Whirlpool Fridge/Freezer dead?

[T5 TDI]

I just arrived back from holiday to find my freezer full of not quite frozen food. The fridge part didn't seem too good either. I emptied both parts and left it for the day turned up but it's actually warm (16c) in both the fridge and freezer now.

It's a 5 year old Whirlpool arc 4324 frost-free model. When the freezer door is closed (or you press the door button) a fan runs which I haven't noticed before but perhaps it was lost under all of the normal gurgling, clonking and ticking bomb noises it has always made when it's working. There is no compressor sound when you switch it on, just the fan.

Is there anything simple I could try before I condemn it? It's 1-1 so far between me and appliances in the last 12 months. I lost to the dishwasher electrics but I won with my combi-oven which I fixed with some soldering, a wiring diagram I found on the web and a micro-switch, thanks to the great help I got here.

 

[JohnD]

frost-free freezers contain ducts hidden in the back that cold air in blown through. Frost collects in these. When working correctly, the machine periodically melts the frost and allows it to drain away.

What happens is the ducts become clogged with ice and unable to drain away, and the cold air is unable to blow through them.

Sometimes leaving the door slightly open causes it. Sometimes the defrost circuit fails.

Unplug it from the electricity; take out all the food and eat it or throw it away; open both the doors and wait for all the ice to melt and drip out of the ducts. This may take more than 24 hours. As it is inside the ducts behind the back panel you can't do much to speed it up. Check that any drainage channels are not blocked by peas or fungus. Preferably pull the appliance away from the wall so you can see water dripping into the drip dish (clean it out) on the back as well as dripping into the bottom of the cabinet. You must wait for it all to melt and drip out or you have wasted your time. If the drip dish overflows water may get into electrical parts and cause damage. The dish may be very dirty and mouldy.

When dry, close the doors and turn it on. It should now work OK.

If it blocks again in a month or two, buy a new one.

 

[T5 TDI]

Thanks for your quick response John. I leapt out of bed at about midnight to go and unplug it and open the doors when I read your reply! It's got to be worth a try. I wonder if leaving it unopened for 2.5 weeks while I was away made it colder than it usually would be and that's what finished it off? Anyway I'll report back..

 

[T5 TDI]

Well I'm afraid it's 2-1 to the appliances now! Thanks anyway though, it was worth a try.

 

[T5 TDI]

Back again! I can't find the equivalent fridge freezer to replace ours. So I thought I'd switch it on again just in case it came back to life. It didn't of course but I thought I'd have one last go. Although the small fan in the freezer runs when the door is shut I don't hear the compressor starting so I'm beginning there.

There is 240v at the compressor all the time.

There is a click (like a relay on a car) about every minute or so, but no noise of the compressor kicking in afterwards.

The compressor is warm after 30mins of being plugged in. It was 32.5, now 41 degrees (only checked with my cheap infra-red thermometer) but it does feel very warm to the touch. Now it's up to 50 degrees 15 mins later, and on to 60 degrees but still no sign of any cooling on the compressor pipes which are only at around 20 degrees which is roughly the air temp today.

Is there anything else I could try do you think?

Sorry for the double pic.

 

[JohnD]

I don't know if this is always the case, but my old fridge had a "motor starter" like a relay or choke or something. An electrical or electronic part encapsulated in a metal can about half the size of an egg-cup, not unlike the starter in a fluorescent tube lamp. It was next to the motor/compressor enclosure.

Mine failed after water spilled out of the drip tray onto it. Mine was a plug-in part and quite cheap from an appliance spares dealer. I believe they usually last a very long time.

https://www.google.com/search?q=refrigerator+motor+starter&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

try a supplier like this (example of another make)
https://www.espares.co.uk/product/e...MI8tqGlICL2wIVFJzVCh0grwrQEAQYBSABEgICsPD_BwE

 

[T5 TDI]

Thanks again John, I think I will take that unit off today and see if I can test it with a meter or at least see if I can see any burnt terminals or corrosion on it. I see online there are some interesting (but lethal looking) ways of bypassing it as a test, but I won't be risking stuff like that.

We are using a little old (must be 20+ years) fridge as a stop gap. It gets slung out in the garage and left unplugged, sometimes for years until a Christmas or some other event makes me bump it up the garden path on a trolley. And still it always starts up faultlessly. Shame they can't make 'em like that any more..

 

[T5 TDI]

Well I am beginning to feel more hopeful! I took the relay out and found a very slight burn mark on the outside. I checked resistance across the pins for the motor and there was no continuity whichever pair I tested. With me not knowing which were the correct start and run winding connectors as mentioned in this video

So I just tested all the possible pairs.

I discovered I could get a new one for a fiver anyway https://www.bekospares.co.uk/klixon-starter-compressor-ptc-hqm90aa/product.pl?pid=1395532 So I cut it open with a dremel and found much worse burning on the inside and evidence of arcing contacts. I know there are no guarantees but at least there seems to be a little hope now.

 

[JohnD]

worth a fiver to try.

After I replaced the starter on my old AEG it must have run for another 20 years before I gave it away recently. I'd taped a spare one to the back of the fridge but never needed it.

I'd forgotten all about it until I looked at your post.

 

[T5 TDI]

That was a good idea. Mind you, if this does fix mine I'm not holding out much hope of this fridge making old bones. I liked the fact that the starter looks a bit burnt and the meter seemed to agree. I've even paid an outrageous £8.50 for next day delivery. But pride comes before a fall as my old grandmother (a real live true Victorian born 1900) used to say. So we'll see!

 

[T5 TDI]

Haha! I'm now officially 2-1 up on the appliances! Fitted the new starter in a few minutes and the compressor started straight away. After a couple of hours the freezer was already at -17c. Thanks again.

 

[SFK]

Great to hear, and good to know a solution for fixing freezers.
My normal route to fixing items:

https://xkcd.com/1994/

 

[T5 TDI]

That's so true for me too. I'm at the heroic stage now! Or is euphoric? I know I'm only really tinkering at the margins but it does feel really good when you bring something back to life. I'm still on a high from fixing my completely dead combi oven a few months ago (sad or what!)

We looked at so many fridge freezers online and in Currys also (a 30 mile round trip for us) and unless you want to pay £700+ nothing beats our cavernous old Whirlpool which is unusually wide at 70cm without being a double-door.

Now, what would really make me happy is to find someone to tell me how to get hold of a door release button for our other combi oven, a 25 year old Tricity which we keep because it's like an old friend. The Granola and water biscuits are nothing to do with me!