Showing posts with label refrigerator. Show all posts
Showing posts with label refrigerator. Show all posts

How Much Power Does a Refrigerator Use

Today's post is going to be on a question that I get asked almost on a daily basis.

How much Electricity or Energy does my refrigerator use?  


Well I'm going to try to help give you a general idea on that.

I tested a couple refrigerators I had at the shop today and this is what I found.  Most refrigerators that are over ten years old are running about 200 watts of electricity when the compressor and fans are running.
Most newer refrigerators within the last five years or so are running anywhere from about 125 - 140 watts of electricity.

Now the compressor and the fans are going to cycle on and off throughout the day.  On average the refrigerator will run roughly 50% of the time.  So using the numbers above, an older refrigerator is like leaving a 100 watt light on in your house 24 hours a day.  Newer refrigerators are like leave a 60 - 70 watt light on 24 hours a day.

Newer refrigerators are definitely more energy efficient that older ones.  Other factors that will affect these numbers are of course going to be the lights in the refrigerator.  They use power when you open the doors.  Another thing that will affect energy usage is the defrost cycles of the machines.  On newer refrigerators the defrost cycles are run only when they are needed instead of every 8 hours or so.  This will result in some energy savings over the course of a year.  Most defrost heaters will draw about 300 watts of power when they are on.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post today.  The video below shows me doing some tests on the refrigerators that I was talking about in this post.  If you could hit the "LIKE" button on the video, this helps me out.  If you have any questions about this or anything else for that matter, leave them in the comment section on this blog or in the comment section on the video.  Thanks again for taking the time and have a good day!

Refrigerator Not Cooling - What to Check

Today we are going to talk a little about Troubleshooting a Refrigerator that is not getting cold and a few things to check to get you going in the right direction in repairing the problem.

There are a couple things that need to happen for your refrigerator to get cold.  The compressor has to run, the evaporator fan has to move the air around the refrigerator to cool down the entire inside of your fridge and freezer.  There are a couple components on your refrigerator that are going to control when the compressor and the fan run.  One being the defrost timer, the other being the thermostat or also called the cold control.  I have made a couple videos explaining how to test each one of these parts and what they look like to help guide you along in your repair.  I am still going to try to explain a basic walk through of what I would do if I was at your house.

The first thing I would check to make sure the Refrigerator was getting the proper voltage.  If you open up the refrigerator and the light is on, we can move on.  If you don't have a light inside the refrigerator, test the outlet that the fridge is plugged into and make sure that there is voltage at the plug in the neighborhood of 120VAC.  Now that we have gone over that lets move on.


On a no cool refrigerator after I have determined that power is not an issue, the next thing I would do is open up the freezer door.  There are a couple things that we are going to look for.  First thing you are going to want to listen for is the fan inside the freezer.  If the fan is running, good, if not, we have to figure out why the fan is not running.  The two parts we talked about earlier are in control of the freezer fan.  


If your fan is not running, check the compressor.  It is the black round motor in the back of the refrigerator that pumps the freon through the sealed system.  Is the compressor running?  If the compressor is running and the fan is not running we need to check the evaporator fan first.  If the compressor is not running we need to check the defrost timer and the thermostat first.

First thing I'm going to go over is checking the evaporator fan.  Most fans inside your freezer are 120 VAC fans.  When the compressor is running the fan will also be receiving voltage at the same time.  You are going to need to access the evaporator fan for this test.  At this point you are going to want to unplug the refrigerator from the wall and remove the back panel of your freezer.  You are going to need to access the evaporator fan motor.  The first test is going to be seeing if the fan is good or bad.  With the refrigerator unplugged from the wall, remove the wires that are plugged into the fan and test the resistance across the two  terminals on the fan motor.  You should not read and open circuit. Normally you should read something like 100 to 125 ohms or so.  If you test the fan and have an open circuit, the fan is bad and will need replaced.  For the next test with the fan we are going to see if the fan motor is getting the correct voltage when the compressor is running.  From here you are going to place your meter on VAC so we can test the current going to to fan.  So plug the fridge back in and test the wires going to the fan motor.  Make sure you can hear the compressor running when you do this test.  If you hear the compressor running and the fan is not getting 120 volts, the defrost timer is bad.  If your refrigerator does not have a defrost timer but has an ADC board, then its bad.  The ADC board and the Defrost timer do basically the same thing.  One is mechanical the other works off a control board.

