Howdee all.
We have a not entirely old Sears KEnmore 3 door bottom freezer refer.
The other day I noticed it making a noise that I had thought was working harder than normal on the water line-- pump or something.
Tonight, my wife pointed out that the freezer was no longer working, and the refer part wasn’t as cold as normal.
As our last refrigerator lasted some 25-30 years, this is more than a little disappointing…
Any ideas on what it could be?
Does this model usually quit so young in its life?
The problem I had thought it was was the ice maker pump. It sounds like a motor that can’t quite start. It’s like there’s a whine, and then a switch/relay that clicks that causes it to stop.
Help… please.
TYIA.
Ok, I found out that we bought this in May 2004.
I also pulled the freezer drawer out, and found that the noise is coming from underneath the refer.
Morning Rich,
Ok, this was the same part I thought it would be, after reading some of the other discussions on it.
Well, I ordered the part, so we’ll find out this weekend…
Thanks for your time.
Enjoy your day, an the rest of the week.
Hi,
Ok, the parts just arrived
Where is the location for this part?
On the bottom? from the back?
I see what appears to be a service access door at the bottom of the unit, in back, is that it?
Anyone got a service manual for this unit? Please???
Thank you.
Ok, opened up the back panel, found the compressor, and on the left side of the compressor is a device which looks like the compressor start device. I’ve removed it. It appears to match. All the #'s match. The girl I’m talking on the phone say they match, so that part looks good.
The problem that I am now having is that I can’t get the pins to line up.
The first thing I notice about the bases of the two start devices is that the older one is shorter in height, and narrower in width than the new one.
The next thing I notice is that the width difference is all in the top side of the base. I was able to remove the old easily enough, but now I can’t even align that back up to get in place, to have a sense of how to do the same to the new one.
Help… any input will be really helpful…
Alright. I figured it out. I had tried aligning it horizontally, instead of vertically. This device is to be inserted vertically-- NOT horizontally.
doh!
Is the noise a clicking sound from the compressor?
You probably have a hard starting compressor that starts when the line voltage is high, but has trouble when the line voltage is lower.Probably damaged start winding. An amprobe would confirm this.
I have a capture and hold amprobe that will display the starting current peak. This is the only way to determine status of the windings. Your measurements are "normal", it’s only at startup you have problems.
— Begin quote from richappy;492026
I have a capture and hold amprobe that will display the starting current peak. This is the only way to determine status of the windings. Your measurements are "normal", it’s only at startup you have problems.
— End quote
Hi again Rich.
Ok, Please tell me what tester tool I’ll need for this.
I saw some testers, ammeters, voltimeters, etc…, and the price ranged quite a bit. I don’t know any sparky’s from whom I could borrow, or buy them some beer/dinner to come and test for me.
The contractor/sales guy at the local HD showed me a amprobe, and it was $60.00.
While that’s less than a new compressor, it’s still above my budget-- especially since I wouldn’t use it more than a handful of times over the next few years.
Thank you.
I would measure the freezer temperature, in addition, you might have a refrigerant leak.
Ok, seems like there is no refrigerant leak, and when the compressor runs, it’s performing "normally", and will probably not waste a lot of energy, ie, good for a beer fridg. but not a primary one, could not trust it to preserve food.
They recommend a average temperature of 40 degrees in the fridg to preserve food. You can put a cheap digital meter in there that will sense and store the high and low temperatures, or you can just see if your milk spoils after a relatively short period of time!
Another thing, compressors will be hard starting during high temperature conditions, so you could cool the compressor and condenser with a portable fan, just might work.
Remove the back panel and put a portable fan there to cool the condenser and compressor, see if that fixes the problem, you might have a bad condenser motor.
— Begin quote from richappy;492997
Remove the back panel and put a portable fan there to cool the condenser and compressor, see if that fixes the problem, you might have a bad condenser motor.
— End quote
Ok, now you’re just trying to scare me… :rolleyes:
I called a local appliance shop today, and they confirmed what you said about the compressor failing (doing the doctor thing-- getting multiple opinions, based on symptoms), based on the discussion you and I have had.
My father in law also reminded me this evening that we were told when we bought it that the compressors only last 7 years on these things. grrr…
I’d forgotten. Of course, not liking the idea of spending 1400 every 7 years helped me forget…
I guess it’s time for a replacement compressor. Still less than a new one.
Thank you for your time, and willingness to help on this. I really appreciate it.
Best.
