i have seen references to these sounds in the context of frig not cooling. mine is cooling, in fact, it sounds like it is running while the sounds happen. cold air is coming out of the freezer register, and frig register (though not as strong as freezer). the click-buzz-click doesn’t happen all the time. started on sunday night. didn’t hear it most of yesterday, then a few times yeterday night. don’t know about today 'cause i wasn’t here, but it is happening this evening. all is cold and frozen.
is it only the fan i am hearing circulating cold air? i haven’t pulled it out yet to feel the compressor, or try testing the start relay. could this be something other than the start relay/compressor?
i’l be going out of town for weekend, so if i am going to try fixing it, i’d like to try it before i leave…
Pull the refrigerator out of the wall. Remove the cover. Remove the compressor start device and shake it. If it makes a rattling sound, replace the start device.
i removed the start device this morn. shaking it made a bit of a rattle. sometimes. i replaced it.
i still get the buzz noise, though click is almost gone. buzz for 5 sec., 3-4 min later, buzz again. eventually i turn off the frig for a while. turn on and it runs.
i am finding that, so far, it works so long as i am around to turn it off when it is done cooling, and turn it on again after a couple of hours. it is as if the compressor gets too warm to get itself going from stop. of course i don’t know if that is really the problem. it i leave it on, the next time it calls for cooling it does the buzz routine.
seems odd that it runs fine after sitting for a couple of hours, and runs till frig is cold . but can’t start itself soon after. could something else, eg: a controller, be the problem?
i’ve noticed that when it calls for cooling, i hear the sound of something running (compressor? a circulating pump or fan?). then it either runs ok, or, after a minute or so, the cooling fan next to coils comes on, and then the buzzing routine starts. what is the sound that i am first hearing? does the compressor start immediately after calling for cool, or is there another pump/fan in there that runs before the compressor starts? i’m trying to understand the sequence of operations.
Measure the voltage to the compressor, if a steady 115 volts, the control board may be ok and you have a hard starting compressor when the line voltage is low at peak usage periods.
can i measure the voltage to compressor by pulling off the starter and measuring across 2 pins? eg, start and common, or run and common.
i’ve noticed that the hard starting can happen at any time of day.
another question is whether it is worth installing 3 in 1 starter. i have heard that they can help with hard starting compressors. or is a 3 in 1 likely a waste of time and money?
i checked voltage on the two lines going to starter relay. while the frig circulating? pump was on the voltage measured around 128v, when the buzzing noise started it dropped to around 124.
the voltage at the receptacle measured around 128v. this is surprising, since i thought that the voltage was supposed to be 115-120.
As Gene mentioned, do not use a 3 n 1 start device,will burn out a modern R134A compressor.
As Gene sugested, you might have a bad control pc board, if it at times,it turns off the compressor, then tries to re-start within a short period oif time before the system pressures equalize.
it would be nice to find that problem was the control board rather than compressor. i had a repairman out who listened to the frig, tried rocking the compressor, heard that i had replaced the starter and tested resistance at the 3 compressor pins; decided that it was a failed compressor. the control board didn’t come up.
how soon restarting is too soon? how long might system pressure take to equalize? would pressure not being equalized cause the compressor to not start, hence the buzzing noise?
If he failed to check current draw and system pressures, and just tested compressor winding resistance with ohmeter, he did not confirm a bad compressor.
System pressures take a few minutes to equalize, if the control is trying to re-start with less time, you have a bad control board.