The Whoolpool side-by-side refrigerator stoped working last night after 3 years (The extended warranty ended last 2 months ago).
I opened the back cover. The fan works. The freon (R134) seems quite hot. What kind of problem do I have?
I am trying to get a technician to repair. But so far I can't find one who can fix the refrigerator right away. I was wondering if there is a easy fix on that.
Thanks.
Y.
Try vacuuming under neath the refrigerator and on the coils under and behind the fridge.
Sounds like the coils (black metal tubes under the refrig) are very dusty. Brush them gently, and use a vacuum cleaner to remove the dust and dirt.
It is possible there is more problem than that, but please start with a brush and a vacuum cleaner. If it still doesn't cool, then it needs a repair man.
I did that. But it didn't help. Any other easy checkups?
Y.
Hi,
The ?compressor? is hot?....the refrigerant gas is inside the system/tubing, condensor part is warm/hot while the evaporator side is cold.
*Some* common trouble makers....Appliance Repair Aid
SNIP
Where are you feeling the heat? On the compressor or on the small tubing away from the compressor? Is the compressor running? If it is, both the compressor and the small tubing should be hot. In this case, the coils which should cool the freon probably are dirty. If the compressor is not running, it will probably be hot because of the continuing attempts to start as mentioned earlier in this thread.
SNIP
This is Turtle.
To a service man looking at it it might be a eazy fix but with the data that you give. It could be anything that is causing the problem. The only thing that I could say is the condenser coil which is in the aera of where you took the cover off and it will be plugged up with lint or dust. Clean it out anf then leave unplugged for about 2 hours and then plug it back in. Run 6 to 12 hours to see if it did any good , but still call the service man because it could be the compressor or low on freon134-A freon. Whirlpool has a 5 year warrenty on the leaking of freon or the compressor and they fix it in most cases for free.
If you have to add freon or change the compressor your still under warrenty.
TURTLE
One more possibility. The cold air transfer duct from your freezer compartment to the main fridge space may be iced up. Switch off the power and leave the door open overnight to defrost completely.
I had a similar problem that repeated cleaning and defrost cycles did not solve. This was over several months. Almost tossed out my fridge for a new one.
Thanks for everyone's help. I checked all (almost) the suggestions, such as clean the evaporator coils, check fans, etc. None worked.
Fortunately, the technician came today. The problem turns out a bad overload relay that connect the compressor. We had many power outages since Hurrican Isabel. The ceramic inside the small relay was almost broken into pieces.
Cost $153 to fix (that relay cost $40).
Y.
If the inside fan was bad, the original writer wouldn't have written that the "freon is very hot".
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