How to Diagnose a Compressor on your Refrigerator

Simple video showing you some basics on how to troubleshoot the compressor on your refrigerator. This will work on most refrigerators, they all will pretty much test the same. This test can be used for top freezers, side by sides, freezers and french door models.

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[redhottlady]

Excellent video. I have an LG French door fridge with a freezer that stop freezing but the both the freezer and fridge was cool. Ice cream was not. I called a appliance repair guy out to diagnosed and he spent less than 5 minutes, never did an ohm test said the compressor was bad because it was hot. Cost to repair $1400. Changed me $85 service call. My friend is going to follow your video and perform the tests to check for to see if the compressor reading indicate a bad compressor or possibly a bad relay.

[hugo]

My Daewoo fridge kept making clicking noises for a while, 3 months, until it finally stopped cooling. Compressor fan was working, the compressor sounded like it was working but very weak. The freezer wasn’t working either. Saw this video and replaced the compressor relay like the one on the video. Cost $35 on eBay.
It’s working great now!...Thanks this video was really helpful.

[dgdiyer]

Nice job on this video. I like that you showed amp readings near the end of it. My compressor runs all the time, is hot and can't get the freezer below 6-7° F. Because it runs continuously at 1.5 amps and is 16 years old, I concluded, after checking everything else out, that the compressor is slowly on its way out.

[chrismaya]

Thank you. You showed me how to diagnose, fix, and save myself a lot of money. I spent 20 bucks to fix the fridge. thanks again!

[danielbrittz]

Thank you Bill. Your YouTube diy video extremely helpful here in South Africa where technical info is limited or non existent. Appreciate you sharing your kind and helpful experience to get things going again 😁🤟

[pvezmar]

Dude! You are the man! Haven't found my problem yet but you are a master teacher! Thank you for all your electrical information!

[VICTORAPPAW]

Thanks a lot. You have made me breathe a sigh of relief. You have also confirmed my my fears of being duped by an unfaithful repairer. Thanks a lot. I will do will to change my contactors

[robertwoodson]

Thanks for the detail explanation. My Kenmore stopped working and I did various checks. Eventually determined that the amperage draw from the compressor was about .5 amp. I felt it was low on Freon R-134a, although I was not certain. I feel better now that you have confirmed my thought. Thank you very much for providing excellent supplementary information.

[johncosta]

Thank Bill. Excellent video, I followed your instructions purchased a 3+1 compressor started. 2.85Amps my refrigerator is headed to the graveyard.

[dudjois]

Thank you! your videos helped me diagnose my Samsung fridge. I replaced a faulty relay that connects to the compressor. Compressor looked dead but it was the relay not driving the voltage. You saved me money!

[USMC]

@6:43- just check frost pattern on evap, that will tell you a lot. And the comp can be running and still not cooling- broken rod or bad valves or like u said a hole somewhere and there is no freon. Great vid thanks for sharing.

[Kstevieg]

This was excellent, Bill.  I followed your logic and am sure I can duplicate the process on my own refrigerator tomorrow.  There was no 'dead air' time in your explanation.

[SalgadoMark]

Thanks bro. I just fixed my sisters refrigerator by watching your videos. Not this one in particular, but I did watch a lot of them that I found helpful. I bought a 3 in 1 for $12 on Amazon. Saved a lot of money!!! Thanks!!!

[sandyeeta]

Hey, Bill. Thanks very much for taking time to post this helpful info. I have a deep freeze that has no condenser fan. It uses the outside skin of the freezer to dissipate the heat. Over several weeks, it cooled less and less. A new one would set me back $700 or more. Seems pretty obvious that it is low on refrigerant but I would like to confirm this somehow.

Continuity between compressor terminals says no short or bad windings. Compressor starts and seems to run smoothly, using about 1.2 amps starting up on a warm freezer compartment after the freezer has been off overnight. Thermostat appears to be working but it seems obvious that it is OK since power is getting to the compressor. I know that many air-conditioning compressors have a delay circuit to keep the compressor from trying to start up too soon after a shut down. I think understand that this is due to high pressures remaining in the refrigerant lines right after shutting down, which would put great load on the compressor, causing excessively high amperage if it were to try to start up again too soon. I'm guessing that the pressures equalize over a few minutes, making it easier for the compressor to restart at that time. My freezer is an Embraco and the tag says 17.7 RLA, which I understand it the maximum amperage on start up. Sure enough, if I let it run for a while, then shut off power, then restore power after a few seconds, I see a little over 17 amps on startup. My question is, does this high 're-start' amperage right after a shutdown an indication that there is freon in the unit? If no refrigerant, would there be high pressure at all? Or, maybe the compressor is just compressing regular air, which I assume is what would be in the lines if a leak let all of the refrigerant out.

So, my questions are, does high re-start amperage confirm anything about whether the compressor is working or not? And, does it tell me anything about if there is any/enough refrigerant in the system? Is there a way to confirm low refrigerant, and if everything checks out OK, would it make sense to put more refrigerant in it, or would it just leak out again? Finally, I understand that the compressors with capillary tubes are very sensitive to having the right amount of charge in them. Whether trying to re-charge the old compressor, or replacing it with a new one, it seems like measuring the refrigerant load might require some more technical knowledge.

[DrainoRemarkable]

dude thnx alot for the video im studying to be a tech at a trade school and this right here is helping alot, ive been wondering how to fix this problem for a really long time ive finally found it thanks to you, thanks bud.

[deadjuggalo]

Well relay came in yesterday took 5 min to install plugged it in and works good compressor came right on

[ronaldrichards]

Great video, and a simple way to test the correct operation of the compressor, compressor overload and relay switches. The video also has helped me to know how to correctly utilize my new amp clamp-on meter; it is always good to know what are the correct volt/amp ranges a good compressor system should have. Thanks!

[ryk]

Excellent and crystal clear instruction!

[charlesmwangi]

Wonderful job on this video. Great, you're a blessing to humanity.

[WillPowerRhythm]

good info, not wasting much time explaining.