Frigidaire GLHS269ZCW0 side-by-side not cooling - bad compressor?

[Fritzy]

Model Number

GLHS269ZCW0

Brand

Frigidaire

Age

More than 10 years

Frigidaire GLHS269ZCW0 side-by-side that stopped cooling today. I checked the coils and fan inside the freezer side and there is no frost blocking the fan, and the coils are only cool to the touch, not cold. The temperature in both the freezer and fridge is 64 degrees - it was 54 degrees in there about 2 hours ago.

I have noticed a buzzing noise coming from the area of the compressor that I didn't notice before. It happens about every 2 minutes and lasts for 20 seconds or so.

I created a short video of it - you may need to turn up your volume to hear it first click, then buzzz, then click again... It starts at the 31 second mark.

Video: Frigidaire GLHS269ZCW0 not cooling.

I think it's an issue with the compressor, but I thought I would check here to make sure I'm doing my due diligence. Is there anything specific I should checking?

 

[Fritzy]

I was just looking at the list of parts for this model and I see there is a compressor run capacitor. Might that be the issue?

I does sort of sound like my home air-conditioner compressor when the run capacitor went bad...

Compressor Run Capacitor 5304464438

 

[Fritzy]

I just tested the capacitor. It tests good at 15uF.

So much for the quick and easy fix!

 

[Fritzy]

I could still use some help narrowing down the root cause of the failure to cool. Please let me know if any of you might have some ideas.

Here are a few other things I've checked:

Compressor (Tecumseh TPG1380YXA):
I checked the winding resistance on the compressor, and also found manufacturer's specs for the resistance for reference. The compressor does get quite warm, when the fridge is operating (although there is no cooling). Here are how my measurements compare to the specs:

	Manufacturer Specs	My Readings
Start Winding:	4.28	4.7
Run Winding:	3.33	3.7

My readings are higher than the Manufacturer specs, but I don't know if the slightly higher reading is significant or not. Any thoughts?


Compressor PTC relay device (Part# 218721119):
It passes a shake test - nothing loose inside, but I'm not sure how to definitively test this device to know it's good. Can someone direct me to some information on how to test this?

Thanks for the help.
-fritz

 

[Jake]

Hi, Yes from your video it sounds like the compressor has gone bad internally, meaning the compressor piston has seized up.

Rick explains how to ohm test the compressor start relay here:

Frigidaire Refrigerator FRS26RBCW0 smoking near compressor

story My dad got my sister's old refrigerator out of storage a few days ago for me because my previous fridge stopped fridging. I asked him to go ahead and run it to make sure it worked and it did. When I moved it and cleaned it had rested for a few hours when I plugged it in.. important part...

www.applianceblog.com

Jake

 

[Fritzy]

Thanks for the link to that other post Jake!

I tested the start device and get just about 1.6 ohm from common to the 'Load' connector and 6.1 ohms across Start and Run connections.

The image in that link says the resistance should be less than 1 ohm from common to load, but I think the slightly high reading may just be my meter or my ability to make good contact with the connectors. I don't think the fault is with the start device.

 

[Jake]

1.6 ohm from common to the 'Load' connector

That's close enough, so the compressor is the problem.

Jake

 

[Fritzy]

Thanks for confirming. It's been a bad year for compressors - my home A/C compressor went out just a couple months ago. Thankfully it was still under warranty.

Not the case for the fridge though. It's 19 years old.

 

[Jake]

Glad to help.

Jake