Whirlpool Refrigerator GI7FVCXWY02 Changing the refrigerator temperature make little or any difference in temperature.

[linuxdummy]

Model Number

GI7FVCXWY02

Brand

Whirlpool

Age

6-10 years

Adjusting the temperature makes little if any difference in the temperature. The refrigerator compartment stays in the 50s no matter what the setting is, 33 to 45. The value seems to be related to the ambient temperature, the hotter it is the warmer the refrigerator and the cooler the ambient temp the cooler the refrigerator. I've been monitoring and logging the temperature, one sensor close to the incoming air and on sensor on the middle shelf.

What I observer, no matter what the temperature is set and what the temperature is inside the damper is opened for 5 minutes once an hour. Seems that it should be open longer to maintain the proper temperature. The freezer compartment is OK. Does anyone know if opening the damper for 5 minutes once an hour is correct operation and if not any ideas as to what to check? Attached is a graph of the data starting at mid-night for today.

I'm logging the ambient temperature but it probably was around 75 degrees Fat mid-night and around 100 F probably a little above when the last open and closing the damper occurred. Note that Temp1 is the sensor positioned near the cold air output and the Temp0 sensor is laying on the middle shelf. The time between the peak before the dip and the bottom of the dip is 5 minutes always. Several days ago before we got super hot days (106 yesterday and 104 today) the shelf temperature stayed close to 51 F.

If the Temp1 sensor is placed inside the outlet vent it stays around 25F so there is cold air coming in.

 

[Jake]

I'm attaching your tech data sheet below.

Do--->2. Refrigerator Compartment Thermistor Status--->01Pass

If it does not pass, then its causing this problem.

Here it is for your model:

Whirlpool WPW10292583 Harns-Wire (AP6018880) - AppliancePartsPros.com

HARNS-WIRE WPW10292583 / AP6018880 made by Whirlpool

click.linksynergy.com

It looks like its part of the wire harness:

Jake

 

[linuxdummy]

Thanks, the diagnostic shows 01Pass for the thermistor. Can they fail in a mode where they're not shorted or completely open but the resistance way off where the diagnostic would see that it exists? Wish the diagnostics would show what temperature its reading. My thought is the diagnostic check is basically shorted or open. I found a wiring diagram last night and see where the thermistor connects to the main board so will check the resistance there and see how the value compares to the temperature inside the refrigerator. Hate to spend 60 bucks for the thermistor and then that not be culprit. I'm retired and have more time than money. I really appreciate your help.

 

[linuxdummy]

Yesterday morning I disconnected the thermistors connector from the main board and measured the resistance and both appeared to be working. After reconnecting things it started working and the refrigerator compartment started cooling. The good news is it's working, the bad new is I don't know why. In the process did remove power several times. Maybe the controller had gotten lost in the weeds. The graph now looks like I'd expect. Can see it appears to start working properly around 10 AM yesterday and overnight settled in. The temperature is set for 33F now, late yesterday around six I had increased the temp and the graph shows a bump, then I set it back to 33. So if it messes up again the first thing I'll try is unplugging the power for a minute or so and see if that resets things. Thanks for the help.

 

[linuxdummy]

I've been associated with computers for most of my life. Don't know why I didn't do a power cycle in the beginning. Guess because I'm lazy and didn't want to move the refrigerator away from the wall. There have been some strange power problems in our area in the past several months, one which was really strange which was a low voltage where some LED bulbs would light up and some not. I'm betting on the problem being the strange power problems messing up the the main controller. I'm fairly certain a real technician would have tried the power cycle at the beginning.

 

[linuxdummy]

So last night I installed the plastic cover and metal cover over the main controller board and moved the refrigerator back against the wall and from that point on the temperature in the refrigerator has been slowly rising to above 40F and still rising. I unplugged and plugged it this morning which hasn't helped. It's still cooler than it was when started down this path but something doesn't seem to be working correctly. Maybe the temperature of the main controller board, some connector problem, or board problem (connector problem, cold solder joint, bad via, etc.). Hopefully I can isolate the problem. My experience from the past is if the problem goes away and you don't know why then it will bite you in the rear end again. (Not appliance specific but in general.) Had problem convincing software developers that changing something and the problem disappeared but they didn't know why usually came back to haunt at the most inopportune time. The diagnostics still don't show any problems. By the way cycling power didn't help.

 

[Jake]

the diagnostic shows 01Pass for the thermistor. Can they fail in a mode where they're not shorted or completely open but the resistance way off where the diagnostic would see that it exists?

Yes they can. You can ohm test it per the thermistor chart.

This should be it here:

Thermistor Temperature vs Resistance Chart

Temperature vs resistance data for this particular thermistor WP2188819 common to many Kenmore/Whirlpool/KitchenAid models is readily available. However it does not extend below -5F or provide a lot of detailed values for testing at near room temperature or freezing. So I've taken this limited...

www.applianceblog.com

If the thermistor ohms good, then the control board is malfunctioning.

Here's the control board for your model:
WPW10267646 Control, Elec


Jake

 

[linuxdummy]

Thanks Jake for your help. I measured the resistance at the connector on the main control board and both freezer and refrigerator values looked good. After measuring and plugging the thermistors back in to the control board and plugging back to power it started working and with the temp set to 35F the temp stayed close to 35. Last night after putting the cover back on the main board it started a gradual warming up to around 40F and that's with the temp now set to 33F. From my research it seems that the temp can vary a lot so I'll monitor it for a few days and see what it does.

