Refrigerator question??????

[ram57ta]

I'll do a quick backtrack story and start off about a month ago...the Whirlpool side by side fridge started making compressor vibration sounds about a month or 2 ago. No big deal its still working great so I pulled it out from the wall and pushed it back into its cavity and the noise went away. It started making the same noises a couple days ago.....but as before...moving it around made the noise stop and it still cools great. I came in about an hour ago from working on my bike and heard the sound of water dripping on a hot plate and boiling instantly. I opened the freezer door and it seemed a bit warmer than normal and the compressor wasn't running. Water was dripping down on what I guess is the compressor cover at the bottom and was boiling off INSTANTLY. I reached back to make sure I wasn't imagining this and could feel the heat from the cover INSIDE the freezer from several inches away. I made the assumption that the compressor had burned up and started removing the frozen stuff to place in a cooler I was going to go get ice for...and then the compressor came back on.....now the fridge side and freezer is cooling normally with no noises/compressor is running...like nothing ever happened. All the melted water inside the freezer outlet has frozen over again. Is this thing toast? Its about 6 yrs old.

[Sgt Beavis]

Is it still under warranty? I'm not sure about this but I think the compressor and some other parts have longer coverage than the rest of the appliance.

[Captain Crawfish]

sounds like the compressor is locking up. next time hit it with a hammer

[bcoop]

Is it still under warranty? I'm not sure about this but I think the compressor and some other parts have longer coverage than the rest of the appliance.

On the commercial side, parts and labor runs for 1 year, and compressors have a 5 yr replacement warranty (labor not covered, just the compressor replacement). Not sure on the residential side.

[FastFox]

Sounds like it was in defrost. Usually you set them to defrost at night and you don't know it. Every 24 hours the compressor stops, a heater that is controlled by a bi-metal disc thermostat comes on and melts the frost from the evaporator . the melted ice runs into a pan that is sometimes on top of the compressor. The heat evaporates the defrosted water. Some units have a pan in the bottom with a low wattage heater that evaporates the melted ice. In time with power outages or un-plugging the unit the timer gets off and they defrost during the day, and you know it. The defrost cycle stays on about 20 minutes. If the thermostat goes bad, sometimes the defrost heater will stay on longer and heat up the inside of the freezer side. If it cools well after it came back on, the compressor is OK. I'd bet on the bi-metal thermostat if anything is wrong. If the ice is getting melted, and the unit cools when it comes back on, the heater and the compressor are OK. The rattle is probably a refrigerant line hitting against something. Move the box out, take of the inspection plate at the bottom and move the line a bit. This will be a good time to vaccum out the lint that collects in the condenser. Hope this helps.