Compressor on fridge freezer runs continuously

Kelly

• 3740 Answers
• Posted on Apr 14, 2011

SOURCE: We have a Zanussi fridge/freeezer

Hi Tony. Welcome to FixYa, I am Kelly,
The fact that the refrigerator is always running is usually caused by either the evaporator fan not running in the freezer compartment or there is a problem with the condenser fan motor in the condenser coil area. Check to make sure BOTH fans are running when the compressor is running. There is a very good possibility that the condenser coils are blocked with lint in the bottom of the unit. Pull off the back fiberboard cover and check for massive amounts of lint and that the condenser fan is running at full speed. If it is running slow or there ia a huge amount of lint in the coils it will present the symptoms you mentioned.
Before you do anything feel the chassis right at the door gasket area. If you not an almost HOT spot on the face of the chassis that is a good indication you have a problem in the condenser area. That being the fan is not running or... lots of lint.
Also check to make sure that you depress the door light switch when checking to see if the evaporator van is running in the freezer compartment. The light should go OFF when the door switch plunger is depressed and the fan should be running. Depending up on model the position of the light switch does not effect the evaporator fan but will cause the ice-maker not to produce any ice and / or no water in door (if so equipped) if the light switch has failed.
Lastly there is an Air Damper that controls the air flow between the freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment. If the damper fails or in the cause of mechanical vs automatic Air Damper assemblies the Air Damper door can be closed / not operational. Automatic air Dampers are controlled either by a thermistor or a thermostat. If the temp sensor source has failed the Air Damper door does not move. This appears to be a pretty basic unit so I am guessing that it has a mechanical Air-Damper with no temperature control. I.e selecting fresh food temp just moved the damper plastic door open or closed depending on selected temperature.
These units were new / in the stores around the year 2005 so it is probably around 6 years old. That is when fans start acting up in the 6 - 10 year period of their working life. I.e they need a bit if attention...
There are units out there that do not even have a condenser fan but have a large condenser coil on the back of the unit for heat dissipation. I do not have total IPL access (only partial) for this particular model so you will have to find a local parts source if you identify any failures.
Lastly... if you discover that there is a block of ice in the evaporator coils you may have an automatic defrosting problem. The ice blocks the coils... the freezer says cool.. the evaporator fan runs... but the fresh food compartment warms up. Eventually the ice block gets so large that the freezer also starts warming up enough for ice cream to become soft or an ice maker to stop working. All because the unit is not automatically defrosting. If you discover a large block of ice... unplug the unit and direct a fan into the freezer compartment for just over 2 hours with the freezer contents removed. (Makes a water mess!) Once defrosted return the unit to normal service and check the temps 6 - 8 hours later. They should be normal. Here is the kicker... if there is an automatic defrosting problem the ice build up will return. Automatic defrost system failures are:
1. Defrost control (most common failure)
2. Defrost heating element
3. Defrost thermostat / thermistor (depending on which is used)
4. Defrost circuit wiring

Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly