Kenmore refrigerator warm, compressor not running!

[CookieJ]

We have a Kenmore bottom-freezer refrigerator, model #596.75939401. We purchased this model from the Sears outlet store five years ago. The refrigerator area is warm. The freezer area seems to be cold, I can hear the fan running inside the freezer, but there is about 1/4" of frost on the top of the door seal area that was not there prior to 3-4 days ago. The warm food we just really noticed this morning.

The coils are on the bottom of the appliance. The coils are NOT iced over. The refrigerator is 'humming' and the fan is blowing constantly, but the compressor will not come on. I'm in the process of finding out if it is making ice. My husband unplugged it about a half hour ago to remove the two relay capacitors from the compressor. We were told to shake them, and if they rattled they were bad. No rattle. He just plugged the relays back on and plugged the refrigerator in, and we just heard the icemaker fill with water... so lets see if it freezes.

Any thoughts on what this could be? We read that the most common issue is frost free failure/defrost timer but our coils are not iced over. The compressor is warm, but not hot. There are no water leaks, and the coils are dust free. My husband thinks the relay capacitors might be overloaded/bad, but we need to make sure. He has a voltage meter and knows how to use it, so if that is a possibility could someone please give us instructions on how to test the capacitors? We see two that are actually plugged in together per our part schematic. The second one looks like a 9 volt battery, just a rectangular block that the securing wire was wrapped around. Not sure which one we should be testing.

It's Saturday and I don't want to call a service technician when I have a fairly handy hubby. Any help would be appreciated, we're on a time issue with this warm fridge! Thank you!

Cookie

[Dan O.]

Clarification needed

there is about 1/4" of frost on the top of the door seal area

Please clarify where this frost is exactly.

The coils are on the bottom of the appliance. The coils are NOT iced over.

Which "coils"? The warm/hot condenser coils under/behind the fridge or the evaporator (cooling) coils inside the freezer compartment?? (which would be the only ones expected to frost or ice)

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[CookieJ]

Hi Dan... and yup, I was wrong about the coils. I kept asking my husband if the coils were iced over he said NO. He had no idea what coils he should be looking for apparently.

He replaced the capacitor and overload yesterday and immediately the compressor came on. We each did a little Happy Dance thinking that was the problem. We left the house a half hour later for an appointment, but when we got home six hour later the fridge still hadn't cooled. We think the compressor failed again.

The frost I mentioned was where the door gasket meets the inside freezer cabinet when the door is closed. Since my original post we have taken the inner panel off from inside the freezer, and it was heavily frosted. Not 'iced' but heavily, heavily frosted. He gently blowdried it, made sure there was no blockage in the tubing (he said the water drained into the pan below) and then plugged the fridge back in. When we got up this morning a glass of water that we had kept in the fridge with a thermometer in it was 43* and it never got any colder.

We emptied the fridge entirely, tilted it to the side and I brushed, vacuumed and used a can of spray air on the exposed coils underneath. Our Siberian Husky had definitely left her mark, there was a heck of a lot of hair and dust. We cleaned it out, filled the fridge again, hooked up the icemaker and plugged it back in. So far, we are cooling and we are freezing. I just heard it drop ice about a half hour ago and it filled right back up with water.

I told my husband from what I've learned from this board, this is probably a temporary fix. If we frosted up enough to choke the thing and maybe fry a capacitor, we probably have a faulty defrost system. HE says that hopefully the dirty/hairy/dusty coils choked everything and he wants to just 'wait and see' before calling anyone out to look at it.

Right now the freezer is freezing, the icemaker is making ice, the fridge is cooling and we don't have any real excess frost on the coils. We hear the compressor come on occasionally. I'm honestly not sure what to do next. Wait till it's the week before the holiday rush and THEN figure out we need a service call? Or get someone out this week to look and fix it?

Sorry for the ramble, just wanted to be as detailed as possible. Thank you!

Cookie

[Dan O.]

Working after defrosting and condesner cleaning

I brushed, vacuumed and used a can of spray air on the exposed coils underneath. there was a heck of a lot of hair and dust.

That would definitely make the fridge run a lot longer than it should which could have overheated the compressor and damaged the compressor relay. Hopefully you'll be lucky and not have damaged the compressor itself.

*Thoroughly* clean the condenser regularly, seasonally at least unless you have pets and then possibly monthly!

plugged it back in. So far, we are cooling and we are freezing. I just heard it drop ice about a half hour ago

Than you are likely lucky and didn't damage the compressor.

The frost I mentioned was where the door gasket meets the inside freezer cabinet when the door is closed.

The door may not be closing or the door seal not sealing properly. Either of those conditions would also cause the evaporator (cooling) coil to frost excessively resulting in poor cooling as well as adding to the compressor run time.

Right now the freezer is freezing, the icemaker is making ice, the fridge is cooling and we don't have any real excess frost on the coils.

Glad to hear it. We'll keep our fingers crossed for you.

Look into the frosting if it occurs again. Don't put it off as it can lead to other more serious problems!

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~