Your Precious Words:
Fridge runs for 5-6 seconds at a time. Not enough time to cool off. Coils are clean, fan in rear is running fine. Its been 2 days and the freezer is totally defrosted and fridge is getting warm inside
This sounds to me like what we professional appliantologists call the “hum-click cha-cha.” That’s where, every few minutes, the compressor tries to start making that humming sound, but then clicks off. What’s happening is the compressor start relay has fried and is preventing the compressor from starting.
It’s a straight forward repair… if you just look out for a couple things shown in a couple of my videos below:
In this is exciting installment of Appliantology Live™, Samurai Appliance Repair Man goes undercover as The Appliance Guru and kicks some major appliance boot-ay on a GE refrigerator that’s lost its cool.
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
A common problem with refrigerators is the appearance of various forms of water in places where it shouldn’t be. Examples are: water at the bottom of the freezer and dribbling out the door in a side by side refrigerator; fuzzy frost built up on the back wall inside the freezer compartment; moisture on beer bottles and the side walls inside the refrigerator compartment (also called the Beer Compartment); solid slab of ice on the bottom of the freezer compartment.
In each of these examples, we’re dealing with water that’s out of place. Water in a refrigerated space can take on three forms: ice, frost, and condensation. Which of these forms you see, along with where you see it, are important clues to help you zero in on the needed repair.
Condensation problems will appear as “sweating” on jars and bottles and sometimes even on the sidewall in the refrigerator compartment. Condensation is caused by water vapor condensing into a liquid as it hits the cold surfaces inside the refrigerator. When you see this, it means outside, humid air is getting inside the refrigerated compartments when and where it shouldn’t. So, you’re looking for bad gaskets, doors not closing properly, or doors being left open from carelessness.
Ice refers to liquid water that froze into a solid. This sounds obvious but it’s an important distinction from frost, also known as rime ice, that fuzzy looking stuff that is formed when water vapor condenses directly into a solid. The important point here is that ice and frost are the effects of two completely different underlying causes.
If you see smooth or solid ice in a freezer, then you know you’re really looking for liquid water in places where it shouldn’t be (that ended up freezing): clogged condensate drain in the drip trough below the evaporator coil; ice maker fill tube leaking or out of place; ice maker mold leaking.
If you see frost or rime ice in a freezer, then you know you’re really looking for water vapor that’s getting into the compartment. How does water vapor get into a refrigerator? It comes in with the outside air. In most cases when you see frost in a freezer, you’re looking for an air leak: bad door gaskets or doors not closing all the way. This video shows an extreme example of rime ice all over the contents inside a freezer:
Sometimes, you’ll see both ice and frost appearing together in a freezer which can make diagnosis tricky. In this video, I walk you through an example of such a case and I explain the failure sequence:
A special (but common) case for diagnosing frost in a freezer is when you see frost accumulated on the evaporator coil or back wall inside the freezer that covers the evaporator coil. This indicates a defrost system failure (defrost terminator stuck open, burned out defrost heater, bad defrost timer (on older units) or adaptive defrost control (ADC) board).
The reason rime ice forms on the evaporator coil in the first place is because the coil operates at a temperature of -20F. At that temperature, water vapor that contacts the coil will condense and freeze directly into a solid, forming rime ice. Every few hours the defrost system should kick in and melt that ice, because if it’s allowed to accumulate it will eventually act as an insulator, preventing the air from contacting the evaporator coils and getting cold. The resulting problem would first be seen as a warm refrigerator compartment and, if allowed to continue, eventually the freezer will also get warmer than normal (normal = 0F). Rime ice accumulated on the inside of the back wall in the freezer will often be seen at this point.
This melted rime ice has a special name: condensate. (Not to be confused with condensation, although the words are similar, they arise from two different causes.) Condensate refers to the water that gets melted off the evaporator coil in the freezer compartment during the defrost cycle. This condensate drips onto the condensate drip trough below the evaporator coil and drains out the condensate drain– a hole in the condensate drip trough– through a tube to the drain pan placed down by the compressor where it eventually evaporates due to the combined action of the compressor heat and condenser fan motor.
This video shows a freezer with extreme rime ice buildup on the back wall inside the freezer due to a defrost system failure:
If you need expert, interactive help in troubleshooting and repairing your refrigerator and service manuals, become an Apprentice at the Appliantology Academy ==> http://apprentice.appliantology.org/
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box at www.Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
Subscribe to our FREE, award-winning newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment ==> http://newsletter.fixitnow.com and download your free report on appliance brand recommendations! Every issue is jam-packed with appliance repair tips and inside information direct from the Samurai’s fingertips to your engorged and tingling eyeballs.
