36380 Refrigerator - Instructions

I have a fridge in my garage. I have found that a glass of ice water or a cold drink outside is very important to me. When I discovered melting ice dripping onto the garage floor I was very upset. I spun the fridge and found that the compressor and fan weren't starting. I got out my multi-meter and discovered that power was not makin ... Read more g it to these components. I did some research and found the wiring diagram online. There really isn't too much going on with a fridge and the most likely candidate seemed to be the run capacitor. I ordered the part, replaced it in a few minutes and the fridge began working again.

I applied some tips learned by reading other reviews. So before I started I grabbed my trusty vise grip pliers and a small screw driver. I locked onto the switch actuator, the part that the refrigerator door pushes in, with the vise grips and pulled on it just hard enough to get the screw driver inserted in the right side to push in the c ... Read more atch clip so the switch could be pulled out further each time the catch clip was depressed to the next detent. Then I used the screw driver on the left site to encourage the switch past the detents on the left and very quickly the switch was out of the mount. The wires from the refrigerator pulled out with the old switch. I unplugged the old switch from the wires and plugged in the new switch and shoved the new switch back into the mount, wiggled it a couple of times to make sure it was secure and the job was done. Once I applied the vise gripes at first, the whole job took less than a minute.

unplugged refrigerator. removed light bulb from old socket. unsnapped old light socket and pulled it out just enough to diconnect the electrical plug that plugs into the socket . discarded the old socket and plugged in new socket. snapped in new socket into refrigerator. i watched how to do this simple procedure on you tube and decided to ... Read more do it myself. easy easy easy

Removed back panel. Opened cover to relay attached to the compressor and pulled off replacing with new relay. No problem.

Better than paying $250 for someone else to do it.

First turned off power and removed top shelf.
Then I used a flathead to slowly pry the switch out by the two sides. You just anlge ita bit and it slideds out easily. Then I disconnected the wires from the old switch, connected the new one and installed the new switch by snapping it back into the cutout.

The first component I suspect is the relay mounted near the compressor. I installed the replacement relay and still nothing. I then removed the control board, inspected it for burnt circuit paths or components. I noticed the c.b. relay for the compressor's lead had burned away the solder and there was no longer a viable connection. No ... Read more t sure why this happened but my next step is to a) reestablish a solder connection. If this fails then b) replace the control board.

Found burned Defrost timer contacts.

Poped out with screwdriver the old swithch and unplugged the two wires. Plugged in the wires to the new swithch and pushed it back in the hole where the old switch was before.

While the switch did last for 9 years, the design is poor due to the failure mode. The failure should be to fail off or not able to turn on the lights which would be inconvenient but would not warm the refrigerator contents. Arcing at the contacts eventually caused the switch to "weld" closed. It is not obvious that this is occurring s ... Read more o it took some time to recognize why the temp inside the ref was high while the freezer was OK. Replacing the switch was easy once it was recognized as the problem. All that was required to replace the switch was to remove the screws holding a fiber cover and then pulling off the aluminum cap which covered the switches. Unplug the switch an squeeze the keeper on the switch to release it and pull down. Pop the replacement switch in place and plug the wires harness back in. All in all it took much less time to replace than it has to write this up. T Pope

The existing light switch was very hard to remove. I ended up having to grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it out. Once it was out, it was very easy to put in the replacement and it seems to be working fine.

After I bought what I thought I needed for the repair. I asked a friend to come over and look at it. He changed the
the light socket and put the same light bulb in and it works great. I am returning the light switch but decided to keep the light bulb.

Getting on the internet was so easy. This was really very simple. ... Read more Thank you for making what I thought would be a big ordeal into something very simple.

Paulette Johnson

First unplugged frig. Took off cover to fan, then bottom & back panels in freezer. Unplugged the fan to the wires & marked them so we would know how they went back. Unscrewed the frame that holds the fan, laid the old one next to the new one so we could tell how it went. Only took a few minutes to do this, then put it back in the same way ... Read more we took it out. Plugged frig. back in & it took off. Very happy with this. Runs like a new one.

I opened the back panel of the fridge and exposed the compressor. Unplugged existing run capacitor and installed new one with the addition of the sleeve that is stated must be installed around the run capacitor.
Everything I read and on this web site says that based on these symptoms, that the problem is the run capacitor. I search ... Read more ed and search for a part called a start relay which plugs in to the compressor. This run capacitor plugs in to this other part which I take as the start relay.

Installing this run capacitor did not solve the problem. The fridge compressor keeps cycling on and off. Freezer doesn't keep as cold as it should.

as described, I used a thin screwdriver to wedge in and pull down existing, broken switch. I was able to pull it down about a 1/4 inch, but wasn't quit able to disegage it until I gripped it with pliers. I then pulled it out, unplugged the old switch, plugged in the new switch, and carefully tucked the wires back into the fridge and snapp ... Read more ed the new switch into place.

10 minutes total.

i have a friend that had a big side by side refrigerator . he had repair man after repairman come and look at it. one thought it was the overload relay in the back and another just said it was compressor problems. this went on for over a month. after all of this and no one able to fix it he went and got another refrigerator . being the ti ... Read more nker with stuff kind of person i am i said i will come and get the old one to keep him from having to haul it off (he agreed). well i did my home work and tried a few things messing with it. tapping on the thermistat resetting the defrost timer and it dawned on me that that the fridge would run great if i wiggle a wire on the thermistat and reset the defrost timer. so i get on the internet look around for the parts. come to find out they were realy cheap. the day they get here i break out with a screw driver and a nut driver and take the cover off. i take the old parts out and put the new ones in in about 15 minutes. i wiped the inside of the frige clean and pluged it back in. well in no time flat this thing was cooling like a northern blowing through in january. then it dawned on me that i have a 27 cubic ft frige that i didnt pay any thing for (well the 65 bucks i spent on the parts) and it runs great. what a deal.

after getting the big side by side fixed up and running like a champ i realized i have a refrigerator in the garage that my parents gave me a couple of years ago that only ran for a couple of months. well i get brave and decide to try my luck with the second one. due to it sitting up for so long and the humidity i had to do a little more work to it. i replaced a few wires, changed out a couple of connections, put a thermistat , a defrost timer and a evapmotor in it this thing also ran like a champ. i cleaned it up real good ran some steel wool over the outside and sprayed a couple of coats of enamel on it and it looks brand new.

so to end this story i spent about 140 bucks and i have two refrigerators a big side by side ice and water despensing refrigerator in the house and a 17 cubic ft refrigerator in the garage (the wife was happy simply because i had a place to put beer and bait).

if i would have went and purchased both of these refrigerators i would have spent about $1400 for the side by side and about $450 for the other one. man what a bargin, so from now on even if it seems a little dificult i dont get rid of any thing until i give it a good look over and see if i can fix it. i saved a total of $1700 (minus tax).