Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

[westfielder]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

🙁

Another problem – have I killed it?????

Having fixed the clicking as above – a few weeks on and the compressor cooling fan has now stopped and the fridge compartment is starting to warm up. I have put an external fan on the compressor but still the fridge is getting warm – I suspect it’s from the lack of heat extraction from the rear/underside.

I have measured the output to the cooling fan and it’s 167v (measured AC). Which is really strange as I would assume that it should be supplied by switched mains voltage.

Any ideas really gratefully recieved.

[Weller]

I’ve been having problems for a few months now – every 3 or 4 weeks I have to defrost the back of the freezer with a hairdryer, but today the fan seems to have stopped working too, so fridge is warming up. Any ideas?

[westfielder]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

The saga continues….

The fridge warmed up as per Wellers mail. I realised that teh external fan wasn’t cutting it as the regular fan needs to draw air from teh front, past the copmpressor and out the back. Also the exchange elements under teh fridge part were getting v hot and were full of dust. So a vacuum out and hard wire of 240v to the control board to permanently run the fan.
On switching on – nothing – zilch -really pissed off, noticed the evaporation tray filling and filling – right to the top. Rang a neighbour to ask for freezer space and as was on the phone it all started up – I guess it was doing a defrost….. and the fridge cooled down in 1 hour to 6 deg.
All was fine till we got this really hot weather and the fridge started warming up again – just after a big shop and a bbq. Her indoors NOT happy.

I have checked for all the things in teh troubleshooting manual.
Which says that it can get hot around the fridge seal in hot weather.

Today – freezer started defrosting with temp alarm on panel.but when got home from work I cycled the on-off button and teh alarm went – but food definitely going soft – left for 1/2 an hour and frost forming in freezer.
It did this once before last year – don’t know the cause. The fan and the compressor and the whrring air moving noise all going. They have all been going non-stop for days – but it has been very hot weather.
I suspect that the airways in the freezer (That I think are used to cool the fridge are blocked – either iced up cos hot weather makes it run constantly or some other cause cos despite the fact that the motors and whirring are there all the time And the freezer ’till today had been fine, the fridge still won’t go below 15 degrees.

Am I right in saying that the freezer is cooled by the gasses in pipes and the fridge by cold air blown from around the freezer???

Is there a thermostat somewhere?

So WELLER – hoover out the front underneath (Take off plastic plate thingey – a screw on each end) then make sure the fan is working – put the back of the Fridge freezer back on as it needs that to make sure air flows over the heat exchanger elements.

If fan not working, check fan is ok – it’s 240v ac so you could wire to mains like me, If it is ok, look to changing C1 as above in thsi thread.

So tonight – carted all the frozen food to neighbours and have switched off at the wall. Opened Mr Tupperware and replaced C1 again with a smaller farnell version and a few other capacitirs and the red relay.
Will let you know the outcome.

[wda97c]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Hi,
Did a search on google and found this forum, I think my Whirlpool S25D RSS33 -A/G is starting to show the symptoms. The water no longer comes out in a constant stream, it keeps spluttering. Unless of course you open the door (which turns the light on, not sure why having the light on sorts it out but would be interested to know why!). It doesn’t happen all the time but it is starting to happen more frequently. Never had a problem with temperature or clicking sounds though – just worried they might be next.

The service numbers are 8586 168 15010 and 11 0427 005248.

I am not really up for any DIY electronics – think the missus would kill me if I tried never mind the 240V! If someone can let me know what the cure would be and the most cost effective way of doing it. I am based in the Cumbria area if anyone can recommend a good engineer.

Thanks

Will

[don]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Hi

You could try the • Find An Engineer • link in your post. You never know there maybe someone in your area that can help.

Cumbria 😀 brings loads of memories, especially the walk up Helvellyn to see the sunrise, abosulutely superb.

Don

[westfielder]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Hi all,

OK, so I replaced all the capacitors on the back board with Farnell parts that fit nicely. And replaced the red relay. Let the whole thing deforst over night. (Filled the water tray to almost overflowing).