Sometimes, when you’re working on a compressor no-start problem, it’s a simple matter of replacing the compressor start relay. But is the bad relay the primary cause of the problem or a secondary effect from something else? Sometimes, it’s not obvious and it takes real Samurai Kidneys™ to discern what’s really going on. Watch and learn, Grasshoppah…
One of the common failures with a compressor is that the varnish insulation on the motor windings starts to break down and current starts leaking to ground. If the current leakage is large enough, you can deduce that this is happening by measuring compressor current draw. Or you can directly check out the compressor motor windings using an instrument called a megger to directly test the integrity of the winding insulation. This video shows using a megger to check the compressor motor:
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box right here at Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
Subscribe to our FREE, award-winning newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment ==> http://newsletter.fixitnow.com and download your free report on appliance brand recommendations! Every issue is jam-packed with appliance repair tips and inside information direct from the Samurai’s fingertips to your engorged and tingling eyeballs.
The Appliance Guru provides prompt, convenient service in the following towns in New Hampshire: New London, Elkins, Wilmot, Springfield, Georges Mills, Sunapee, Mt. Sunapee, Newbury, Sutton, Bradford, Warner, Grantham, and the Eastman Community. Visit our website for more info and a discount coupon on your next service call: ==> http://applianceguru.com
Okay, before I divulge protected trade secrets for fixing refrigerators, I have to ask for your solemn vow of silence. Divulging this information to the profane can get me in big trouble with my Brethren in The Craft. I could get thrown out of the International Appliance Repair Guild! So, please, if you feel like sharing these secrets with someone, do so by forwarding them this entire newletter. That way, nothing can get taken out of context that might get me trouble with The Brethren. Domo!
Refrigerator Warming Up in Both Compartments and No Frost on the Back Wall Inside the Freezer?
This will be one of four things:
1. Dirty condenser (preventable)
2. Burned out compressor start relay (very fixable)
3. Bad or lazy condenser fan motor (very fixable)
4. Bad compressor or sealed system (“freon”) leak (terminal event: go shopping)
As indicated, the first three causes are very fixable, even preventable. But the fourth one is a 4th Down Time to Punt event. That’s because EPA’s DuPont regulations have made doing sealed system work so expensive that it’s not cost-effective to do it on most refrigerators… unless you paid so much for the box that you’re married to it (a la Sub-Zero). So, lots of easily-repairable refrigerators choking up the landfills today.
Be that as it may, let’s talk about the first three things that we can do something about…
Dirty Condenser
A dirty condenser will make any refrigerator warm up. Even the mighty Sub-Zero is not immune from a dirty condenser’s refrigerator-killing effects. Check this out, this could be you:
Burned Out Compressor Start Relay / Bad or Lazy Condenser Fan Motor
I grouped these two things together because they can and do occur together but most people, including most technicians, don’t catch this. But you, dear reader, are now privvy to one to the Samurai’s most cherished repair tricks…
And Hey! …
I frequently upload new videos to my YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe so you can check ’em out as soon as they’re uploaded: Samurai’s YouTube Channel
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box at Fixitnow.com or Appliantology.org. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
The Whirlpool modular ice maker is the most commonly used ice maker in refrigerators today. You’ll even find these ice makers in non-Whirlpool refrigerators. If you’re a professional appliantologist, this is the ice maker you’ll most frequently encounter on service calls.
When you’re troubleshooting these ice makers for a no ice complaint, the first thing you need to know is the freezer temperature. There’s a thermostat built into the ice maker that will shut it off if the freezer temperature is above 17F. And unless you have a calibrated palm, you can’t tell the difference between 15F and 20F by feel so you have be able to get an accurate temperature shoot. I like using an infrared temperature gun; my personal favorite and the one I’ve used joyfully for years is the Raytek MT6 Non-contact MiniTemp Infrared Thermometer
Okay, if freezer temperature is good, then you focus on the Big Three Causes for No Ice in a Whirlpool Modular Ice Maker™:
– bad water inlet solenoid valve
– plugged ice maker fill tube
– bad ice maker control module
The easiest way to check all three at once is to run a manual harvest cycle on the ice maker. This video shows how to do that:
If the ice maker won’t start the harvest, it’s a dead ice maker or bad control module; doesn’t matter which, either way, just replace the whole ice maker. I used to mess around with replacing just the control module but for just a few bucks more, you can replace the entire ice maker and it’s a more reliable repair. Here’s the replacement ice maker kit I used to fix this problem ==> http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Ice-Maker-Assembly/4317943/1857
If the ice maker does the harvest but no water enters the mold at the end of the cycle, then either the fill tube is plugged or the water inlet valve is bad. This video shows how to test the water inlet valve:
This flowchart summarizes the troubleshooting algorithm for these modular ice maker units:
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box at Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
The Appliance Guru provides prompt, convenient service in the following towns in New Hampshire: New London, Elkins, Wilmot, Springfield, Georges Mills, Sunapee, Mt. Sunapee, Newbury, Sutton, Bradford, Warner, Grantham, and the Eastman Community. Visit our website for more info and a discount coupon on your next service call ==> http://applianceguru.com
Subscribe to our FREE, award-winning newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment ==> http://newsletter.fixitnow.com and download your free report on appliance brand recommendations! Every issue is jam-packed with appliance repair tips and inside information direct from the Samurai’s fingertips to your engorged and tingling eyeballs.
