If you find yourself the victim of a botched condenser fan motor “repair” job, like this grasshopper was, you may need to know the wiring scheme for the fan motor. After the parts changing monkey finally gave up on brutalizing his refrigerator, here’s the conundrum our grasshopper was left with:
A local repair shop attempted to replace my condenser fan and in the process he removed the wires from the control board harness connector that mates with the fan harness connector. He couldn’t figure out how to put it back and eventually gave up. How hard can this be? I have the wiring diagram that was attached inside the refrigerator but it doesn’t show enough detail to re-install the connector.
There are 4 wires on the fan: Red, White, Yellow, and Blue. There are only 3 wires in the harness that connects to the control board: Red, White, and Pink. Schematic says Red is 12VDC, White is Fan Common, and Pink is Condenser Fan. Schematic doesn’t show the 4 wires between the fan motor and its harness connector. Only shows the Red, White, and Pink wires between control board and fan. The big question is what color wire from the control board mates with what color from the fan motor.
And the answer is…
Red to Red
White to White
Pink to YELLOW
The blue wire is RPM feedback to the main control which is not used.
In case you’re interested, here’s how the whole sordid story of appliance butchery ended up:
Issue: My refrigerator was making a ticking noise that my wife could not tolerate. (She’s the sensitive type)
I called a local repair company and the diagnosis was the condenser fan motor. The motor was running but supposedly the shaft was making noise. The repair tech had a lot of trouble removing the fan motor due to limited access on top of the fridge. He was complaining the whole time. When he left the fan wasn’t running but he attributed it to the system needing to warm up. He even called another tech who confirmed it. So I let him leave. The fan never came on.
The guy came back twice when I wasn’t home and my wife has no idea what he was doing but he eventually gave up and said call GE or another repair company. Here’s what I found.
1. The fan motor harness connector must pass through a very small hole that you cannot see. Apparently he just ripped the fan connector through because the old fan motor just has bare wires.
2. The mating connector on the harness back to the control board was in a bag when I took over the problem. I don’t know why it was removed but maybe it had something to do with him ripping the fan motor out. This is why I was inquiring here what the wire colors were for.
3. I attempted to put the wires back in the harness connector when I noticed one pin was broken. I don’t know if this was the cause of the problem or whether it just happened when he was trying to get it to work.
4. I didn’t know where to get this type of pin so I just went to Radio Shack and bought a different 4 pin connector and changed out the motor and mating harness. The fan started running immediately. Should it ever fail again the new one won’t mate with the new connector but it’s easy enough to change it out. I used the same type of connector you’d find on a computer hard drive.
As is stated in an earlier post, the condenser motor wiring for a GE Monogram built-in refrigerator is:
RED to RED
WHITE to WHITE
PINK to YELLOW
BLUE is not used (it is used on the evaporator fan which has a very similar motor to the condenser fan)
Samurai Appliance Repair Man
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This is me:
1. Open the top lid by depressing the tabs with a butter knife or putty knife between the top and cabinet. The picture below shows the top opened and the clips that you need to depress.
2. Prop the lid up against the wall so it stays at a 90 degree angle.
3. Remove the tub ring by releasing the tabs on the side and removing the recirculation hose by releasing the clamp.
4. Remove the wash plate bolt cover. There is a slot that meets with one of the wash plate "fins". Remove the wash plate by removing the 7/16in bolt. Pull up on the wash plate with a pair of pliers to remove it from the shaft. This will expose the wash plate shaft and basket hub.
5. Remove the basket by holding the inside of the balance ring and pulling straight up. Sometimes, corrosion gets stuck on the shaft making it very difficult to remove the basket. If you have this issue, fill the machine with a hose and the basket will start to float. keep filling it while pulling up on the basket then pushing it down again. BE SURE your drain hose is still in the stand pipe or you will have a mess. Eventually, the pressure of you pulling up and down and the pressure of the water lifting the basket should free up the corrosion and allow you to free it. then drain the water by putting the machine in a drain/spin only mode or by using a Wet/Dry vac. In the field, we use a Pony Pump.
7. Remove the sump cover by removing the 2-1/4in screws and lifting it.
8. You now have to options on servicing the bottom of the machine. I prefer to tilt it on the left side about 45 to 60 degrees from the floor or you can lay it on its left or right side.
9. Remove the rotor by using a 1/4in Allen Wrench or 1/4in to 1/4in hex screw driver bit on a 1/4in socket. You can lock the rotor by placing a small screw driver in one of the large holes and line it up with a hole on the stator under it.
10. Loosen up and disconnect the harnesses from the 2 pumps and black retainers first. You will not be able to disconnect the stator until you remove it. Using a permanant marker, mark the tub where end of the white RPS sensor is(See the top most arrow in the pic below) so you can properly re-align it during re-assembly. Remove the 4 bolts holding in the stator. On some Kenmore Oasis Models, they will be 3/8in bolts. Whirlpool Cabrio/Maytag Bravos will be 5/16in bolts. Disconnect RPS Sensor harness. If your RPS sensor has been replaced after June 2008(estimated date) or your machine was made after June 08, your RPS Sensor and connector might be black and have a different plug than what is in these pics.
11. Remove the pumps by removing the 5/16in screws and clamps. In the picture, I still have the rotor and stator on. Your rotor and stator should be off by now. Disconnect the pressure switch hose, clip and screw, and separate the bracket from the shock shaft.
Beer break…
12. Stand the unit up. Tilt it to the side a bit and place a small bucket, bowl, or 4×4 block of wood under the rotor shaft. I keep a tire stop in my truck for this purpose. In the picture, I used a small thermostat recycling bucket that we keep in the office.
13. Stand the machine up slowly while holding the tub in the center. This will allow the tub to clear the top of the cabinet. It should look like this after your done.
14. Release the shocks by depressing these tabs and push these rings down and clear the shocks from the tub.
15. Remove the tub from the cabinet. Remove any parts that need to be transferred to the new tub. Depending on the model parts might include insulation and retainers, heaters, recirculation tube and bracket.
16. Have a beer and reassemble.
