Relay and Plug Kit

We opened our freezer last week only to find the bottom 2/3 was barely cold, while only the rear of the upper shelf was cold. In fact, it was covered in frost, despite being a frost-free model. Our frozen veggies were slushy, not rock hard, and our frozen juices were all liquid. We defrosted the freezer, plugged it back in, but immediately noticed that we didn't hear the 'whhoooooosh' that you typically hear when you close the freezer door. After 30 minutes, the rear upper shelf was frosty again, but the rest was still at room temp. We figured the freezer was a goner, so we started looking at new freezers. I headed online to see if I could fix it, and I eventually found this site. I had learned online that these symptoms can be caused by either a bad capacitor, or a bad controller (which the capacitor plugs in to). I guess you can't necessarily tell which of the two parts is defective, so I chose to order/replace both of them. I ordered the correct parts from partselect.com, and they alerted me that Frigidaire has a new replacement part for the capacitor. When the parts arrived (quickly, ftw!), I unplugged the freezer and snipped the two wires leading to the controller. Next I unplugged the controller from the compressor housing. I spliced the replacement controller's wires into the freezer's wires (using my own wire nuts...as none were included with my order :( ). I snapped the new controller onto the compressor mounting, and then plugged the capacitor in. I plugged the freezer back in, and it was time for the moment of truth. The interior light of the freezer came on, and I could hear the compressor 'humming'. I could hear it humming before the repair, so the big test was to see if it got cold. I was nervous because the freezer DIDN'T make the 'whoooshing' noise right away, but after just an hour, the 'test' mug of water was already turning into ice. It was fixed!!!! If you have these symptoms, you CAN do this!!! Unplug the freezer. Cut two wires. Unplug the controller. Splice two wires. Plug in the new controller. Snap in the new capacitor. DONE!!!

The retaining wire keeping the starter in place was first removed then the starter was easily removed. Pulling the old wire off was a little difficult because I had to pull harder than I expected. Getting the wire back on was probably the hardest part. I had to compress one part of the plug so I could get it to fit back on then it was simply a matter of placing the starter back in position and replacing the wire that holds it snugly in place. 20 minutes or so start to finish and new starter works well.

Super easy. That was super cool and saved me $500.00.

The repair was not difficult because you just remove the old part and plug it in and connect two wires. But I wish there was a way to test if the compressor is working before I purchased the parts. The compressor would not start so I was not able to repair the refrigerator.