Can someone help me confirm that my PTC Starter Relay is bad?:confused:

I have a 7 year old Everstar Wine Cooler model HDWC35, also sold as Franklin Chef model FBC35OD. The compressor won't start and I believe the PTC starter relay is bad.:mad: Before I buy a new relay, I've run some test that I hope confirm the old relay is bad. Can you offer any reassure that I'm reaching the correct conclusion, or redirect me if I'm off in the weeds?

The compressor windings seem to be ok. The ohms between the 3 compressor terminals are 5.6, 6.2 and 11.3. I think 5.6 is between the common and run terminals, 6.2 is between the common and start terminals, and 11.3 is between the start and run terminals. (could be wrong in the labels - this is the 1st compressor I've worked on and I'm learning from blogs & youtube what to look for). Also, there aren't any shorts between any of the 3 compressor terminals and the compressor's metal housing, since I get infinite resistance / ohms between each of the three compressor terminals and the metal housing.

When I power up the refrigerator, as soon as the fan starts (~5 seconds after power-up), the PCT relay (now unplugged from the compressor) reads 120 volts between common and start, 120 volts between common and run, and 0 volts between the start and run. I connected two light bulbs, one between common and run, the other between common and start. Supposedly if the PCT is working, the start bulb should at least blink on and the run bulb should stay on. Unfortunately the start bulb does not blink, and no voltage registers between the start and common leads, not even a blip when the fan and run light turn on. Only the fan and run light turn on simultaneously, but the start light does nothing, which I think means the PCT is sending 120 volts to the run lead when there is no load / no bulb, and 0 volts when there is a load / bulb between the start and common leads.

Yes, I tried the shake test, but don't get any rattling noise from the PCT relay.

The only other test I can think of doing is manually applying 120 volts to the start lead to see of the compress runs with a little kick start. If 'yes', I believe that would confirm the problem is a faulty PCT relay that fails to apply 120 volts to the start lead long enough to start the compressor.

Am I on the right track? Any other ideas to test my suspicion about the PCT relay being bad?:rolleyes:

FYI, I think I found a replacement PCT relay on fixice.com, part #1858460700 for $15. Is there a better place to get these cheaper? The compressor is a Zel OF789D, and the old PCT relay part says TY 3012-5A 110-115V, A1C7 Cubigel SA.

Thanks for your help and patience with my novice learning. :o
dwclapp