My side by side is not cooling nor freezing. It started with freezer items going mushy then to not freezing at all.. same for fridge. Sounds like it is “running” but not completely sure. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks “Sam”
Sam,
Open the freezer door and check the back wall for a frost or ice build up on the back wall. Hopefully it’s a defrost problem, and won’t be too bad.
Thank you for your quick response…but the freezer does not have a build up of ice or anything to that nature. It started off by slowly not keeping cool, to not at all and the freezer went straight to mushy then not even cold. I have unplugged it now for the last few weeks in order to clean it out. I am not sure if I should plug it back in, and if I do, what should I look for, besides not cooling/freezing? Thanks for any help.
“Sam”
When plugged in, can you hear the compressor running? It makes a buzzing/humming sound. Are the condenser and evaporator fans working?
Yes I believe so…I do hear something running back there.
Not sure about fans…where do i look for that?
Sammi,
You’ll need to slide the fridge out so you can get behind it, remove the black panel, near the bottom of the back panel, Make sure the condenser coil is is clean and the fan is running,
Check and make sure the compressor is running, no buzzing or clicking noises,
- if needed you can put your fingers/hand on the top and “feel” the motor vibration, but be careful it’s hot and don’t shock yourself on the wires.*
Open the freezer door and listen for a fan running noise, and if air is being blown at you.
The evaporator fan is located behind the back wall of the freezer compartment,
You’ll need to remove everything from the freezer compartment and remove the metal back wall to access it.
Let us know what you find, so we can direct you from there.
Ok…did the above. The compessor and fan were both running, but the coils and fan were extremely dirty. So, unplugged and I broke out the air compessor and blew out dust and dirt. Plugged back in and now nothing! The unit is getting power, but the compessor is not running nor the fan. When I rotated the dials inside fridge/freezer (cold to coldest) did not hear “clicking” on or off. What to do now?
Sammi,
Are you sure you didn’t knock any wires loose ?
The fridge may have been in a defrost cycle ( lasts about 30 minutes)
You may have a faulty defrost timer, It may have stuck in a defrost position
and didn’t start the compressor.
The timer is located in the front of the fridge, behind the kick plate grille, on the left side of the opening.
So what does it mean if the compressor is clicking???
[QUOTE=mrmagic;870926]So what does it mean if the compressor is clicking???[/QUOTE]
Mrmagic, The clicking would usually indicate a weak or faulty start relay. You’d also want to test the compressor motor windings to make sure they haven’t weakened or shorted to ground.
Of course you want to check that you have and maintain the proper voltage to the refrigerator from the outlet.
ok thanks Joe…what should my ohm readinfs be???
[QUOTE=mrmagic;870935]ok thanks Joe…what should my ohm readinfs be???[/QUOTE]
Mrmagic, remove power to the refrigerator, and remove the overload and start relay(leave the wires connected if possible.
the upper most pin on the compressor is the “common” leg.
From “C” to “S” usually the left pin, you should read between 6 and 22 ohms.
From “C” to “R” usually the right pin, you should read 1.5 to 6 ohms resistance.
Then check each of the pins to the compressor casing you should read no resistance (infinity) you may have to scrape a little paint off the compressor to make sure you test to bare metal.
If all checks are in range, order and replace the overload and relay.