Amana Refrigerator Warm

Stormin Mormon · 2005-01-29T23:13:12+00:00

I got a call last week, for a refrig warmed up. It turned out to be anAmana 5XD23VW. Side by side, freezer on the left. Has an ice maker, but nowater dispenser. I also jotted down that it takes 5.125 ounces of R-134A,and it draws 9.48 amps.The caller says that the fridge has been "fine" until a couple days ago.Knew I had the right house, cause there were bags of food on the snow, rightoutside the house when I arrived. The freezer was dripping onto the floor,and both sides were warm.I pulled the grille off the back, where the condensor blows out. It wasmaybe 75% blocked. The compressor was running. Warm, but not hot. Thedischarge line was hot, but not cooking hot.The condensor coils had considerable dust, and so I vacuumed them out.Control knobs were set to 5 and 5, out of a possibe 7 being coldest. Theowner reports she had not moved the knobs. One controls a cold control, theother has a temp activated damper to blow cold air into hte fridge.I forced the timer into defrost, and started to take the cover off theevaporator. The evap was about 1/3 frozen, the top third. The defrost heaterwas running, I could feel the heat. It defrosted, and drained off.When the defrost cycle was completed, it was several minutes before theevaporator fan came on. A look at the wiring diagram on the back tells methat the evap fan depends on the defrost bimetal (termination thermostat)being open. Cause the evaporator fan grounds through the heater element.And seeing as how the evaporator was frozen (top third) I replaced thedefrost timer. Had one on the truck.When the evaporator fan came back on, I couldn't feel any cold air comingthrough the hole at top of the refrigerator. Well, give it some time. Ididn't have that part anyway, I don't stock all the available evap fans (oreven a couple tinkertoy Gemlines).So, she called back the next day, still warm. OK, must be the evap fan wasweak (this we know, it wasn't moving air). Went out and replaced the evapfan and she noticed how much better...

Jan 29, 2005 21 Replies

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HvacTech2 21 years ago

Hi Stormin, hope you are having a nice day

On 30-Jan-05 At About 08:51:59, Stormin Mormon wrote to All Subject: Re: Amana Refrigerator Warm

SM> From: "Stormin Mormon"

SM> Another memory. When the unit was in cooling mode, I did clamp an SM> ammeter on the thermostat leads. It read 3.2 amps, if memory serves. SM> Mighta been 3.4. I don't think I read on the compressor name plate, SM> but most refrig compressors run about 4.5 amps or so, full load. SM> Maybe that's it?

SM> Again, thank you for your thoughts.

SM> --

I'm sorry but you really have no business working on anyones equipment. as one person already said when someone calls a repairman they expect them to have some kind of idea what they are doing but you have no clue.

-=> HvacTech2

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HvacTech2 21 years ago

Hi Barry, hope you are having a nice day

On 31-Jan-05 At About 11:37:22, Barry wrote to All Subject: Re: Amana Refrigerator Warm (followup)

B> From: Barry

B> B> > Went out to the truck, and got my vacuum pump, and cleared out the B> sealed > system.

Not only did he not fix the leak but he admits here to not recovering the charge. He really needs to stay away from any type of equipment repair.

-=> HvacTech2

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