Hi,

A fried of mine bought a Wirlpool Fridge Freezer second hand but it kept tripping the power. They asked me to take a look at it for them and I was able to diagnose a hard earth on the defrost heater element. It looked like changing it was not going to be possible until I watched a very informative video on your YT channel.

I had suggested, in the meantime while I investigate further, that they run the fridge freezer with the defrost heater element disconnected. I did warn them that without it the evaporator coil would ice up pretty quickly and they would have to defrost it manually. (probably more trouble than its worth)

I did power up the unit with the element disconnected but the compressor and both fans failed to start. The lights come on when the door is opened confirming power availability but no compressor or fans. Is having the heater element disconnected preventing the compressor running? (unlikely, I know) Is there some sort of delay before the compressor starts after plug in? Or, am I looking at multiple faults with this unit.

I only ask as I don't to spend a friend's hard earned coin on a new element for their fridge freezer that could have multiple issues.

I did a quick check to ensure that everything I had disconnected had been reconnected. (except the defrost heater element of course) My fault-finding technique has me do this as I go along so that I don't lead myself in the wrong direction!

I have the service manual but its print quality is very poor. The circuit and wiring diagrams are pretty much unreadable.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Regards,

Adrian