Moving on, now we are going to run some tests for a refrigerator that the compressor and the evaporator fan are not running.  You are going to want to first locate the defrost timer on your machine.  The first check is going to be to see if it's stuck in defrost.  The fridge will go into defrost about 3 times a day.  So for around 30 minutes the compressor and the fan are shut down and the heater is turned on in the freezer to clear the frost and ice off the coils behind the rear panel.  The refrigerator does this to make sure that the cold freezer air can easily circulate throughout the whole unit, keeping everything cold.  Now for the test, grab yourself a flat head screwdriver and find the dial on the defrost timer.  You want to turn the dial clockwise.  You will hear some clicking as the timer moves.  There are two distinct clicks, first one being the timer entering defrost mode and the second distinct click coming out of the defrost cycle.  If the compressor and fan come on when you turn the dial, great, now you know that you have a bad defrost timer.  Now if that didn't make the fan and compressor come on then we have to test the thermostat.  The thermostat will also shut down the fridge when it reaches the correct temperature.   However if its defective, then it will shut down the goodies when it's not supposed to.  How to test the thermostat is pretty simple.  Unplug the fridge from the wall, remove the two wires that plug into the thermostat.  With the thermostat set to the factory setting, the midway point or so,  test the resistance across the two terminals.  If the thermostat is bad, it will read an open circuit.  If the thermostat is reading a closed circuit, then the timer is bad and not letting any voltage reach either the fan or the compressor.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and watch some videos.  I hope that the information in here has helped you locate the problem with your refrigerator and you are able to fix it.  If you have any questions or need some more help, I try to answer all my comments on my posts, either with a new post or in the comments themselves, so leave a comment with any questions you have or let me know if this helped you out.  Make sure you thumbs up the videos and add them to your favorites, that helps me out alot.

Good Luck with your repair, I hope I was able to save you some money by you not having to call out a professional.


Frigidaire Refrigerator not Cooling

Todays blog post is going to be on a service call that I performed today.  It was on a Frigidaire Side by Side refrigerator.  The problem the customer was having was that most of the food in the freezer had thawed and nothing in the refrigerator side was cool.

They had been away for a couple days and they had family coming over and checking on the pets at the house.  Their dad had notice that there was water on the floor in front of the fridge during one of the visits.  So the father opened up the freezer door and notice all the ice had melted from the ice bin, but the food in the bottom of the freezer was still frozen.  When he opened up the refrigerator door the temperature display was reading 65 degrees for both freezer and refrigerator side.  The water dispenser was also not working.

OK, so now that we know what was going on with the machine we can move on to diagnostics.  Because I have been repairing appliances for so long I already knew what was wrong with the machine, or at least what wasn't working.  So what I'm going to do is try my best to explain the basic operation of the fridge and how I determined where to start digging into the machine.

On most side by side refrigerators the evaporator coils are located in the freezer behind the rear panel toward the bottom half of the back wall.  The evaporator fan sits above that.  That fan blows the cold air from the evaporator coils to the top of the freezer compartment behind the back wall.  From there the air is divided.  Most of the air blows into the top of the freezer and creates a circular pattern of air movement.  Some of the air is pushed into the refrigerator compartment through what is called the damper.  Its basically a little door that opens and closes controlling the air flow into the fridge side of your machine.  That air starts at the top, moves down over the shelves and returns to the freezer through another damper at the bottom of the compartment.  OK, moving on.

I'm going to spoil the suspense and tell you that the fan was not working on this refrigerator.  I didn't say the fan was bad, I said not working.  There is a difference.  If the fan was bad, it would have been getting the proper voltage and not moving.  If the fan is not getting the correct voltage to operate then something else is bad and the fan is not working.  Anyway, moving on....the frost build up from the defrost issue was what was causing the fan to not be able to rotate.

What was happening with their fridge was the all the cold air being produce by the evaporator coils was not being moved around in that circular of air motion that I was talking about earlier.  The coldest air will always settle at the bottom of the fridge and of course the warmer air is going to stay at the top.  Now that we know this it makes sense that if the fan was not moving air to the top of the freezer, the ice will melt.  It will run out of the bucket, through the shoot on the door and right onto the floor.  Because the compressor is still running and producing cold air in the freezer, things at the very bottom of the freezer remained frozen.

Lets talk about why the temperature was reading almost room temperature.  The thermistors that read the temperature are located on the back wall in both compartments about 3/4 of the way up.  Now we know that warmer air is higher up, I shouldn't really have to explain any further.  Do I?  YES, thats why its frozen at the bottom and still reading a high temperature!

