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..to get the compressor running, or has done up until now, since after some troubleshooting, I’ve discovered that a light tap on the left-hand side of the front control panel is all it now needs, (which is better for my neighbour since his bedroom is underneath). I’ve cleaned all contacts in the control panel and checked for any soldering that might have gone dry.
Specifically, It seems to be that tapping the black ‘ITW Ispracontrols’ box on the left hand side of the control panel is what it takes for the compressor to kick in (the lights work properly all times).
A replacement control panel will cost about £80 including postage, and probably unnecessary if it’s just a bad connection. Is it possible to get inside the black box to try to find a bad connection inside?
Any advice would be very welcomeHi
This is my first post to the forum, and I’ve signed up especially for this problem after working on a similar problem all week.
I don’t recognise the model number (Edit: Just found the model number inside, at the bottom on the left = AFB126 too) but my Whirlpool freezer 8504 126 15001 had the exact same problem until I fixed it earlier today.
I found plenty of advice on American style Whirpool fridge freezers in another thread after searching for info on a suspect defective metallised polyester capacitor. In my case it’s a white cylindrical capacitor .33uF 250v and I haven’t been able to find an exact replacement so I’ve gone with a .44uF 600v metallised polyester capacitor instead.
You should find that the ‘ITW Ispracontrols’ refers to the whole board, maybe TP724300, and the black box you refer to is actually a Schrack T7NS5H1-24-WG-A mains relay with a 24 volt operating coil. I’d read elsewhere that these relays were low spec and replacing it with an Omron equivalent from RS Components (part 3998231) would do the trick. WRONG! Anyway, I ordered up a pack of 5 and fitted one, which displayed exactly the same behaviour. Further investigation showed only 11.8v across the coil when it was trying to switch on the compressor. The 24 volt relay was obviously on the edge of operating, and a light tap with a screwdriver was enough to help it on its way.
I traced out the circuit and the incoming mains passes through a 100 ohm resistor, then the .33uF capacitor and then a 1N4007 diode to provide the dc voltage – in my case only 11.8 volts. I guessed at that point that the capacitor value must have dropped through age, and on putting a mains rated equivalent in parallel I got 24 volts across the coil. Problem solved!
As mentioned above, I’ve gone for a slightly higher value than the original, but I’m happy that the voltage is OK. The part came from a scrap PC power supply in my junk box, so would have been a zero cost repair if I hadn’t gone for the unnecessary relays from RS Component. 8-(
Cheers
Keith
Re: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
Hi Extech – just come back from holiday to find your post. that’s really useful – I’ll do what I can to try and fix it.
I do have an old PC power supply I could cannibalise.
the capacitor I probably need to he is 33uF – is this likely to be printed on it? – and I need to replace it with a ‘mains rated one’. What would that have printed on it, or what would it be called if I were to buy one in Maplin.
sorry for being a bit ignorant! Cheers AndyHi – I should emphasise that this is my own interpretation of what’s going on on this control board, but I know my repairs have worked OK. However, there is a mains supply directly onto this board and you should be aware of the risks involved in any work in this area and you should never work on the appliance whilst it is connected to a mains supply.
I’ve been working on this kind of thing for over 40 years, having mended my first (valve) television when I was 13 years old and passed my radio amateurs’ exam while I was still in school so I must stress that safety is paramount.
On reflection – and considering the value of an entire freezer full of food – I decided after my last posting that perhaps I shouldn’t be relying on an old capacitor from an aged and failed power supply. I have still failed to track down an exact replacement but decided to go with 2 capacitors of the correct type in parallel to make up the value.
The offending Whirlpool item is the white cylindrical capacitor carrying the markings AV .33/10 250v~ 1.70MKP.
I my interpretation is that this is a 0.33uF (microfarad) 10{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} tolerance 250 volts a.c. metallised polyester capacitor (MKP=Metallisierter Kunststoff Polypropylen which is German for Metallised Plastic Polypropylene)
I decided to go for an X2 rated capacitor after a bit of googling, as below:
– Class X is for applications where failure could not lead to electric shock (hot to neutral).
