Whirlpool side by side - Freezer intermittent fault

[Chouman]

Hi guys and gals,

My Whirlpool side by side fridge freezer is on the blink again! Without any warning the alarm for the freezer went off and the digital temperature display on the front showed " - - " rather than " -18 " as it would normally. The alarm switched off when I pressed OK, but the warning triangle on the display stays on and the fridge stops chilling. Within a very short time there's water leaking through the lcd control panel on the doorand the food seems to be defrosting pretty quickly. If I stand at the door and press the trigger at the top to indicate the door is closed the blower to recirculate the air is still putting out cold air. If I turn it off and on nothing happens, but if I turn it off and on after 6 hours or so the freezer goes back to normal and it's as though nothings happened, but within 2 days the same has happened again.

I've now put all my stuff in another freezer because I don't trust it will keep my food in edible condition.

Any ideas what migt be the problem??

Thanks

[davej]

Hi chouman,
first thouhgts are that you are icing up and the freezer is not defrosting. you need to check the defrost timer and heater etc, once the frost on the evap stops the air movement the temp will rise. also check door seal etc to confirm no ingress of air causing excess frost.

[Chouman]

Thanks for the reply. I stripped the back of the unit down this morning to try and trace a noise which was coming from the rear. There's a white waterproof box at the bottom right (when looking from the rear) which houses some serious looking wires and an electronics board. There's an awful noise coming from on of the components within the box. I've spoken to all the appliance repair engineers in my local area (Perth, Scotland) and none of them will touch a side by side due to their complexity, even though the problem seems to be identified. Does anybody know what this box is called, because I assume I just replace it and normal service is resumed??

Thanks again for any help!

[slingblade]

Read my post in this thread...


http://www.refrigeration-engineer.co...lips+whirlpool


Looks like yours might be scrap, or will want all the controls ripping out.

[Chouman]

Over £1200 for a piece of scrap?? The damn thing is less than 2 years old!! If anybody knows anything else it could be I would be grateful... I really don't want to spend a couple of hundred pounds on a PCB if it turns out the same may happen again. Based on your post the fridge takes the air from the freezer to maintain it's temperature - my freezer is starting to give up the ghost completely and the fridge temperature is fluctuating erratically so I really need to think about getting it sorted asap, or go with a new fridge.

Anybody else with any thoughts??

[chillin out]

Over £1200 for a piece of scrap?? The damn thing is less than 2 years old!! If anybody knows anything else it could be I would be grateful... I really don't want to spend a couple of hundred pounds on a PCB if it turns out the same may happen again. Based on your post the fridge takes the air from the freezer to maintain it's temperature - my freezer is starting to give up the ghost completely and the fridge temperature is fluctuating erratically so I really need to think about getting it sorted asap, or go with a new fridge.

Anybody else with any thoughts??

Why not call a qualified fridgy to come and sort it out for you then??
Do you really want to start trying to fix this yourself?

Chillin

[Chouman]

I've tried all my local repairers, but none of them will even look at it. It seems that my wee town in Bonnie Scotland is living in the 1950's!! My wife called Whirlpool to see when they'd look at it but it wouldn't be until next Tuesday due to where we live. I was hoping there would be a quick fix so I could bypass the engineer and get it done quicker, but it looks like I may have to go with the wait...

[chillin out]

I've tried all my local repairers, but none of them will even look at it.

Scaredy cats...

(sorry, just re-read your post and saw you already tried locally)

Are you sure the noise is from the little white box?

Can you take a picture of it?

And one inside the freezer?

I will do my best to help.

Chillin

[Electrocoolman]

Don't know about Whirlpool but I have a Maytag american sidebyside.
Thermostat is in Fridge...there is also another control in fridge labelled 'Freezer Temp' which operates a thermosensitive flap which allows cold air from freezer into fridge....less air means unit runs longer (as fridge is warmer) and freezer runs colder. I get problems when ice forms around the flap...flap doesn't close and sticks open....freezer then loses temp.
As someone else mentioned....is evaporator in freezer defrosting properly? Is noise due to fan blades contacting ice? Have also had ticking noise from defrost timer. Is noise from condenser fan?
Is there a circuit on the back of the fridge or in compressor compartment?
Hope this might help.

[slingblade]

Over £1200 for a piece of scrap?? The damn thing is less than 2 years old!! If anybody knows anything else it could be I would be grateful... I really don't want to spend a couple of hundred pounds on a PCB if it turns out the same may happen again. Based on your post the fridge takes the air from the freezer to maintain it's temperature - my freezer is starting to give up the ghost completely and the fridge temperature is fluctuating erratically so I really need to think about getting it sorted asap, or go with a new fridge.

Anybody else with any thoughts??

I am not saying your unit is 100% sure to be scrap, but the symptoms seem to mirror the ones i had. The average domestic engineer would diagnose a faulty pcb/relay and replace (if that is the fault??). I did this two or three times and got sick of it, which is when i took wire cutters to the entire control system and threw away all the electronics replacing them with electromechanical.

