Whirlpool ARC7472 Frost Free Refrigerator Compressor Not Starting?

[wokeye]

I had an electrical fault on Friday in the box where the meter is outside the house, it appeared to be making an arcing sound and the lights were dimming on and off in the house and then it caused the RCD to trip on the downstairs sockets. I got EON out and there was a bad connection in the box. Anyway the next day I noticed that the fridge freezer had failed which was full of food .I thought I might get something from the insurance company but I do not have accidental damage cover. So before I scrap the machine I just wondered is there anything that I could look for.

The fridge freezer is a frost free Whirlpool ARC7472 around 7 years old and has been faultless up until now. This is a basic unit with no digital displays or control panels. Basically the compressor is just not cutting in at all and both the fridge and the freezer are not cooling. The circulating fan in the freezer is running more or less all the time. Obviously if the compressor has gone or some other major part then it is not worth bothering with at all. I have read a little on the internet and have tried to locate the thermostat. I took the control panel out of the fridge part that has the 2 dials in for setting the fridge and freezer temperatures. One of the dials is connected to a potentiometer I cannot remember which one probably the freezer as it has a fast freeze setting on it; the other dial is connected to nothing electrical. At first I thought that this was a thermostat but after looking on the net at spare parts I believe it is a thermostat potentiometer as I expected the thermostat to have a phial after further reading. From what I have read the thermostat should be inside the fridge but I could not find it. I just wanted some idea where it might be and how to check it with a multi-meter please? I have repaired a washing machine that I used to own numerous times but I am finding this a bit more difficult.
I just wondered if anybody had any idea before I scrap it and buy some cheap model that might be more trouble. Thanks for any help.

Read more: http://www.diynot.com/forums/applian...#ixzz1r06FltUz

[wokeye]

Here is the wiring diagram that I found doing a search on here. I am just trying to figure it out myself to see if the compressor is getting power, then it is obviously faulty. But if it it is not getting power how to trace it further back and decide what other component could be faulty. Can anybody please offer their advice.

[tonto33]

is the compressor running if not need to check start relay and ptc

[wokeye]

is the compressor running if not need to check start relay and ptc

Thanks for the reply Tonto. I have fixed my old washing machine several times, but could you please explain to me how to check the start relay and the PTC with a multi-meter. Am I just looking for 240 volts or should I have it on a different setting. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[aramis]

My first suggestion is that you call a trained technician.

If you can’t interpret the diagram maybe you also don’t know what 240V can do to you.

If you are careful and measure 240V between line marked 66 and 00 but on the other side of the overload protector G, then the compressor should run.

If you don’t get 240V something is wrong in the controls and you need a trained technician!

If it doesn’t it only MAY be damaged, and you need a trained technician!

So please go call a technician and save yourself the trouble.

And by the way Tonto33 is not Tonto.

[wokeye]

Thanks for the reply aramis. I will aware of what 240 volts is cable of and I have used a multi-meter for basic fault finding on a washing machine and my central heating system at home and it saved me a lot of money. Unfortunately for what a technician charges around here and the price of parts it is probably uneconomical to do so as the machine is 8 years old anyway. I will take a look at the diagram and try and figure it out. Thanks for the help though.

[tonto33]

Basically, using a digital ohmmeter, you pull the compressor's relay and overload off its three terminals, then check the resistance between each of these three pins. Older relays looked a bit different than the solid state one below, but pulled off pretty much the same way

First note the two pins that read the highest resistance. The one that remains is the 'common', to which one end of both the start and main windings

. (The common's not always the top pin, so you'll want to do this test to be sure)

Reading from that common to each of the other two, carefully note each reading. Then measure back across the two with the highest resistance, ignoring the common. That reading should be the exact total of the two individual coil readings, because you're reading through both coils in series now. If those two sets of readings aren't within about 1/2 ohm of each other, then one of t windings is shorted, and if it runs at all, it'll run hot and usually end up short-cycling on its overload protector.The only solution, if that’s the case, is compressor replacement If the windings test OK, but it still won’t run, then I connect a test cord and try to run it manually.

[aramis]

Do what Tonto33 says only AFTER disconnecting all power and discharging the capacitor through a bleed resistor (the capacitor shown with dotted lines could be optional and not be there) and if the compressor does not get the 240V like I posted before.

The problem with your diagram is that it is NOT complete. It only shows interconnection of pieces but doesn’t tell you what those pieces do!

Be careful!