– Class X1 capacitors are intended to operate safely even in the presence of spikes on the mains supply of up to 4 kV (installation category 3 or overvoltage category 3 according to IEC60664),
which are normally industrial supplies, but some standards call up class X1 capacitors if they are connected directly to the mains supply upstream of the equipment fuse, irrespective of the type of mains supply.
– Class X2 capacitors are intended to operate safely even in the presence of spikes on the mains supply of up to 2.5 kV (installation category 2 or overvoltage category 2 according to IEC60060), which are normally residential, commercial and light industrial supplies.Maplin don’t have the capacitors, but Bitsbox supply suitable X2 capacitors (see http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/capacitors/x2caps.html ) but not in .33uF, and they are physically larger than the dud white one I replaced.
I went for a 0.22uF and a 0.1uF in parallel (combined value = 0.32uF, which is near enough for my purposes and well within the tolerance) but of course the physical fitting of them was a bit tricky. I’ll try and get some photos later. Edit: see below.
The first photo shows the original board with the offending dud white capacitor in the middle. (The large black lump on the left is the relay which I mentioned in my earlier post)
The second photo shows the two Bitsbox capacitors mounted onto the board. (The large yellow one is 0.22uF, fitted with its 2 legs protruding through the board and soldered, then the smaller 0.1uF grey one fitted on the rear of the board with its legs twisted around the legs of the yellow one, soldered, and excess trimmed off.
Cheers
Keith
Re: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
If anyone is in need of X2 .33 MKP Capacitors I have got some .. They are like the grey .1mf shown in the picture but they are .33mf.
PM me
George
Re: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
I have managed to get some of the .33/10 250v~ 1.70MKP but they are alike to the oblong type in the above picture..
If anyone needs them feel free to PM me
George
Re: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
Hi all
Thanks for the great post, mine would not restart after a defrost lights on but no go. Got a capacitor from dialelec on ebay delivered next day 99p plus postage £2.85 including postage
It was like the yellow one in the picture but grey and a perfect fit
Thanks again
Mark
Re: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
Hi
Big thanks to Allsorts for the capacitor. Installed it in minutes and saved me the cost of a new freezer (yes, I was just going to go and get a new one).
Thanks again.
😀Re: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
Brilliant post – thank you Extech – you’ve saved me a lot of money ! Happy Christmas!
PS : Is your repair still working?
Re: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
Ronnie66 wrote:Hi
Big thanks to Allsorts for the capacitor. Installed it in minutes and saved me the cost of a new freezer (yes, I was just going to go and get a new one).
Thanks again.
😀.33/10 250v~ 1.70MKP 2x capacitor for £1.80 inc postage
No problem…
Have a Merry Christmas everyone xxxRe: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
Just wanted to say a really big ‘thank you’ to extech and Allsorts who enabled me to fix the freezer for £1.80! Also, a heads up to anybody who owns a Whirlpool AFB 126 – this is no longer manufactured, and it’s virtually impossible to source an alternative ‘slimline’ freezer the same width (458mm) – the smallest I’ve been able to find that is currently manufactured is 480mm (most are at least 500mm) which is still too big for the space I inherritted. If I hadn’t found this forum, not sure what I’d have done…
Re: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
Hi All
I just wanted to say that I’m really pleased to read that everyone seems to be making successful repairs to their freezer controllers, and to say Thanks for the PMs.
By the way, stuartmonger asked just before Christmas if my repair was still working, and I’m pleased to report that it is still OK, well over a year later – and longer than the original guarantee. 😀
Should it pack in again, I’ll be straight in touch with Allsorts for the single capacitor!
Cheers
Keith
Re: Whirlpool AFB126 freezer needs a few kicks a day…
Hi,
Sorry to resurrect a old post.. Especially with my first post on here, I’ve just been given one of these as it’s uneconomical for my parents to repair, but I’m struggling to find the caps and was wondering if any traders on here can supply them?
My AFB126 freezer gave up the ghost a week ago and I stumbled across this amazing post!. Just want to say a massive thanks as its resolved my issue by replacing the white cylindrical electrolytic capacitor on the board with a new one. Now the compressor kicks in again.
I got my replacement capacitor from here. Arrived the next day too!
https://www.cricklewoodelectronics.com/0.33uF-305VAC-X2-Mains-Rated-Polypropylene-Capacitor.html
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