Refrigeration Issue - Non Soda Machine Related

[90grad]

Guys,

Need a little help here...

My kitchen frig is on the blink.  Condensor fan is running constantly and the box isn't cooling down.  I touched the compressor ball and it is hot.  Also, I can here the "click" about every minute or so.  Is my compressor toast (7-year old unit) or could it be something else.  Any ideas for troubleshooting before I get the cajillion dollar service call?

Thanks in advance.

[Creighton]

Wayne,
If the coils on the back are free of dust and grime and the freezer is not badly iced up it may be time for a service call. I hate how appliances used to last forever now they don't.
Hope it helps,
Creighton

[johnieG]

My Neighbor had the same thing happen to his new 'fridge after a recent Power outage & surges brought about due to some local Thunderstorms that hit the Waterford, Michigan (my home area) very hard. his start/run relay actually had a hole in it! I used a 3-in-1 hard start relay I had handy for my soda machines  & it worked just fine for his Maytag side-by-side. still running 2-weeks later. might be worth a shot.

[90grad]

Thanks Creighton and John.  Unfortunately, I don't have a spare 3-n-1 handy.  The thing that's getting me is the compressor ball is getting hot.  Could it still be the relay?  I was thinking the compressor was running, as I thought I felt vibration.  It's hard to tell with this.  Plus, the condensor fan is staying on.

Also, I was thinking it may be the defrost timer (who knows?).  Ths ironic thing is I've got a lot of stuff from the frig in a 1953 Cavalier 51 and a 1964 VMC 56.  Those systems are still kicking butt and taking names.  This new stuff is just plain horse......poop.

I see no oil and the thing was running great yesterday, so I wouldn't have thought I'd lost the gas that quickly.  Plus, no coils are frosting up.  It just ain't making any cold air.

[Creighton]

Reason #3 to bring machines home, never know when the fridge will go on the blink
Creighton

[David D]

The defrost timer could be stuck, I've had this happen once before to a old garage fridge.   Sometimes the defrost timer will have a slot where you can advance the timer with a screwdriver and the machine will kick back on.   You might want to give this a shot before calling for service.

[90grad]

Reason #3 to bring machines home, never know when the fridge will go on the blink
Creighton

Too funny..

When the wife and I were loading one of my machines with stuff from fridge - most notably, a pack of chicken legs - she remarked, "Man, it's nice to have these machines here."  Oh, for a recording of that!

The service guy is coming tomorrow, but I will check the defrost timer tonight.  Thanks, David!

[90grad]

Here is some more info...

I let the unit sit all night so the compressor would cool.  When I plugged it in, the compressor kicked on and then kicked off about 10 seconds later.  Then after a little while (about a minute), it did the same thing.  So, it seems like it's short-cycling.  Seems electrical to me.