Your Precious Words:
You were right on the money with the freezer tube problem. I’ve still got a hair dryer in the freezer thawing out the drain tube. I’m just now starting to see a little water in the defrost pan. Do you know if it’s a straight shot down the tube or is there an elbow. I can only get a wire a couple of inches down there.
Ahh, Grasshoppah, the Samurai shall reveal unto thee an ancient trade secret of The Craft for handling these types of problems. Professional Appliantologists use a handheld steamer to clear frozen condensate drains. They also work great for clearing frosted up evaporator coils. Here’s the exact steamer I use and I can testify it does a great job, has saved me many countless hours and much frustration ==> http://amzn.to/Ml4Hfj
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box at Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
Subscribe to our FREE, award-winning newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment ==> http://newsletter.fixitnow.com and download your free report on appliance brand recommendations! Every issue is jam-packed with appliance repair tips and inside information direct from the Samurai’s fingertips to your engorged and tingling eyeballs.
Professional Appliantologists mark the seasons by the prevalence of a particular appliance failure. For example, we are currently in what we professional Appliantologists call, “Refrigerator Season.” This is the time of year when the warm, humid weather brings out all those incipient and latent problems with your refrigerator: fresh food (beer) compartment no longer cold, no ice from the ice maker, water leaking from the freezer, etc. This issue offers you visual (video) repair tips for various common refrigerator problems that you’re likely to see this Refrigerator Season. These are just a few selections– check out all the videos on our Youtube channel. Each week we add new videos; subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss ’em!
Troubleshooting a Water Dispenser that Quit Dispensing Water
Fixing a Refrigerator with a Warm Beer (fresh food) Compartment
Fixing an Ice Dispenser that Only Dispenses Crushed Ice
Troubleshooting the Electronics in an LG Refrigerator
Your Precious Words:
I have a GE Artica Model Number PSF26PG/PSS26PS
under those number was this number also PSW26PS.
This after noon my freezer was covered in ice and water…looks like it melted or dripped into the freezer. It was all over like that. I unplugged it i did notice the entire time water was continually dripping from the ice maker. So i cleaned it all up.. none was on the out side on the floor or anything (until i actually moved it from the wall) so i went in the living room checked it out a couple hours later there was water all over freezing up in ice cicles and etc. So i turned the water off to it and just checked it and all is fine. The ice maker is abt 2 to 2.5 years old…i replaced it and things have been fine with it since as far as making ice and etc goes… any ideas what to do now??? I am at a loss on this..Any help would be appreciated
Hi Lisa,
Going by your description of water all over the inside of the freezer, it sounds like the ice maker fill tube in back of the may be out of position and is spraying water each time it tries to fill the ice maker. If that’s good, then that only leaves the ice maker itself as the source of the leak. Common problem in the Samsung-built GE refrigerators. You can buy the replacement ice maker here with a 365-day return policy ==> http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Ice-Maker-Assembly/WR30X10093/1399596?RCAID=24038
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box at Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
Subscribe to our FREE, award-winning newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment ==> http://newsletter.fixitnow.com and download your free report on appliance brand recommendations! Every issue is jam-packed with appliance repair tips and inside information direct from the Samurai’s fingertips to your engorged and tingling eyeballs.
Join the Samurai on a troubleshooting adventure where he expertly tracks down the problem with a GE side-by-side refrigerator that won’t dispense water; the ice maker and ice dispenser still work, just the water dispenser is INOP. This video shows how to isolate the problem and the common fix for certain models.
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box here at Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
Subscribe to our FREE, award-winning newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment ==> http://newsletter.fixitnow.com and download your free report on appliance brand recommendations! Every issue is jam-packed with appliance repair tips and inside information direct from the Samurai’s fingertips to your engorged and tingling eyeballs.
So you’re minding your own business, going about your morning and getting ready for work. You open the refrigerator for your morning beer and discover, to your horror, that all the beer is warm! Bile burns the back of your throat as your trembling hands frantically search the internet for an answer. But your terror turns into frustration and then outright rage after you’ve sifted through a dozen pages of fluff and non-answers. Why isn’t there a page that can just methodically guide a panic-stricken mind through process of figuring out what’s wrong with his warm refrigerator?