Switched on and got the chattering relays, not just one – two of them now 🙁

However, after 24 hours, the whole thing is working – no frost build up and it doesn’t run all the time – so some good news – I think all the bits are working.

I tried an extra .22uF across C1 but still got the chattering.

Going to buy a capacitance meter to test all the capacitors taken out and put in.

So still got the original original problem of chattering relays.

any ideas…..

Nick

[westfielder]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Capacitor Updates:

I measured all the ones I took off and replaced

Cap Spec Reading Delta
C1 1.2 0.99 -13{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}

C6 0.68 0.48 -28{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
C16 0.68 0.44 -35{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}

C5 0.22 0.24 +9{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
C7 0.22 0.22 0{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
C8 0.22 0.15 -31{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}

C14 0.1 0.102 +2{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
C26 0.1 0.102 +2{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
C27 0.1 0.103 +3{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
C28 0.1 0.084 -16{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}
(Not sure of which of the .68s and .1s came from which place on the board so they could be the wrong way around ie i’ve read C6 as C16 etc)

So you can see that a lot of the radial capacitors are off spec and surprisingly C1 was not too bad however all these figures are not from when the caps are under 240v load

anyone got any ideas what they all do? I am hoping that the ones that are way off spec control the defrost as this seems to be working now that I have done the replacements.

Next – going to try bridging more capacitance across C1, currently at 1.2uF (original said 1.2 on the side) – will put up to 1.44 and see what happens.

[dingle4eva]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

after a powercut my wpool yankfreezer did all that usual stuff ticking defrosting refreezing and a buzzing sound coming from the back so after reading these posts I bought some of those lego things (capacitors) from cpc and a bit of circuit board wire I pulled off the 4 main ones and replaced them took a lot of fannying about with my cheap soldering thing but I did it and it worked ! Didnt get ice for a while but now even that works YIPEE!! saved me a cuppla ton Well buzzin ta very much u lot

[westfielder]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Great Dingle – well done

Unfortunately – I’m still jiggered

Swapped around the supporting triacs and transistors – still no joy – still got the SAME relay chattering.

Next is the 1000uF electrolytic….

Nick

[broddersbaldrick]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Ok, so I’m an electronics engineer just moved to South Yorkshire and just bought a faulty unit with ice maker. 5th July 09
I can confirm, I tested and found 3 of the 5 white capacitors (Rear module) were well out of spec!! They dry up and leave the circuits with a ‘low’ supply. They should all be replaced!! The little blue ones are ok.
I replaced all 5.
My Fridge still suffered with a clicking!
The clicking is not faulty relays; it’s caused by a supply voltage dropping when it comes under load. The ‘load’ makes the supply drop off which switches off the relays etc. Once it’s switched off, the supply comes back up to normal values, the relays etc switch back on and the supply drops again. This will keep happening, it’s like an oscillator.

I removed my ‘front module’ found 4 yellow capacitors that were again well under spec. More then 50{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}.
These caps are actually all in parallel. There is not the room to fit one large one so the designers have fitted 4 smaller one’s. Two nights ago, I have fitted 2 capacitors each with a value of 1uf 275ac to the back of this module. Wow, a £1700 fridge freezer repaired for less then £10.
To the guy in Cumbria, did you find some help?
Thank you and kind regards to all.

[nicdigby]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Hi, I would just like to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of those who have posted solutions on this thread. My whirlpool had several problems (clicking, water spluttering out, CF flashing and beeping every hour) and I have now replaced the Rear Control Board. I bought it from the company who run this forum, it was the cheapest price I found by £10, and it arrived the next working day. It took my friend 5 minutes to change the board for me, which resolved all the problems instantly, and a week later, still no problems.

So THANK YOU!!

[kwatt]

Thank you Nic, it’s nice to hear we do something right for people.

K.

