Refrigerator Compressor, Bogs down on start up.

[ultrarunner]

I've found a few times nothing more than a good cleaning of the coils helped.

We also have power issues in the summer... voltage drop is bad during heat waves and the 1980 refrigerator really struggles... normal weather no problems.

 

[check]

Why not get a new one? Fridges are incredibly cheap right now here in Ontario. And that old fridge is probably using up and up seeing amount of electricity, which is gotten ridiculously expensive.

 

[check]

Why not get a new one? Fridges are incredibly cheap right now here in Ontario. And that old fridge is probably using up and up seeing amount of electricity, which is gotten ridiculously expensive.

I mean an "obscene" amount of electricity. Bad Siri!

 

[Industrial Toys]

The fridge is not that old. It has R12 however which probably dates it a bit though. I struggle with buying such things, as my father has had that same, one and only fridge for sixty years.

 

[ultrarunner]

It can be the challenge of a simple fix providing years of additional service.

I swear the stuff I see here kicked to the curb is unbelievable... perfect top loader washer/dryers, CRT TVs, Refrigerators... etc.

My neighbor had a GE Profile over the stove micro I fixed for her... just a fuse... she was actually annoyed because she was planning on replacing it and because I fixed it now she had a decision to make...

 

[kenmac]

Many refrigerators have a start relay rather than a start cap. It will mounted near, or on the compressor (can be plugged into pins on the compressor itself). I have had a similar situation in the past. Turned out that the contacts on the relay were welded closed. I cleaned up the contacts and it ran fine for a while before the problem repeated. Replacement relay fixed it for good.

paul

I'm with you on this 1.. replaced many bad ones.. If it has R12 Refrigerant ,, it's got some age on it.. I've got an old freezer with R22 that dates back to the 60's or 70's

 

[Industrial Toys]

All too often it's the dammm electronics that sent the appliance to the scrap! I used to see hundreds of microwaves at the dump for this reason. Lightning strike somewhere down tha line and goodbye microwave. I had a clockwork one that I still have somewhere.

Anyway. Checked motor windings. 5.6 and 4.6 ohms. Put the start cap back in and turned it on, now that it has been sitting turned off for days. The compressor ran for about ten seconds, sounded labored and then quit.

 

[techman]

I am not sure what "sounding laboured" is. When the compressor starts in the start windings, it will make a louder, lower groan. If you are hearing a loud groan it is likely that it is not coming out of the start winding. The most likely failure is the start relay. Either it is stuck closed or has failed all together. A good test is to use a clamp-on ammeter. If it pulls several amps at startup, and the current never drops suspect the relay. If it pulls some amps and them drops down (after a few seconds) the relay would seem to be working.

paul

 

[Industrial Toys]

It sounds like it is not running to proper speed. I could have measured the current, but how would you know if a high current reading was due to mechanical overload or burned windings?

 

[techman]

It sounds like it is not running to proper speed. I could have measured the current, but how would you know if a high current reading was due to mechanical overload or burned windings?

The start windings will draw more than FLA. If it trips on the internal thermal overload I still think it is staying in the start (bad relay) or the compressor is failing mechanically.

paul