Why did the water stop working on the dispenser?  Well, this one is easy enough now that we know the frozen air rests at the bottom.  There is a water tank the rests behind crisper drawers of the refrigerator compartment.  That is why the water is always nice and cool when it comes out of the dispenser, when its working of course.  But that's in the refrigerator side?  Yes, because air from the freezer is going into the fridge compartment through the lower damper (that's always open), so everything at the bottom of the fresh food side of the refrigerator is also frozen when the fan stops moving the air.  That includes the water in the tank.  So when its frozen, it doesn't flow.

Here is a post with a Frigidaire Refrigerator being used a test machine to help you troubleshoot a little better.

Refrigerator Not Getting Cold

Here is a Website for Troubleshooting Frigidaire Refrigerators - Step by Step


Do you have any questions?  If so just leave them in the comment section below.  I will do my best to follow up and pass on some knowledge.





My Refrigerator is clicking

In this article I'm going to talk about the Clicking Noise that may occur with your refrigerator. I answer Appliance Questions online and this is a very common complaint. So I will write it here to save me from retyping it over and over.

The components on the side of the compressor are called your relay, starter and capacitor. There are a few different styles but they pretty much do the same thing. They allow the electrical current to enter the compressor. IF the compressor is going bad, say shorted windings in the motor, this will cause the compressor to draw to many amps of electricity. When the compressor draws too much current, the overload will overheat and "CLICK". When you hear that click, that is the sound of, your refrigerator isn't going to get cold anymore and you better fix it quick noise. That's why you're here.

The clicking noise is very distinct and it will sound like it's coming from under the refrigerator or from the back. You may also hear buzzing. The overload will click when it cools down and lets current through the circuit again. So, click off, click on. But if the component parts are bad or the compressor is bad this cycle will happen again, and again, again, and so on and so forth. Usually about the rate of every minute or so.

Now, there are a few other things that will cause this to overheat and shut off. One is if your condenser coils are covered in pet hair and haven't been cleaned in some time. Lint, dust, hair, who knows what else can be there but you get the point. If those coils are not kept clean, the compressor will run hot. That will cause the overload on the side of the compressor to overheat and "click"-no cool. Unplug the fridge and clean the coils. This may fix the problem if the overload or compressor weren't damaged. You will know right away. If the fridge runs fine after cleaning the coils then you are okay. You will know usually within a few minutes if the something has been damaged. It will still click.

Another thing that can cause the click is an adaptive defrost control board. It contains a relay that sends power to the parts on the side of the compressor. When the defrost board doesn't send full power to the compressor, this causes an increased amp draw to make up for the voltage drop. Increased amp draw equals "CLICK"

One more thing that may cause this clicking sound is the condenser fan not working. The condenser fan is the fan that is next to the compressor. It has a couple jobs. Evaporate the defrost water and keeping the heat off the condenser coils and compressor. If the fan isn't running when the compressor is running, guess what will happen. "CLICK" I think you know why by now, but just in case, the compressor overheats and the overload on the side of the compressor, protects it by shutting off the power. Hopefully if your fan motor was bad, the overload did its job and saved your compressor. You can place a separate fan on the floor blowing on the compressor and coils to temporarily get you by until your new parts arrive.

Okay, you cleaned the coils, got a fan if you needed one and it still clicks, now what? The first thing to do is replace the components on the side of the compressor. Hopefully the compressor starts up and the new components don't click like the old ones. If they don't click you are good to go. Good job, you just saved a bunch of money on appliance repairs.
But what if it still clicks? Well, to put it nicely, your refrigerator may need to find a new home(scrapyard). That means your compressor has internal damage or you have some sort of freon restriction. If your refrigerator is less than five years old it may be covered by the manufacture's limited warranty. That means this repair will not cost you. But, if it's older than that or you don't have some sort of extended warranty plan, this repair will cost you at least $300. And if you are really unlucky it could cost around $600. The difference in price being whether you only need freon work, or you need the compressor replaced.

I think I've covered the basics. You now know what the annoying clicking sound is when your refrigerator gives up and stops getting cold. The clicking is capable of happening periodically. Make sure the refrigerator isn't running in temperatures above 85 - 90 degrees F. Don't let the refrigerator be exposed to direct sunlight. Keep the coils clean. Don't leave the doors hanging open for long periods of time. If you are having a defrost issue this sound could be heard. That is because with a defrost issue, the compressor runs constantly and that will cause it to overheat.

If you are having a Defrost Issue be sure to read about Defrost Problems on my blog.  Search for Frost in my Freezer.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have more questions about this I can be found on YouTube.com/ApplianceOutlet.  Post your Comments or Questions either on this Blog or at the bottom of my YouTube videos.

