One part showed up yesterday. The other part showed up at 4:00 PM today.
The first part was the 15 u-Farad starter capacitor. Swapped out the assembly and it did not start. Both capacitors had a resistance of 3M-ohms, not that I trust my $80 Sperry to measure that high.
The second part was the snap-disc thermostat that clips to the coil on top of the freezer's evaporator. I measured the resistance of the new one and it was clearly "open" at room temperature. I suspect it closes at 15F because it had "15F" printed on the side. The thermostat I removed was also open at room temperature so I had little hope that the refrigerator would start up.
The refrigerator did not start up.
Investments
I know it seems daft to some of you that I would invest anything in a 20 year-old refrigerator. Part of the reason is that Mrs ERJ recently attended a baby-shower and heard of one niece who bought a high-end refrigerator and it puked after four years. A different nephew purchased a brand-new refrigerator and it died after a year.
So one part of me is looking at the 20 year-old refrigerator and thinking that it clearly didn't get manufactured with "infant mortality" defects. I am way ahead of the game if I get four more years out of it.
From an economic perspective, if a new refrigerator costs $1200 and I dumped $64 into parts (which included shipping) then I only need about a 1-in-20 chance of fixing the refrigerator to make it worth the effort.
Stubborn
The other reason to continue pursuing the issue is that good trouble-shooters need a solid streak of stubborn in their make-up. I am not naturally stubborn but I can fake it. It would be easy to give up and throw money at the problem but then I would have to hand in my trouble-shooter card.
HOLD THE PRESSES!!!!
The fridge just cycled on even as I was typing. Thank-you St Urho!
I think I will throw a couple of ice-cube trays into the fridge and see what happens.
We also had a new fridge give out, fortunately right before the 3 year parts and labor warranty expiration date.
ReplyDeleteThey came out and fixed it for free.
It had the same issue a few months later.
It has a 10 year parts warranty, and since it had been fixed recently, they came back out and fixed it the second time for free (including labor).
Doesn't really give a lot of hope, but at least I've got another 7 years on *parts* warranty... :)
Huzzah! Here is hoping ERJ!
ReplyDeleteHi Joe,
ReplyDeleteGlad you are making progress! So……..
Back in the day. Check the source. Wall outlet 120 volts? Easy.
Plugged in? Good.
Pull the fridge out. Now the fun starts. Lady of the house sees the absolute MESS underneath her fridge. Embarrassed beyond words. Me to the lady of the house? Well, ma’am, this is actually one job that belongs to your husband. Done and done. Take a minute to pick up all the dust bunnies. Mop up the melted ice cream solidified on the floor.
Now beyond the customer relations. Power at source, check. Coil clean. Check. Condenser fan working? Check. Air circulation inside(frozen coil)? Check.
Force a defrost. Check.
Now Joe, you jumped right in to your evap coil and grabbed the defrost termination switch! Manly stuff! That is what terminates defrost. Newer models may have a time over-ride (why?)
Caps ,start relay,and thermal protection changeout? Ok. Check the resistance between CSR first. If you condemn the compressor no need to replace the previous parts. While your at it, check the CSR pins to ground.
Newer fridges have motherboards that can fail (defrost timer involved) quick check is to force a defrost- 5 quick on and off cycles of door light switch. If everything is working but your defrost, then you will clear the evap coil and see some water come out of the condensate drain tube.
Unless. A plastic tie…from the plastic bag the holds your loaf of bread has fallen off and plugged the drain from the evap coil to the condensate drain…
Yep. Easy-peasy stuff first!
You are going after this stuff! Go get em!
Sounds like it was in defrost mode when you first plugged it back in; it completed the defrost cycle and went back into refrigeration mode. Regarding keeping old appliances running - a friend gave us his old basement Coldspot fridge in 88 - we replaced it for energy savings after we used it for another 27 years. Main fridge is from 92, washer, dryer and dishwasher are from 99 (wife wanted to go into Best Buy for a $15 CD that she didn't get.) I've repaired each of these at least once, some twice, and will continue - don't like the new stuff. Note that our local parts store lists retail prices on their website, but charge less when you go in there with the part number. Not sure why, but I don't argue, and I check with them first when I need something.
ReplyDeleteMy parents still have a (backup) fridge out in the garage that they bought when they moved into their house, in 1966...
ReplyDeleteJoe, we didn’t talk about the evap fan motor yet! Is it running?
ReplyDeleteYes. It was when I last looked but I will verify.
DeleteIt would be my luck to have it work intermittently. Maybe I need a little tag of flutter-tape to keep an eye on it over time.
Fixing stuff does wonders for your confidence. Last summer our 20 year old dryer went out after 2 years of making a horrible grinding sound while running. I never did a dryer before and was terrified but when I saw the price of new ones, I had to try. Looked at some youtubes and tore into it. Surprising how little there is to it and how primitive they are. $79 in parts, and a week without a dryer, and now it runs as good as new. If you don't try, you can't win!
ReplyDeleteLong time follower here, first time to comment. Had a 20 year fridge die. Bought a new one, same brand. I am loathe to buy warranties, tried to get it fixed. It was the compressor, would cost more than the fridge to fix. Back to the Fridge place. needed a new one asap, live in the desert. only one in stock for quick delivery was the same brand. Gritted my teeth and bought the warranty this time.
ReplyDelete