Take the cardboard/mdf panel off the back and listen, if you hear a sort repeated clicking sound from the white box and the compressor (big black football shaped thing) is juddering in unison with the noise then you do have a relay/pcb problem. i dont know how common this is as i avoid domestics like the black death, but you really need to identify more symptoms for any more help from me.

Better let phillips take a look.


Additional, the fridge does work from cold freezer air. there is a motorised flap at the top left hand side in the fridge which opens and closes from a temp. sensor in the fridge. the air returns to the freezer lower down through another vent.

[slingblade]

Cool. Chouman... Last activity 18-10-06.
Why do we bother?
Joe public seems to have a god given right to demand seriously expensive advice because he/she has an internet connection and has typed "broken fridge" into google.
Idea!
Make noobies provide credentials of profession before i waste my time going down a pointless route typing wasted timeserved advice on members of the public who think they can avoid day to day household expenses by asking questions on a professional bulletin board.

Bad day you ask...?


YES.

[chillin out]

I tend to agree with Sling, I thought this forum was for like minded people getting together and sharing their woes.

Not a help desk for every Tom **** and Harry to come along and get 'free' advice, as this does not help our trade one little bit.

I don't mind helping friends and relatives but as Sling said they only come here for one thing and never give anything back. Forums rely on sharing and comitment, not just one post wonders.

Bad month you ask...

YES.

Chillin

[Chouman]

Sorry guys, I had the family away for a break at the end of October - our school hols and a cheap deal at Butlins (quality all the way with me!).

I finally got somebody who would look at it - a guy who look after commercial chills and vehicle air-con. Whirlpool arranged 2 appointments - 1st one the engineer called in the afternoon and said he was overbooked but would come round later that week, but never turned up!

Anyway, this other guy came from a city nearby and stripped the fridge down. He tested the compressor and the PCB and it turned out to be a relay fault on the PCB. He reckoned it was silly to buy a replacement and had my one sent off and fixed. It was completely re-soldered and "beefed-up" by a company down in England (sorry, don't know their name) and returned yesterday (Thursday) after the diagnosis last Friday. He plugged in all back in, cleaned out the back of the fridge, tested the compressor, etc and it's perfect!!

We had a problem with our ice maker and it's sorted that too!!

The total charge was £115 + VAT, which all in all seemed reasonable. Whirlpool wanted £55 call out, plus £112 for a new PCB. I was very tempted to buy a brand new board from Ebay for £82 + delivery, but the engineer I got talked me out of it - he reckons now this one has been re-soldered and beefed up it should last longer!??!

Only thing is now I will always run my fridge off a surge protector - thinking back, we had a few days of gales and heavy rain which he thought was the trigger - it certainly ties in!

Hope this helps someone out there

They're called Home Economics and are based in Perth, Scotland if you're interested

[taz24]

I'm glad your fridge is ok now. Like most things in life you have to trust people and companies to do a good job. The big companies let you down but you found someone who did you a good job at what seems to me to be a good price. The bloke who did your work will now get all your good will. Customers good will is the best advert for any busness man.

Cheers taz.

[slingblade]

Sorry guys, I had the family away for a break at the end of October - our school hols and a cheap deal at Butlins (quality all the way with me!).

I finally got somebody who would look at it - a guy who look after commercial chills and vehicle air-con. Whirlpool arranged 2 appointments - 1st one the engineer called in the afternoon and said he was overbooked but would come round later that week, but never turned up!

Anyway, this other guy came from a city nearby and stripped the fridge down. He tested the compressor and the PCB and it turned out to be a relay fault on the PCB. He reckoned it was silly to buy a replacement and had my one sent off and fixed. It was completely re-soldered and "beefed-up" by a company down in England (sorry, don't know their name) and returned yesterday (Thursday) after the diagnosis last Friday. He plugged in all back in, cleaned out the back of the fridge, tested the compressor, etc and it's perfect!!

We had a problem with our ice maker and it's sorted that too!!

The total charge was £115 + VAT, which all in all seemed reasonable. Whirlpool wanted £55 call out, plus £112 for a new PCB. I was very tempted to buy a brand new board from Ebay for £82 + delivery, but the engineer I got talked me out of it - he reckons now this one has been re-soldered and beefed up it should last longer!??!

Only thing is now I will always run my fridge off a surge protector - thinking back, we had a few days of gales and heavy rain which he thought was the trigger - it certainly ties in!

Hope this helps someone out there

They're called Home Economics and are based in Perth, Scotland if you're interested

Wow, how deja vu is that?

£1200 for scrap. Looks like a common fault. I would be intersted to know how long it lasts as i removed my pcb totally and have had 2 years trouble free, so feel free to post the next time it blows up. Your chap who does commercial chills and vehicle air con seems to know his stuff, maybe he read my post.