Frost in my Freezer

You wake up in the morning and go to the refrigerator to get some breakfast. When you get out the milk, juice or whatever it is you get for breakfast, you notice something is wrong. It's not cold! The next thing you do is open up the freezer and see if that is still working properly. Wheeew it is. But why?

What you probably didn't notice was that the freezer has not been going through it's normal defrost cycle. Because of this un-noticed event going on, there has been frost building up on the evaporator coils that doesn't belong there. After this frost continues to build up over the course of a few days to a week or so, now you are going to start to notice the effects.


Here is what's happening when you have a malfunction in the defrost system.
  • Air cannot circulate from the freezer(where the cold happens basically) to the fresh food section.
  • Your refrigerator will run constantly to try to cool the fresh food section. This will develop a new set of problems with your refrigerator. More on that later....
  • Excess frost builds up within the coils inside the freezer. This is what is blocking the air flow to the fresh food section
  • Usually you will notice the icemaker will stop making ice. Poor air flow and not quite cold enough temperatures in the freezer cause this
  • Water will not come through the dispensor on the door. Cold air settles, the water resovoir will freeze.
  • Compressor may overheat and shut off. This is when you hear, click,click,click. Not good
  • Ice Cream in the Freezer will start to get soft. That's really not that bad. lol
What can you do about this. Let me explain the defrost system in general so you get an understanding of what is going on.


The coils inside the freezer are the only part inside the whole refrigerator that "get cold". They need to stay free from excess frost build up so that air can pass through the coils and reach the refrigerator section of your refrigerator. Every eight hours or so, depending on the type of defrost timer or control you have, the compressor and fans will shut off and the machine will go into defrost mode. When the refrigerator is in defrost there is a heater that is tied into the evaporator coils inside the freezer that comes on. This heater is behind the rear panel inside the freezer where the evaporator coils are located. It melts the frost that has accumulated over the course of time. After about thirty minutes the machine comes out of defrost and goes back to normal operation.


Now the air can continue to pass through the coils and keep the freezer frozen and the refrigerator cool and everybody is happy.


What components make up the defrost system?
  • Defrost control or timer.
  • Some refrigerators have a defrost timer. This type works like a clock. Every eight hours or so the machine hits the defrost spot and that's when defrost occurs
  • Some refrigerators have an Adaptive Defrost Control. This is what makes a refrigerator energy efficient. It varys the length of time it takes the machine to go into defrost. So instead of the energy hogging heater coming on every eight hours, it may be 24 hours, 18 hours, 10.5 hours, who knows. It depends on how many times you have opened the doors, how long the compressor has run. This is good because the refrigerator may not need to go into defrost every eight hours. Now you are saving energy. Good Stuff
  • Defrost Thermostat
  • This is the component that controls how long the heater stays on when the machine is in defrost mode. Say the defrost cycle is thirty minutes, the heater may only be on for ten of those thirty minutes on the timer controls. On Adaptive Defrost Controls, when the heater shuts off, shorty after the machine exits defrost mode. Basically if the heater only stays on for ten minutes, the whole defrost cycle will only be about 12 or 13 minutes long.
  • Basically when the heater comes on, it starts to melt the frost on the evaporator. Once all the ice and frost is gone, the temperature behind the panel will start to rise. Once the temperature behind the panel rises to a certain temperature, the thermostat will break the current of electricity going to the heater. Bam, it shuts off and prevents your freezer from becoming a sauna, or an oven. I'm sure you get the drift. The heater is on the bottom of the evaporator coils and the defrost thermostat sits on top of the evaporator coils.
  • Defrost Heater
  • This is the last component in the defrost system. This one should be pretty simple. By now if you have read this far you should already know what this does and how important is it. Some defrost heaters are a coil of wire in a glass tube under the evaporator coils. Works like a light bulb basically. The other style looks like the bake element in your stove. They both get red hot either way and melt the frost.
So what happens now? Well the first thing you can do to get the machine running is to remove the rear panel of the freezer. From there you will want to remove all the frost and ice that has built up. Pouring hot water over the coils is the best method. The water will drain out of the freezer through the drain hole in the bottom of the freezer under the evaporator coils.  From there it will evaporate on it own.

Once all the frost is gone, you could put the machine back together and it would work fine. For a few days, until the frost has developed again due to the defrost issue. That would only be a temporary fix.

Hopefully between this article and video you are able to find your problem and repair it. Feel free to post in the comments or visit the Appliance Outlet website to get further information about fixing your defrost problem.  If you have any request for videos or questions with your repair, feel free to ask.  You can reach me on Google+ or on my YouTube Channel  Thanks for taking the time to read and watch this and good luck with your repair.