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FREEZER /FRIDGE NOT COOLING: Optimum refrigerator temperature at or below40° F(4° C). The freezer temperature should be0° F(-18° C). Check temperatures periodically. Appliance thermometers are the best way of knowing these
Check ur cold control thermostat, ur thermistors in both fridge and freezer ( they should be checked for both ohms and for amount of current being put out as per ur model ), ur air flow vent from freezer to fridge.( to make sure it opens and closes without any restrictions) On thermistors check for A close circuit and amount of ohms not just an Ohm reading. As per ur model. Most should atleast show 1200 ohms. Also Check door seals for leakage.
Evaporator coils
Poor cooling is often the result of a heavy frost build-up on the evaporator coils. You can't see these coils without removing a panel on the inside of your freezer. A sure sign that there is a build-up is the presence of any frost or ice build-up on the inside walls, floor, or ceiling of the freezer. Such a frost build-up usually indicates a problem in the self-defrosting system or damaged door gaskets.
If one of the components in the self-defrosting system fails, the refrigerator continues to try to cool. Eventually, though, so much frost builds up on the evaporator coils that the circulating fan can't draw air over the coils. There may still be a small amount of cooling because the coils are icy, but with no air flow over the coils, cooling in the refrigerator compartment is quite limited.
FAN check to see if it is operating or restricted A fan that is not blowing or restricted will not circulate the cold air properly.
Often, the first thing that folks do when their refrigerator starts to feel warm is turn both controls on the coldest settings.This is exactly the WRONG thing to do.Turning the cold control to the coldest settingwillkeep the compressor running longer and make lots of cold air.
But turning the air door to the coldest settingclosesthe airway to the food section. Lots of cold air is made, but most of it stays in the freezer section, and the food section actually getswarmer.
Condenser
Self-defrosting refrigerators all have a set of coils and a cooling fan, usually under the refrigerator, that need to be cleaned regularly. If these coils get coated with dust, dirt or lint, the refrigerator may not cool properly. The coils may appear to be a thin, black, wide radiator-like device behind the lower kick-panel. To clean them, disconnect the refrigerator from the power source, use a refrigerator condenser brush and your vacuum cleaner to clean the coils of any lint, pet hair, etc. You may not be able to get to all of the condenser from the front, it may be necessary to clean the remainder of the condenser from the rear of the refrigerator.
May also need to check the defrost timer, u can get by and test manually by placing a small screw driver into the tiny slot or hole underneath the timer and turn slowly clockwise till u hear 1 click. this will engage ur defrost cycle in about 15 minutes u should be able to come back and feel the heat in freezer as it melts the ice providing ur terminator is not bad?
Another way to test it is with a multi meter. Remove timer it from fridge and you will see 4 prongs numbered 2,1,4,3 in that order. Place ur meter prong on prong 1 & 3 (if your fridge has a capacitor wired in series with the windings, then u check for micro fares rather than OHMS) If u cannot confirm this test, still try the next.
Take ur meter prong and connect to prong 1 & 4, it should read resistance or ohms ( closed) now remove prongs and place on prong 1 & 2, this should now read infinity or open (no ohms) now take a small screwdriver place it in the tiny hole or slot under the timer. Turn it clockwise slowly till u hear 1 click. Now ur 1& 2 should read closed ( showing ohms or resistance) now place meter prongs on 1 & 4 and you it should now show open ( or no resistance - no ohms) this is how u know ur timer is good, Remember when testing for ohms ADJUST meter to use a high ohms rating in the thousands as the resistance is very high in OHMS. And adjusting to low ohms rating may give a false reading or not show the proper resistance..
THE COMPRESSOR:
If you hear a clicking sound coming from the back of your refrigerator/freezer, then the problem is most likely the compressor, relay and or capacitor is overheating or not getting proper power and will not start.The compressor is the component on your refrigerator that allows your refrigerator to cool. If this component is not working properly your refrigerator will stop cooling. Most of the time the compressor is not the component that has failed.
To check ur compressor with multi meter:
Disconnect and remove the relay and capacitor from compressor, some located next to compressor in a casing.
You wills see 3 prongs coming out of compressor. 1 goes to ur start winding, 1 goes to ur run winding and the center goes to ur ground.
Place ur meter connector or prong on the start prong and the other on the ground (center prong) take note of the reading in OHMS for example 5 ohms.
Next place meter prong on run prong and the center ground prong agin. Take note of the reading in OHMS. Example 4 ohms
Next place meter prong on the start prong and the other on the run prong, now take note of the reading example 9 ohms. Now match the total of this ohms test with the total of ur two separate test. 9 ohms, if they match ur ok give or take 5 percent plus or minus. One more test to make to test of there is a short in compressor attach meter prong to ground prong and rub the other end of meter prong to metal ( scrape the metal clean of paint and test on metal surface not painted surface. If it shows continuity or ohms , u have a short in ur compressor. It should show infinity
TO REPLACE RELAY AND CAPACITOR WITH A HARDSTART KIT YOU CAN USE
A 3 in 1 start kit for compressors sizes 1/4 through 1/3 HP. And a 5 in 1 for higher H.P. (BE SURE TO MATCH WITH UR COMPRESSOR MODEL NUMBER AND TYPE) The kit includes relay, capacitor, and overload device, pre-wired. The kit will replace all 3 electrical components on capillary refrigeration systems. For newer systems with a run capacitor use proper kit. For smaller horsepower compressors useTJ90RCO810.
