LMXS28626S LG Refrigerator not cooling

[hot fridge]

Model Number

LMXS28626S

Brand

LG

Age

1-5 years

Hi,

My fridge isn't cooling and I'm hoping it's the PCB rather than the compressor/sealed system.

I woke up to find the ice had melted and it was not cold in the fridge or freezer. The compressor runs but isn't cold, and sounds normal while operating, compressor fan is operational. The evaporator fan is not running, unless test mode 1 is activated (and then all fans work normally). No error codes or LED morse code on the PCB. No leakage or weird drips, coils are clean.

When I ran through the PCB check I didn't get 200 V at Con201, rather the volts slowly climbed to about 130 before dropping off completely.

How can I know if the compressor is the issue or if the PCB is the issue?

Thanks!

 

[dashriprok]

If compressor is running but your have no cooling whatsoever, then you have either a bad compressor (likely because it's an LG) or a refrigerant leak. There are three tubes coming out of the compressor. Ignore the short dead-end "process" tube. With your hand feel the other two tubes 2 or 3 inches away from the compressor. One of the tubes should be warmer than the other. If they're the same temperature then it's likely you have a bad compressor or a severe freon leak. There is no way to ascertain which problem you have definitively without installing a piercing valve. From my experience though, you likely have a bad compressor. If it were any other brand than LG, it would likely be a freon leak.

When shopping for a new refrigerator remember this: purchase anything but LG.

 

[hot fridge]

I plugged the ole brick in last night and got some temperature readings. Turns out I'm getting some cooling - but certainly nowhere near enough. I used a laser temperature thing that's reasonably accurate, since the lines coming off the compressor are so narrow I wouldn't put much stock in the readings I got on those puppies but I included their temps anyway.

	on 2 hours	on overnight (10ish hours)	on 22 hours
fridge temp (F)	64	62	64
freezer temp (F)	55	60	64
copper compressor line	slightly cooler than the other line (80)	warmer (70)	cooler (70)
thin not dead-end compressor line	warmer than the copper line (98)	cooler (68)	warmer (78)

Does this information mean anything? Compressor? Freon? PCB?

 

[dashriprok]

Yay! Some cooling means you have a fighting chance and likely have a freon leak.