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Let's Get Technical => Troubleshooting Problems => Topic started by: vansinn on July 09, 2016, 12:09:11 PM

Title: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: vansinn on July 09, 2016, 12:09:11 PM
Board title more or less says anything goes, so here goes.. ;)

My fridge died overnight. Instead of cooling, it now heats.
It's a Danish 'Gram K215', and quite old. I'm selling my apartment soon, and don't want to shop a new fridge.

It's a simple device with a passive radiator on the rear, no freeze box, no fan.
I has an old-school passive thermo regulator featuring a heatpipe sense hose connected to the cooling plate, which has a freon-filled tube running to the pump.

I disconnected the two wires on the regulator, shorted them together, plugged the appliance in, and the pump started.
However, it runs for a very short time only, then dies and makes a humming sound.

I assume the motor is dead, but speculate if there's a capacitor or something which could be dead.
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: MarshallJMP on July 09, 2016, 04:56:25 PM
It could be a motor with a start capacitor (if it's called that way in English).Now normally when this cap is busted the motor won't start.Or it could also be the start relay (usually a PTC).Could also be that the pressure is too high due a jam in one of the cooling lines.
Hope this helps a bit,don't know a whole lot about a fridge.
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: rnolan on July 10, 2016, 02:07:47 AM
I don't know MJMP, from reading these 2 posts I now know more about a fridge than I used to  :thumb-up:
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: vansinn on July 10, 2016, 07:03:01 AM
Yeah, that's why I referred a possible capacitor: When power is supplied, the cap receives a charge, but if it's mostly dead, the charge isn't enough to allow the motor to properly operate. Well, that's how I look at it.
If it was a defective start relay, I guess the motor wouldn't spin up at all.
The motor could of course simply be defective, but then again, it does start up momentarily before shutting down, with a humming sound (when placing a long screwdriver to it's side and resting an ear to it's other end).

I have a problem seeing problems with clogged cooling pipes (which looks just fine), as I haven't touched anything, and as those are mere pipes likely containing freon, which to my knowledge doesn't cludge up (as opposed to, say, thicker fluids).
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: MarshallJMP on July 10, 2016, 10:22:13 AM
Well the cap give a 90° phase shift to the second coil so it can start,but not all motors in fridges have these,usually the older ones.And the start relay is not actually a relay but a PTC so the motor gets more current at startup,the ptc gets hot and the resistance rises dropping the current.
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: Harley Hexxe on July 10, 2016, 03:05:56 PM
    Hey Sinn,

       I don't know much about the electrical side of refrigeration components, but I do know about Freon. It is a liquid in it's stored state, but when compressed, (which it is in any type of heat exchanger), it becomes a gas when put into motion. It is a highly unstable chemical compound which evaporates and dissipates instantly upon contact with air. This is why if there is even a sight discrepancy in in the line couplings, it will bleed out of the system. Freon is one of the hardest things to stop from leaking.
    There is a better chance that the devil will piss icicles before you get a clog in a Freon line >:D

       Harley 8)
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: MarshallJMP on July 10, 2016, 03:31:05 PM
I don't know MJMP, from reading these 2 posts I now know more about a fridge than I used to  :thumb-up:

Well glad I could help  :lol:

Nah don't know much about it, usually I learn something about household appliances when my wife asks me to fix something in the kitchen. ::)
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: vansinn on July 11, 2016, 04:05:39 AM
    There is a better chance that the devil will piss icicles before you get a clog in a Freon line >:D

       Harley 8)

Uhm, yeah, surely you're right, though you never know..
As the saying goes:
The more you overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to clog up the drain..
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: Harley Hexxe on July 11, 2016, 04:33:28 AM
This is not exactly like plumbing though Sinn,

    I believe you're in good shape as far as the Freon as long as there are no leaks. Generally, the first thing to give you problems in a refrigeration system is the compressor. They always seem to be the first thing to go south.
    You didn't notice any oil leaking from it did you?
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: vansinn on July 12, 2016, 01:55:07 AM
No need to take this further. The pump motor fooled me, sounding like it was starting up, but only does so partially.
I'm sure MJMP is correct about the startup capacitor; however, the cap is a custom part of an assembly that cannot be serviced without taking out the pump assy, which includes the whole tubing and radiator assy.
To do this a work table is needed,. and as this is an older fridge, I'm going to to do it.
Fritz the fridge cat is thus officially declared going going gone.

The bad new for me is that I'll have to be without a fridge until my apartment is sold - as fast as I can get it off my hands.
The good news is that this will save on the food budget, and thus I'll drop a few pounds ;)
Indigenous people have no fridge either, and survives just fine nonetheless, so..
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: Harley Hexxe on July 12, 2016, 08:01:51 AM
...On the other hand, I'm not German so I prefer my beer ice cold :beer: :cheers:
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: MarshallJMP on July 12, 2016, 12:43:26 PM
That should be "I'm not English"  ^-^
Title: Re: Very OT: Refrigerator repair
Post by: vansinn on July 12, 2016, 12:50:14 PM
Who cares.. a brewski is a brewski, lukewarm is yikes, and icecold is loss of flavor and taste.
Sortof like it is with sex.. don't wanna be put on ice, don't want it lukewarm either.

F*ck, my socalled! My fridge is toast! Everything is lukewarm, and I have to swap between either this or short-term use of the freezer.
None of it sexy!