Whirlpool side by side works for a while then quits.

by Tom Bailey
(Fredericksburg Va)

I arose this AM to find our 4 yr old whirlpool side by side with icemacker not working. All food in unit was at room temp.

Model ED5JHGXR000

Lights come on when doors open. Icemaker despenses ice.

The first thing I did; I am an old school guy so I smacked the thing Hard. It started working. Ran for 15 mins and quit.

Next pulled unit out pulled cardboard off back. Looks really good no heavy dust.Drain pan clear.
I unplug and replugged; it started working and is cooling down as I type. Been a half an hour and things are getting cold again.

Not sure where to look for problem.
Tom

Find your part:

Answer

Hi Tom,

It is hard to say since this is an intermitting problem. But the compressor is short cycling, which can be cause by a bad compressor, bad condenser fan motor or bad cold control.
Hitting the cold control will often make it cycle which may have been what you did. But also if the compressor is overheated hitting or jarring the compressor can cause it to kick in. This will happen if the compressor has cooled back down and is on the verge of kicking back in on it own. If the compressor is overheating it can the condenser fan or a bad compressor. Check to see if the fan is running and if so then you need to see if the compressor is overheating. When the compressor overheats it will be very hot and you will hear a clicking noise coming from the compressor indicating that the overload clicked the compressor off. If you read my pages you will see that I say the start relay can also cause this but we can rule that out since we know the compressor will start. So if it is overheating, the coils are clean and the fan is running then you have a bad compressor.

If the cold control is the problem wait until it stops working again (I have a feeling it will soon). Try turning the control all the way up and if it comes on (assuming it is room temp in refrigerator) replace the cold control. If that doesn’t work try hitting it again but lets try a controlled hit try hitting it right at the cold control and if it comes on replace the control. The cold control I am referring to is the temperature control for the fresh food section.

There is one more thing I am thinking it could be and that is the defrost control although I don’t think hitting it would have had an effect on the control however unplugging it and reconnecting it could have. It will be hard to tell if this is the problem so if it isn’t the other things I was talking about replace it.

Thank you,
Shawn/administrator