[westfielder]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Now I’m really P*ssed off

I have replaced:

All the capacitors: C1,C6, C16, C5, C7, C8, C14, C26, C27, C28

I tried various values for C1 1uF, 1.22uF and 1,44uF

I replaced the big red relay.

I have replaced the 3 triacs and these took some finding!!

I have replaced the three bridge recifiers and they took even more finding!!

And I STILL have a clicking fridge freezer

I was looking at BroddersBaldrick’s post and he talks of a front board – I have no ice maker. Where is the front board – do I have one

Last hopes now 🙁

Nick

[broddersbaldrick]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Hi Nick, where is the ‘clicking’ on your unit?
What type of caps have you used to replace the old one’s?
Do you have the part numbers from RS or Maplin / Farnell? I will see if they should have worked.
I’ll try and help.
regards
john

[westfielder]

Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!

Hi John – thank you So so much for trying to help – very disheartened here :-(,

The Clicking is the red relay in the rear board.

I have posted pics of the board before my changes and after…

http://www.avwt78.dsl.pipex.com/fridge/

(Note – I have a .22uF cap in parallel with the 1uF C1 as the original was a 1.2uF

The capacitors used are:

1198302 PANASONIC
ECQU2A105ML 5 5 26 Jun 2009 Tracking number not available Complete £0.54 £2.70
Description: CAPACITOR, CLASS X2, 1UF, 275V; Application:Suppression; Capacitance:1000nF; Tolerance, Capacitance:± 20{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}; Series:ECQU; Voltage, Rating:250V ac; Capacitor Dielectric Type:Polyester; Case Style:Radial; Pitch, Lead:22.5mm;

1198297 PANASONIC
ECQU2A224ML 5 5 26 Jun 2009 Tracking number not available Complete £0.24 £1.20
Description: CAPACITOR, CLASS X2, 0.22UF, 275V; Application:Suppression; Capacitance:220nF; Tolerance, Capacitance:± 20{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}; Series:ECQU; Voltage, Rating:250V ac; Capacitor Dielectric Type:Polyester; Case Style:Radial; Pitch, Lead:15mm;

1198295 PANASONIC
ECQU2A104ML 5 5 26 Jun 2009 Tracking number not available Complete £0.176 £0.88
Description: CAPACITOR, CLASS X2, 0.1UF, 275V; Application:Suppression; Capacitance:100nF; Tolerance, Capacitance:± 20{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}; Series:ECQU; Voltage, Rating:250V ac; Capacitor Dielectric Type:Polyester; Case Style:Radial; Pitch, Lead:15mm;

1198301 PANASONIC
ECQU2A684ML 5 5 26 Jun 2009 Tracking number not available Complete £0.62 £3.10
Description: CAPACITOR, CLASS X2, 0.68UF, 275V; Application:Suppression; Capacitance:680nF; Tolerance, Capacitance:± 20{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}; Series:ECQU; Voltage, Rating:250V ac; Capacitor Dielectric Type:Polyester; Case Style:Radial; Pitch, Lead:22.5m
And here are the other components

4077300 5 In Stock 0.90 BRIDGE RECTIFIER, 1A, 600V; Phases, No. 1W06 MULTICOMP
1689373 5 In Stock 1.85 TRIAC 0.8A TO92; Thyristor/Triac Type:Tr Z0103MA 1AA2 STMICROELECTRONICS

1629045 TYCO ELECTRONICS
RT314024 1 1 26 Jun 2009 Tracking number not available Complete £2.10 £2.10
Description: RELAY, PCB, SPCO, 24VDC; Series:RT1; Relay Type:General Purpose; Voltage, Coil DC Nom:24V; Resistance, Coil:1.44kohm; Poles, No. of:1; Contact Configuration:SPCO; Mounting Type:PCB; Length / Height, External:15.7mm; Widt

I really really hope you can give me some ideas

Thanks again for your help

Nick

I have model S20D FSS10-A/D

Service number 8586 161 15000

[Author]

Posts