Help with Old GM Frigidaire Refrigerator

[cjhsa]

Wish I could delete...

Forget my last post. I must have been mistaken when I looked at the ice trays this AM. I put the thermometer in the freezer and it is right around zero. SO, it's possible he got the wires crossed and the fan is spinning the wrong way, or it's even slower than before he started. I found two exact replacements for the part 5306599388 on ebay and bought both of them. I'm going to have the guy back out since I know he can do it this time in under an hour. He was here two hours yesterday, sacrificed a "universal" motor that simply wouldn't fit in the mounts, and didn't charge me much, especially considering how far out in the boonies I am.

 

[goatfarmer]

Fan is only going to spin one way, no matter where the wires are connected.

 

[cjhsa]

Thanks goatfarmer. So do you think it will work if I get a good motor? I hope so. Hate to throw any more money at this if not.

 

[panthera]

The fan will, indeed

spin in the same direction, regardless of how the wires are hooked up. The way to reverse it - and with some universal fans, they are going backward when delivered from the factory for your fridge - is to flip the top and bottom bearings around. Easy to do, they fit both ways (designed that way) and that will reverse it.

The only way to reverse it.

So glad it's cooling.

 

[cjhsa]

Well, again this AM the ice Is not completely frozen. Ice tray shelf is at the top of rhe freezer. Freezer temp is 20F. What the heck. I did fiddle with the freezer temp knob, it's on "N" (middle setting). It's just a diverter. But if the fan isn't working where is that "cold" going?

 

[cjhsa]

. 22F in freezer. Fridge is now room temp.

 

[philr]

Is there adequate air flow from the blower? I assume you haven't replaced it yet? The fan is what moves the cold air. In a bottom freezer model, with the evaporator coils under the freezer floor, if there's no air flow, the refrigerator section won't even get cool and the freezer won't get cool enough. I think yours should have it's evaporator located at the back which is better but still likely not enough to make it cool enough. And if the freezer is almost empty, the temp might get up significantly if you check it after a defrost took place. There's a 500 watt heater that melts the ice in the freezer for a few minutes everyday.

Some of the Frost-Proof models that had their ice tray over the evaporators (like the one I have in my kitchen) did make the ice melt in their ice trays when the defrost took place even when everything is working fine as they were sitting just above the heating elements and some models like my 1963 didn't have any insulation over them.

Right now, I hear the 1960 Frost-Proof freezer downstairs defrosting (it does make cracking noise when it defrosts). The temp will rise a bit for a few minutes and it will slowly return to 0° after. [this post was last edited: 7/3/2017-08:17]

 

[cjhsa]

No I haven't replaced it yet. This is a cabin up north with no mailing address so I had to ship the eBay purchases to my home downstate. I'll be back up here in about a month. I unplugged the fridge. It was only getting the freezer down to about 19° no longer going to zero like it did a couple days ago. The evap motor completely seized up.

 

[philr]

I hope that will fix it. Let us know what happens when you return next month!

 

[cjhsa]

Well, it did not fix it. With the new motor(s) the fan is rubbing inside the housing. I think the housing or fan itself has warped due to it overheating. We tried to sand down the surfaces without success. I let the repair guy take the fan assembly home to work on, hopefully he can figure it out.

One thing, the "new" motors came without a mounting plate attached. The metal mounting plate was attached with RIVETS to the old bad motor. We had to drill those out, and fortunately one of the two "new" motors came with screws. Both came with an (identical, factory) note saying there were screws included, but only one had them.

So I'm still living out of a cooler while there. And that sucks. I'm going to take a small "dorm" fridge up there for now.

 

[cjhsa]

Unfortunately, the fan housing cracked and broke while he worked on it. The red fridge is dead. Long live the red fridge.

 

[philr]

Too bad. With all the efforts you made to save it... I've seen badly melted ones that were reshaped and fixed with epoxy but sometimes it's too far gone to fix...

 

[cjhsa]

Dishwasher now dead

Some of you commented on the Kitchenaid dishwasher in the pics. Well, it stopped working. It's now running water straight down the drain. I did find a dead mouse sitting on some wires/contacts, but not sure how long he's been there. I'm sure he had something to do with the failure. Now I have two failed major appliances sitting out in a cabin in the woods.

 

[combo52]

KA KD-15 DW water running down the drain

There is either something stuck in the drain valve holding it open or the rubber seal is rotted away, remove the valve and see if something is stuck in it, if so remove the foreign object, if not replace the complete valve.

 

John L.