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Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Thank you so much for your support Daddycool !! 😀
Yes I’m trying to help and safety has been mentioned so many times earlier in this forum, i felt no need to repeat it over and over.
I would like to ask Kwatt about his statement.
Live testing is illegal?
Could you quantify that statement because it’s not totally true.
How as an electronics engineer was I ever able to fix anything if I couldn’t turn it on?
In this forum, how does one test for an electrical supply at the compressor?
How do you test the PTC since it needs a good mains supply to work correctly.
One is allowed to test equipment if it cannot be tested dead.Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Chezza Is that the best you can do?
You take the moral high ground and criticise my answers, get off your throne and be a little more constructive.
A little foot note would have sufficed and I would have been happy.
Who appointed you executioner?Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Hi Chezza
Of course you’re right.
However, the answer was not advice given to the public; it was an answer to a specific question asked by someone I view as competent, knowledgeable and with enough experience and know-how to make an informed decision with the answer I gave.
He may have a justifiable reason for wanting the unit switched on.
The ‘public’ reading these pages which includes myself, have already taken it upon them selves to tackle the repair, this alone suggests they have some understanding of the potential hazards when working with appliances supplied from the mains.
Do we now start telling people ‘don’t touch the end of your soldering iron because it will burn?’
I do give people a little leeway and credit them with some common sense but do not endorse fixing anything with it turned on or plugged in.
Thank youRe: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Hi Richardcowey
There should be no relay activity within the first few hours of a warm freezer other then the compressor turning on once.
If it is clicking every so often, it’s worth trying to establish which relay or just establish if it’s a relay on the rear module or clicking inside the compressor connection box and go from there.Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Hi Shaun,
I’m confident the problem on your unit is the compressor relay.
A little piece of plastic breaks internally and stops the contacts from turning off and supplying the defrost circuit.
It’s definitely the first place to start.With regards to the front LED / LCD display, this has a communication line to the rear module. I can only surmise that, if the front module is faulty, it will send erroneous messages to the rear.
I don’t know what the rear processor will do in the absence of a correct ‘SET’ temperature.
It will either run at a pre determined temperature or it will not.
Your guess is as good as mine but, given the time I will try and find out.Hope this helps (a little)
Brodders
Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Oh sorry, I thought the 240 volts would give one a clue.
As with all domestic appliances, dismantling with the power on increases the chance of electric shock.
An electric shock may wake you faster then a cup of espresso or a box of Pro Plus but, it’s also known to have adverse affects on ones life and may end it rather abruptly.
Please always consult a competent person if you are the slightest bit unsure.
Disconnect any appliance from the mains (wall socket) before continuing any work.
Leave these Whirlpool Fridge freezers for 10 minutes before attempting any repair, the capacitors as widely discussed here, hold an electric charge that will give you bite if removed quickly.Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
I’ll try to keep this clear.
If the rear module has been unplugged or lost its power, it does not know how much ice could be on the evaporator.
If the evaporator is below a certain temperature, the rear module will defrost first.
This gives the module a reference. (all things being well)
A full defrost takes 15 minutes but, the heater is only on for a minute or two.
Time is given for the water to drain away etc.
If the temp is above this level, the compressor will cut in within a few seconds, the fan next to the compressor will also cut in a second or two later.
This fan is a good reference!
If the fan is on, the compressor should be on!Finally, the LED displays show the ‘set temperature’ only.
If the freezer side shows 2 hyphens, the freezer is warmer then -12 degrees.
Warmer then -12 gives you an audible alarm. (for obvious reasons) and knocks of the display in case you’re hard of hearing.
Hope this helpsRe: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Hi Mick,
The front module can be unplugged with power on but it does have 240 volts on it.
To recap (pardon the pun)
Remove C1, C2, C14 & C15
These caps are all in parallel.
Use two 1uf caps 305v ac, solder in parallel & extend with suitable wire and connect to where the old 4 caps came from.
For those who want confirmation – Parallel is like railway sleepers all joined by two tracks.
Series is something on the TV lol 😆Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Wow Graphite
It’s good to hear from you.
I view you as Christopher Columbus and know the pioneering work you did all those years ago.
I’m dying to ask, which caps are failing after 3½ years??
I love the pics, if you send me a PM with your addy, I’ll send you the pic of where one can stick the blue caps on the front board.Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Hi RichardCowey, with so many replies, I’ve got lost along the way.
I’m sorry but I thought your compressor relay made a rapid click that you described as a ‘machine gun’. (Every now and again)
Having a good cap in C1 and a poor one in C2 will cause this for a fact!
The part number for the similar cap you found on RS is actually Polyester and not the Polypropylene.
The original caps when the boards were ‘first’ produced were in fact Polypropylene but sadly did not have a long working life. A number of people have had success with Polyester but not all.
I use Polypropylene and have never had cause to change.
It sounds like you have a later board since you said the C1 you fitted is the same as the one that came out.
I believe the later ‘Blue’ caps are still polypropylene but don’t quote me.
I’ll write about the function of the relay / rear fan in a second
Regards
bbRe: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Hi RichardCowey,
is it the orange relay clicking?
If you have replaced C1 and C2 you shouldn’t have any more problems not unless your LED display is flashing and turning the temp control on and off.
I would stick the 6.3 volt in.What cap did you stick in C1??
I’ll watch out for an answer.
Shaun is right, the relay would come out easily with a solder sucker but you can put solder on the joints and lift it bit by bit. This can damage the tracks if you keep too much heat on them.Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Good afternoon all,
Whilst waiting for your ukwhitegoods component kit to be delivered, I thought I would shed some light on something that I think Ozzy1 mentioned.
At the front of your fridge there is a grill that allows air to be drawn in to circulate around the condenser coils, the front of the coils will very likely be clogged with fluff.You will probably all have seen steam from cooking, condense on a cold kitchen window and never more so then now and our approaching winter.
The condenser coils do the very same job; they condense the hot compressed gas from your compressor into a liquid, hence its name Condenser.
From there the compressed liquid is forced through a small tube into the cold bit inside your freezer. Once in this ‘cold bit’ the compressed liquid expands and evaporates into a gas and absorbs all the heat surrounding it.
So now you understand why the cold bit is called an evaporator.
Clean the coils with a soft brush and maybe a vacuum cleaner, this will also aid cooling of the compressor (the big black can) 😀Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Hi Ozzy1, no worries as you say on the other side of the world.
After the heat I took criticising some cheap capacitors a while back, I bought myself a flack jacket.
Good to hear from you and I do realise you helped many people back in 2005/2006.
Say Hi to my twin in Brisbane 🙂Re: Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer broken down – help!
Hi Shaun, I’m shocked that you actually had the cap for C2 in the kit and didn’t use it.
Kwatt has very kindly put the kit together and included C2 for good reason.
I can only reiterate what has been said before; once all the usual perpetrators have been changed, we can all move forward with the knowledge that one issue has been addressed before we try and tackle the others.
I’m more then happy to help when and where I can, and give pointers along with so many other helpful & friendly people on this remarkable forum.
Thank you and kind regards
Brodders
