Refrigerator Compressor, Bogs down on start up.

[Industrial Toys]

My 80 year old Mom's fridge has quit. All her food spoiled, I had to take her to the ER, and her car battery was dead. It never just rains!

Anyway, I had a really tough time trying to google this.

The compressor tries to come on, but sounds like it is trying to compress something and can't, so it bogs down and within a second or so, just stalls.

Then it just hums, which I think is the starting winding and it basically stayed this way for a week, with the compressor hotter then heck, while my Mom was sick in bed.

I believe the starter cap is good.

I saw something on the internet about a "hard start" relay. Sounds like it might be something for a case like this.

Any help or insight would be appreciated.

 

[dstig1]

Sounds a lot like a starter cap to me...but you say it is "good"...Based on what?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I had done a rudimentary test with a DVM and considered the cap, at least not open or shorted and some indication of charging.

I just tested it with a tester and it is within spec.

 

[techman]

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

 

[techman]

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

 

[Industrial Toys]

It has a starter relay. Looks like it's plugged into the compressor, and then the capacitor comes off this assembly with a couple of leads.

It still sounds to me like the motor is physically stalling like any positive displacement pump trying to pump into a restricted system.

 

[tallyho8]

First let the compressor cool off completely before plugging in the refrigerator. A compressor that has overheated due to a bad fan motor or clogged condenser coils will react as your does.

If it does not start when cold right when it is first plugged in then it could be the relay, capacitor or worn out compressor. It's easy to check for a shorted out compressor with a meter just be seeing if any of the 3 contacts are grounded to the exterior of the compressor.

There are many sites you can Google on the web telling you how to check the relay and the capacitor. If they are good you could try a hard start kit which is just essentially a relay and more powerful start capacitor but if the hard start kit is needed it generally means there is much wear on the compressor and it won't last too much longer anyway.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Thanks. I checked the cap and it is fine. I will check the fridge again, now that the compressor has cooled off.

 

[CobyRupert]

My 80 year old Mom's fridge has quit. All her food spoiled.

- THat's and OLD fridge!
Sounds like you're on the right track with starter cap or realy. Good luck.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Actually, my Dad's fridge is about sixty. Had to be converted from 25 cycles! Fortunately, he isn't having trouble with it, just his brand new Goodman Furnace!