edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You can vote in polls in this forum.