 

[Jake]

Yes, keep your eye on it for a few days and see how it does.

Also pull your refrigerator out from the wall and clean in the back with a vacuum or brush. If the condenser fan is running at full speed then it should be fine.

Are your condenser coils clean? If not that causes too much heat in the back where the compressor, condenser coil and control board are located.

Get a vacuum cleaner attachment or condenser brush to clean your condenser. Even better would be if you have an air compressor or shop vac to blow the condenser coils out, yes its a bit more messy on your kitchen floor, but it cleans it thoroughly.

Vacuum Hose Attachment 8171579A


Refrigerator Condenser Cleaning Brush


Jake

 

[linuxdummy]

I'd never given any thought of blowing out the condenser coil. Being this unit is in the garage I blew it out this morning and it's much cleaner than I could get it with vacuum. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Jake]

Ok, sounds good.

Jake

 

[linuxdummy]

The refrigerator goes back to it's once and hour opening the damper. In the graph attached, last night I heated the refrigerator section especially aimed at the approximate location of the thermistor and measured the resistance which was 2590 ohms but it's irrelevant as I have no idea what the temperature was. The graph shows the damper was opened for an hour and then went to opening once an hour for a short period. This morning around 6:15 I unplugged the refrigerator and unplugged the thermistor connector at the main board and measured 4290 ohms, once again I don't have the exact temperature of the thermistor but wouldn't think it would be far from the 49F on the shelf, (at one time I placed a sensor near the area of the thermistor and it was consistently less than the shelf temp. According to the thermistor chart 4290 ohms would be around 59F which logically seems is off. So my thoughts are that the controller tries to cool down and when it doesn't happen it goes into the once an hour open and close of the damper. Guess it's time to disassemble the top of the refrigerator and remove the thermistor so can make a real measurement, which would of saved many days of time. But I have learned a lot by observing the graphs which is probably of no particular value going forward. I'm ignorant about the failure modes of thermistors but assume the value might change over time.

I appreciate you tolerating this old man. Know you have better use of your time. Anyway I'll now pull the thermistor and measure it at a known temperature as I should have done many days ago.

 

[linuxdummy]

I was going to get at the wiring harness with the thermistor and do a real measurement but after fooling around some the temperature started going down and it leveled off at a little off a little over 35F and stayed there for about 24 hours. I unplugged the power, unplugged the themistors connector and measured 5730 Ohms and I'd think the thermistor should have been close to 36F. I have three resistance to temperature data and for 36F the resistance according to the three sets of data should be 7830, 7990, or 7964. Think these values were all + or - 1%. So no matter which of these there is a big difference in 5730 and those values. Thus I ordered the wiring harness with the thermistor. Hopefully that will fix it. Now if I can determine how to get to the harness. Have found how to pop the front off and found a couple of screws up front but not any others. Surely I can figure that out.

In the attached graph the temp at about 35.5 until I increased the setting from 33 to 36 and there was a slight increase in temp but not much. A little after 9:00 I opened the doors for close to a minute and there was a bump in temperature to a little over 37F, then at about 13:00 I opened the door again and the temp is is steady climb. So appears somehow the firmware even with the resistance being off to 'guess' at a temperature which is close to what it should be (the first time I got it to do similar it was about 33F) and then maintain the temperature but after a couple door openings it no longer can guess. Anyway that's my guess based upon some firmware I've written for different things through the years (none for refrigerators). So assuming the thermistor fixes my problem I've spent many hours coming to this conclusion where you folks that know what you're doing would've taken an hour or so to reach that conclusion. Sure glad I don't have to pay myself the going rate as I could've bought a new refrigerator or two. There's no substitute for experience.

 

[linuxdummy]

I did look more at how to get to the wiring harness and can't see how to get to it. I popped off the front panel piece and found three screws, one appears to hold in the icemaker and the other two are holding the cover. I removed those two screws but the cover doesn't budge and I don't see any other screws and so far haven't found any good information on removing it and don't find any other screws are any thing to pry into to release it. Would you happen to have any instructions for this? Maybe need to remove the icemaker first? Thanks.

 

[Jake]

Here's the service manual for your model, it shows you how: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wf03p6o7KsS7IdGOVXon1A1wD34ELczq/view?usp=sharing

Jake

 

[linuxdummy]

Thanks. That should get me through the replacement.

 

[Jake]

Ok sounds good, let us know how it goes.

Jake

 

[linuxdummy]

Now if I can find the part. Have ordered it from two places and both cancelled my order that it was no longer available. Both showed one in stock when I ordered. Found one on eBay so hopefully it won't be cancelled. If it is I'll try to find a compatible thermistor and cut and replace. Guess if I have any other problems will have to scrap it being Whirlpool seems to have discontinued about all parts. The refrigerator I grew up with which think my parents got it in the 30s or 40s when they got electricity still works today. Of course it was very simple.

 

[Jake]

Yes, hopefully you can get the wire harness with the thermistor(in post #2 above) shipped to you.

Let us know how it goes.

Jake

 

[linuxdummy]

I tried ordering from post #2 and the order was accepted and then cancelled. Hope the order on eBay comes through. This day and age getting anything even if still in production can be difficult . Thanks again for your help.