Ahh, but there is! Behold the Samurai’s Warm Refrigerator Flowchart. It’s the perfect page for a Grasshoppah facing down a warm refrigerator. The Samurai methodically and expertly steps you through the diagnosis and then links you to the page that shows you exactly how to fix the problem. Check out the Warm Refrigerator Flowchart, download it today and keep it handy. Also makes a great gift for that special someone who already has it all.
Washer & Dryer Recommendations
In this episode of their award-winning and internationally-acclaimed podcast on Fixitnow.com Radio, Samurai Appliance Repair Man and Mrs. Samurai discuss their recommendations if you’re considering buying a new washer and dryer. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’ll become a part of you. Come have a listen.
The Samurai is re-launching his local in-home appliance service business as The Appliance Guru. It’s an old business with a new name. Why? Well, our other business name, Fixitnow.com Samurai Appliance Repair Man, plays well on the web but we discovered not so good as a service business. For one thing, people just could not seem to remember the web site address, Fixitnow.com. Invariably, they’d ask, “What was it again, Fixit.com?” We actually had a local writer do an entire article in a local magazine about our site and she re-named it, “Fixitagain.com!” Read more about our name change here.
So if you live in the New London, New Hampshire, area or know someone who does, please keep The Appliance Guru in mind for expert in-home appliance repair service!
Your Precious Words:
How to force adaptive defrost contol to test. part #WR55X10900
This is a new style top mount, even tech sheet on back only shows schematic.
Hi Jeff,
Short answer: Press the fresh food door switch 3 times within 5 seconds and close the FF door when the control is not in defrost or dwell.
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box at Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
Subscribe to our FREE, award-winning newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment ==> http://newsletter.fixitnow.com and download your free report on appliance brand recommendations! Every issue is jam-packed with appliance repair tips and inside information direct from the Samurai’s fingertips to your engorged and tingling eyeballs.
Your Precious Words:
EACH TIME AFTER USING WATER DISPENSER, IT DRIPS ABOUT 6-7 DROPS. THE TRAY FILLS UP AFTER AWHILE AND WATER IS ON THE FLOOR. I CHANGED TO DISPENSER LEVR/ACTUATOR BUT THAT DID NOT STOP THE DRIPPING. WHAT’S UP?
Hi Michael,
This is a classic case of air trapped in the refrigerator’s water tubing. This can occur for a variety of reasons, including air bubbles in the incoming water supply to the refrigerator that travel in with the water. If the air bubble happens to be in a part of the tubing that is outside the refrigerated compartment (for example, the tubing in the door), it warms up and expands, pushing water out the dispenser in dribbles and drops like you’re seeing.
The cure is to simply run a bunch of water through the dispenser to purge the air from the system. Usually a gallon is sufficient.
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box at Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
Subscribe to our FREE, award-winning newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment ==> http://newsletter.fixitnow.com and download your free report on appliance brand recommendations! Every issue is jam-packed with appliance repair tips and inside information direct from the Samurai’s fingertips to your engorged and tingling eyeballs.
Samurai Appliance Repair Man
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
Your Precious Words:
My freezer is working just fine, but is not transfering the cold air to the refrigerator. Can you please advise how to troubleshoot what parts i will need? I have a Kenmore coldspot 2008 model #106.58726800.
Thanks,
Adam
If you have the indications of a failed defrost system, this is separate problem to troubleshoot. The problem will be either the either the defrost heater, defrost thermostat (or bimetal), defrost thermistor (if so equipped, your model isn’t), or the defrost timer or adaptive defrost control (ADC) board, which your model does have. We can help you troubleshoot this in the Appliantology Academy, start a new topic in the Kitchen Forum ==> www.Appliantology.org
2. The evaporator fan (again, in the freezer) isn’t working– the fan motor could be bad or not getting voltage, or the blade could be jammed by a piece of ice. If the blade spins freely, then you’ll need to do some voltage and continuity tests to check the fan motor and it’s voltage supply. We can help you do this in the Appliantology Academy, start a new topic in the Kitchen Forum ==> www.Appliantology.org
3. The damper is stuck closed. The damper is the port between the freezer and the fresh food section that lets cold air from the freezer into the refrigerator side to cool it down. If the damper is stuck closed, the fresh food section will warm up because it’s no longer getting cold air. Dampers can go bad from a failed damper motor (if so equipped– yours isn’t, it’s manually controlled), the damper vanes could be stuck by frost, or a bad fresh food compartment thermistor that controls the damper motor (again, on models so equipped, and yours isn’t).
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
You can find whatever appliance part you need through the parts search box at Fixitnow.com. No harm in buying and trying with our 365-day, no-hassle return policy, even on electrical parts that were installed!
Subscribe to our FREE, award-winning newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment ==> http://newsletter.fixitnow.com and download your free report on appliance brand recommendations! Every issue is jam-packed with appliance repair tips and inside information direct from the Samurai’s fingertips to your engorged and tingling eyeballs.
