FIXED LG Refrigerator LMXS30776S - not cooling in freezer, fridge or ice maker

[asenna32]

Model Number

LMXS30776S

Brand

LG

Age

6-10 years

Suddenly my 6 year old LG refrigerator quit cooling in all compartments and ruined all my food. I did a lot of troubleshooting with the repair manual and am usually adept at appliance repair, but this has me stumped. So far, I have done the folllowing:

• Checked for errors on the display and there aren't any
• Put it in test mode (using the button on the main PCB)
  • Checked all the fans are running (the freezer and refrigerator sections are blowing room temp air)
  • Condenser fan is running fine
  • Compressor seems to kick on and makes about the same humming noise as always. I don't hear any hollow sound, clicking, etc. Since it is a Linear Inverter (ugh!) compressor I Ohmed out the single phase and it was 9.4 Ohms (this is within the specs in the manual). I checked also for shorts to ground and the compressor seems fine. It is a little warm, but not hot. The little copper tube coming off the side of the compressor stays cool though so that may be a bad sign according to some things I have read online.
• I don't see any signs of arc marks on the main PCB and all voltages seem to be there (165 volts on the pins going to the compressor).

I know LGs are notorious for having the compressor go out, but I can't see any signs of that being the case, yet the whole refrigerator just produces warm air. I even checked the evaporator and nothing is iced up, etc. No signs of leaking oil that I can see. It is a beautiful unit and I hate to go buy another when I can't find anything wrong!

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[rickgburton]

A basic rule for refrigeration is, if the compressor is running and there's no cooling, the problem is with the sealed system. The compressor is only one possibility. A refrigerant leak or system restriction are other possible causes. When a compressor fails there are no visible signs. It just stops pumping and becomes inefficient or locks up. To diagnose the problem with the sealed system a set of refrigeration gauges needs to be connected to the system.

 

[asenna32]

Thanks for the reply. I couldn't remember when I bought the refrigerator so I dug up the receipt and crazy enough it was December 2015 from Fry's Electronics. I never buy the store warranty, but in this case I did! So I called them and they stated it was covered until Dec 2020. They are going to send a repair tech out from a local shop and if they can't fix it, they will replace the LG with another unit that is equivalent. I can't believe it as I was prepping to buy a new one. I will answer back to this thread once the repair person makes a final determination just for informational purposes.

 

[rickgburton]

if they can't fix it, they will replace the LG with another unit that is equivalent.

Wow, how lucky are you! Keep us posted on what they find. My money is on the compressor only because they've had so many problems with their linear compressors.

 

[asenna32]

It ended up being the compressor. The techs came out and replaced it and all works great. They claim that even a small amount of dust build up on the intake vents can cause the new compressors to overheat and go out. They said to clean the vent areas every 6 months.

 

[rickgburton]

Yeah, they're a bad design. I hope this one lasts longer.