The wire set up is as follows the red wire goes to the right side of compressor prong, the white wire to the left side prong, the black wire to the center prong, and the 2 other black wires go to the power and the ground connection
Lastly you should also check ur THERMISTORS in the freezer and fridge section for continuity OHMS and for amount of OHMS current being put out. In most models around 13000 ( give or take 150 ohms) ohms is required.
1-3 TEMPERATURE CONTROL
As the food in the fridge gets colder, it gives off less heat, and the air inside the fridge will remain colder. A thermostat called aCOLD CONTROLwill cycle the cooling system on and off to keep the temperature inside your fridge within a certain range. You can adjust that range using one of the dials within your fridge.
On most fridges, all the cold air for both the food compartment and the freezer compartment is produced in one evaporator. Since the freezer is so much colder than the food compartment, most of the cold air that is produced circulates to the freezer compartment. Only a small amount is needed in the food compartment to keep it down to the proper temperature. This amount is adjusted by a smallAIR DOORin the duct between the evaporator and the food compartment. The control for this air door is the other of the two dials within your fridge.
If you hear your compressor "short-cycling" (starting and stopping at short intervals) try jumping across the two leads of the cold control thermostat ( in the fridge compartment) with an alligator jumper. You can also check both for live voltage current and ohms- If there is a greenthirdlead, ignore it for this test; it is the ground wire. If the fridge starts running constantly, the cold control is bad. Replace it.
To test or change the cold control, first Pull the knob off it and remove any plastic cover plate or housing from it.
You will see two wires leading to it. There will also be a thick, stiffCAPILLARY TUBEattached. The capillary tube is the liquid-filled temperature-sensing element of the cold control, and operates in the same manner as a thermometer
The air damper, baffle or diffuser is the device that balances the air flow from the evaporator fan housing. This normally is a mechanically controlled baffle or flapper that controls the amount of cold air entering the fresh food compartment. If the baffle is damaged or the linkage to the control knob is damaged, then you may not have enough cold air entering the fresh food compartment resulting in higher than normal temperatures. This baffle or damper will be located where the cold air enters the fresh food compartment.
ALSO CHECK THE AIR FLOW VENT SYSTEM and THERMISTORS At times it can get stuck to far closed or open. Some units feature a digital electric adjusting vent system while others are manually set. Check for any ice build up or other obstruction in the vent damper, see if u can manually open or close it. Some times when u have the settings set to the highest it closes off one area while allowing to much cold air flow to the other area!
THERMISTORS in the freezer and fridge section for continuity OHMS and for amount of OHMS current being put out. In most models around 1300 ( give or take 150 ohms) ohms is required
There is a fan that delivers cold air from freezer to the fridge section. if freezer is working fine, and fridge part is not cooling replace the fan motor/fan
Changing the freezer settings won't really make a difference because regardless its still going to be freezing. The way the machine works is the freezer cools the fridge, and there should be a control in the fridge that operates the baffles in the airway between the freezer and fridge and reduces the amount of air that enters into the fresh food section.
There is a flap that directs the air from freezer to fridge. Sometimes this flap can stick Or the actuator that controls the flap can go out. Same with autodefrost timer which seems to give a lot of people trouble. Thermostat is at the top, uncirculated cold air sinks, food in the bottom of the fridge freezes.
You may have to open the door to let the dispenser thaw since it's in the door.
The fridge gets its cold air from the freezer through a vent(damper)
between the freezer and fridge.The fan in the freezer blows air through
it.There is a flap you adjust with the
fridge temp. control. Make sure it's opening and closing when you adjust the
fridge temp ..
I'll assume you don't have much food/items in the freezer section. Because you have the fridge set on the max cooling setting and the freezer set higher than the mid setting, it could be that you have frozen the cold air passage from the freezer to the fridge.
If you can, 1) remove all contents that would spoil; 2) turn off the fridge 3) open both doors and allow the fridge to manually thaw out completely (this will speed up the opening of the cold air exchange passage between the freezer and fridge, which is likely blocked and frozen solid. Have plenty of towels handy to soak up the water from the defrosting process,
After a FULL day of being left off and doors open to thaw out, check for any further thawing and dripping water inside, if present wait another 8 hours (you really want to get it thawed out the first time!) When that's done, reset BOTH temperature controls to the factory mid-point setting (5?) as marked on your control knobs.
The key to having a refridgerator run properly is to allow for it to run at the factory settings for at least 24 hours BEFORE you adjust the controls higher and/or lower for each section. Adjust it up or down in ONLY 1 setting increments so as to not cause ice build-up and freezing of the internal air exchange passages.
Also, as you've relegated this fridge as a garage "beer & backup" unit, make sure to keep the freezer as full as possible to make it run as efficiently as possible. You can freeze jugs of water and pack it with cheap thrift store bread to help it run correctly. An empty freezer has to work harder to keep just air at freezing temps. As such, it will pass much colder air into the fridge, and cause these types of freeze ups. By the way, turning up the temp controls only makes it worse and just results in a total "freeze up" inside the cabinet panels that you can't easily see or get at to rectify, hence the reason to shut it off and let it fully defrost.
When you're done, you should have your fridge back in action working like it should, but remember, don't rush temperature adjustments, even thou we all want those frosty beverages, it'll take a couple of days to achieve the desired "chill" you're likely used to getting when it was your primary fridge.
Does freezer cool like the cold food section? Did this suddenly happen, and frozen food began to thaw? Most freezers control the cooling in the cold food section. The freezer must work fine before the cold food section will work fine. Let us know more, Thanks JT
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