1950 Coldspot Refrigerator- need to connect electrical cord

[rickgburton]

The meter- when probes are not touching it registers 1; when they are touching it jumps around a bit, then sort of settles at 0.13

That doesn't sound right but it could be. When you get a chance take a picture of your meter (so I can see it) and post it here. Sounds like you have your hands full. There's no hurry. Take your time, we don't want to rush through this.

I was also planning to replace the ring terminals on the wires going to the compressor since one of them broke off, and the others are pretty fragile.

Don't bother with any wire ends. We're going to cut them off and replace the hot wire relay with a solid state relay. Here's the link:
Start Relay RO41 Order now for same day shipping. 365 day return policy. RepairClinic.com


My email address is on my logo or in my profile if you need it.

 

[edw927]

Sorry, I haven't felt good today due to short sleep, and physically overdoing. Besides the other stuff I mentioned, I am also putting down new flooring and trying to manage two small businesses. Here are a couple pictures of the meter.


I'll go about doing readings now. You mean we can't just put it all back together with the parts that we have? I've just been out today buying new ring terminals.

 

[edw927]

OK, I did the first part of what you said, but since it didn't turn out as you expected, I stopped there. I took out the light bulb to make sure it was good by putting it in something else. It is good, but OMG, I looked at the bulb and it said "Sears 40W appliance bulb." That means the bulb has been in there for a very long time.

So here are the readings for wires when the bulb was in, the cold control off. So resistance between wires 1 and 2 is (1). The readings is between 1 and 3 is also (1).

 

[rickgburton]

OK, take a break. It's best we do this after you're rested. I don't understand why your meter jumps around and settles at 0.13. There's no resistance between the two meter tips. Try the diode check setting. If you have a long piece of wire (about 6-10 feet) laying around, measure the resistance of the wire (should be 0) on the 200 ohm setting and the on the diode check. Any kind of wire will do even an extension cord or an old lamp cord will work. Try the cord for the refrigerator we are going to install. I'm just making sure we don't have a problem. I would hate to go through all this and not have it work.

....we can't just put it all back together with the parts that we have?......Step 5: A-B: 4.1 C-B: 1 D-B: 1 A-D: 1

Nope

 

[rickgburton]

So here are the readings for wires when the bulb was in, the cold control off. So resistance between wires 1 and 2 is (1). The readings is between 1 and 3 is also (1).

There's a problem. I remember you said when the wires got got disconnected one of the wires was going into the cabinet, #1 I believe. Is that correct? When the wires got disconnected was the power to the refrigerator on? Was there a short?

 

[edw927]

I'm OK. I've rested quite a bit today. Here are partial answers. You are challenging me with this diode check thing, but I looked it up on the internet, and think I understand. I do have a diode check setting on my meter, so you want me to put the meter on that setting and then check two different points on the same wire. Then put it on the 200 ohm setting and do the same thing. If that is accurate, I can do that.

Now for your other question. Here is what happened when the problem began which was essentially all my fault. I was moving the refrigerator over a little. It was plugged in. It has a very long cord. In the process the cord got snagged on something, but instead of coming unplugged from the outlet, the wires pulled out of the back of the refrigerator cabinet. There was an electrical flash, and a circuit blew in my house. I reset the circuit breaker, realized the wires from the refrigerator were broken loose, but the cord was still plugged in. I unplugged the cord. I went back to the refrigerator and found these pieces still attached to the posts in the relay. They had been part of the white and the red cabinet wires (if I am remembering correctly). The black wire from the refrigerator compartment stayed attached to the common post with the compressor wire. I assumed the flash and the blowing of the circuit were doing to the wires from the cord touching each other when the broke lose from the refrigerator. This is when I did my next stupid thing. Since I had called an electrician, I was trying to prepare the refrigerator for them to work with by starting with a clean slate. I took those broken pieces of wire with the ring terminals off, so they could start with fresh wiring. That left both the white wire and the red wire hanging lose inside the cabinet. While the electricians were staring at the refrigerator, I was on the computer trying to find something helpful on the internet since they didn't know what to do. When they left I noticed that they had attached the red wire to the metal plate in the relay. That just left the white wire with the ring terminal hanging free.

 

[rickgburton]

The diode check is basically the same as a continuity check. It just uses the battery power to open the diode. I have enough information I can tell you where we are at. The black wire going into the cabinet is going to the door switch then to the light socket. So power runs up to the door switch, through the door switch, to the light socket, through the light bulb, and back down to one of the other wires. When the cold control is on it comes down both wires. The Control must be off.

 

[edw927]

I responded to your other questions in emails, hopefully you got that information and it didn't end up in a spam folder or something. Do you still need me to order that part from you, or do we still need to wait until we make sure other functions are OK.