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Last 10 Posts (In reverse order)
Joe / APP Team Posted: Monday, February 15, 2016 5:27:14 AM(UTC)
 
Originally Posted by: jzannini Go to Quoted Post
Joe, Thank you for your assistance. Although, this refrigerator died an early death, it wasn't in vain because I learned so much from this process. Thank you for sharing your expertise with me. Kind regards, -John Zannini


John, You're Very Welcome !!!! We'll be here if you need us. Good Luck
jzannini Posted: Sunday, February 14, 2016 8:43:33 AM(UTC)
 
Joe, Thank you for your assistance. Although, this refrigerator died an early death, it wasn't in vain because I learned so much from this process. Thank you for sharing your expertise with me. Kind regards, -John Zannini
Joe / APP Team Posted: Friday, February 12, 2016 1:15:45 PM(UTC)
 
Originally Posted by: jzannini Go to Quoted Post
Joe M., Thank you for your timely and thorough reply to my posts. I appreciate your time and effort very much. I conducted all of the tests that you clearly described. The refrigerator was turned off for at least 18 hours.
Compressor test: 9.6 ohms, 6.8 ohms, and 3.6 ohms
Grounding test: no readings obtained
Overload test: less than 1 ohm
PTC relay test: 5.6 ohms
Sorry I didn't clearly explain (although I tried in my first post). The evaporator coil did NOT have a complete and even frost pattern on all the coils. It was only frosted near the refrigerator defrost thermostat and along the bottom row of the refrigerator evaporator. The bulk of the evaporator was devoid of any frost.
Thus, I believe the problem to be low refrigerant which has caused the compressor to work overtime and hot which "burned" the vinyl flooring. I have plugged in the refrigerator and switched it on. I will monitor the compressor and evaporator. Do you concur with my assessment?
I greatly appreciate your help and understanding and kind reply! -John Zannini


Zanninin, yes, we pretty much concur. Hopefully you have a garage refrigerator or access to one. There's no use going further. You need to decide if you want to replace the refrigerator, or have a refrigeration tech come in and repair the sealed system of your present unit. Good Luck,
jzannini Posted: Friday, February 12, 2016 12:21:31 PM(UTC)
 
Joe M., Thank you for your timely and thorough reply to my posts. I appreciate your time and effort very much. I conducted all of the tests that you clearly described. The refrigerator was turned off for at least 18 hours.
Compressor test: 9.6 ohms, 6.8 ohms, and 3.6 ohms
Grounding test: no readings obtained
Overload test: less than 1 ohm
PTC relay test: 5.6 ohms
Sorry I didn't clearly explain (although I tried in my first post). The evaporator coil did NOT have a complete and even frost pattern on all the coils. It was only frosted near the refrigerator defrost thermostat and along the bottom row of the refrigerator evaporator. The bulk of the evaporator was devoid of any frost.
Thus, I believe the problem to be low refrigerant which has caused the compressor to work overtime and hot which "burned" the vinyl flooring. I have plugged in the refrigerator and switched it on. I will monitor the compressor and evaporator. Do you concur with my assessment?
I greatly appreciate your help and understanding and kind reply! -John Zannini
Joe / APP Team Posted: Friday, February 12, 2016 6:42:07 AM(UTC)
 
Originally Posted by: jzannini Go to Quoted Post
I tested the PTC relay (fridge compressor starting relay). Resistance across the start and run connectors. The result was 5.2 Ohms. One Internet resource says resistance should read between 10 to 100 Ohms. Does 5.2 Ohms indicate a bad PTC relay? If so, should I pursue repairs given the status of the compressor? Moreover, should I also replace run capacitor? (I do not know how to test the run capacitor.)


jzannini, Let's see if we can make this a little simpler. Testing a capacitor isn't too difficult, disconnect the wires, place a screwdriver shaft across the terminals or wires to discharge it. place your meter leads across the two terminals/wires. the meter should deflect towards a "close" circuit then drop back to an "open" circuit. you probably wont need a capacitor.
Compressor test :
Disconnect power to unit. Discharge capacitor. Remove leads from compressor terminals. Set ohmmeter to lowest scale. Check for resistance between Terminals “S” and “C” and Terminals “R” and “C”. If either compressor winding reads open (infinite or very high resistance) or dead short (0 ohms), replace compressor.
Grounding test : Disconnect power to refrigerator. Discharge capacitor. Remove compressor leads and use an ohmmeter set on highest scale. Touch one lead to compressor body (clean point of contact) and the other probe to each compressor terminal. If a reading is obtained, compressor is grounded and must be replaced.
Overload test : Disconnect power to the refrigerator. Remove relay cover and pull relay off compressor. Pull overload protector off compressor common terminal. With ohmmeter, check resistance between male terminal and female receptacle of compressor common terminal. At room temperature,
overload protector should have less than 1 ohm resistance. An open
overload protector will have infinite resistance.
PTC relay : With power off, check resistance across terminals 2 and 3:
Normal = 3 to 12 ohms. Shorted = 0 ohms. Open = Infinity.
One question we didn't seem to see mentioned. When you had the freezer rear wall off, did the evaporator coil have a complete and even frost pattern on all the coils, or were there areas of no frost on the coils ? An uneven or blamk areas on the coil would indicate an inefficient compressor or a restiction in the sealed system.
jzannini Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2016 10:27:20 PM(UTC)
 
I tested the PTC relay (fridge compressor starting relay). Resistance across the start and run connectors. The result was 5.2 Ohms. One Internet resource says resistance should read between 10 to 100 Ohms. Does 5.2 Ohms indicate a bad PTC relay? If so, should I pursue repairs given the status of the compressor? Moreover, should I also replace run capacitor? (I do not know how to test the run capacitor.)
jzannini Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2016 4:18:30 PM(UTC)
 
I have additional information. I disconnected the start relay and run capacitor from the compressor. I tested the compressor for continuity. With the upper 2 posts connected: 10.6 Ohms; with upper left and lower post connected: 3.6 Ohms; with upper right and lower post connected: 7.2 Ohms. A website suggested the values should read 10, 6, 4. Are my reading within specs? Next, I am doing research on how to test the refrigerator run capacitor and the start relay. I'll report my findings.
jzannini Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2016 11:59:48 AM(UTC)
 
I have a Kenmore Side by Side Refrigerator, model number 106.56544400, mfg date April 2005. The refrigerator and freezer are not cooling properly. With both controls set to 7, the freezer temp is 40°F and refrigerator is 50°F. I have cleaned coils (front) and compressor/fan compartments (back). I first noticed a problem when the ice cube maker stopped working. I removed back panel of freezer. The low bar of evaporator and had frost; so did the copper tubing by thermostat. The back of the refrigerator was not iced over. I unplugged refrigerator and used hair dryer to melt all frost/ice. I plugged it back in. Both the refrigerator condenser fan and the refrigerator evaporator fan are running. However, I feel some airflow when the freezer door is opened. However, I don't feel any airflow when the refrigerator door is opened. Because some of the evaporator has frosted again, I assume the condenser is working. The condenser is hot to the touch. the vinyl flooring beneath the condenser has discolored the flooring giving a burned appearance. There is some sound coming from the condenser and cooling fan; however, I do not hear the typical sound I once heard when the refrigerator was in cooling cycle. I have some experience repairing dryers, dishwashers, washers, and one refrigerator, including running continuity checks on dryer parts, etc. I have not been able to determine how to proceed. I certainly do not want to randomly replace parts, especially if the compressor may be bad. Any insight you may have would be appreciated.