Trouble in refrigerator paradise...

[hooverwheelaway]

Update!

So it's been a month now and we're happy to report that the fridge is running just perfectly! There's not a crystal of frost to be found in the freezer! It cycles twice a day, at 9:12 am and pm... Usually goes 11 or 12 minutes then kicks back in. For the first time in a while, the compressor has been cycling on and off multiple times a day, and we've been able to turn the dial in the fridge to the lowest "cold" setting -- by lowest, I mean warmest... And both the fridge and freezer have been holding temperature in the safe zones.

Yay!

 

[a440]

Great News!
I know you guy's are happy!

 

[philr]

That's great!

Did you keep the aftermarket defrost timer or did you replace it? I assume you replaced it as it defrosts twice a day!

Now that you don't have issues with your defrost system, you can also do another test if you want:
First, see how cold the freezer and refrigerator sections are. At the actual warmest setting of the cold control, the temperature in the freezer should stay above 0 degrees F.

If the freezer is already near or at 0 degrees, then your cold control is probably a bit off as the temperature should be too warm in the freezer at this setting. As long as its working fine like that, you could leave it like that!

But the refrigerating system should be able to drop the temperature in the freezer much below 0 degrees too. If the temperature in the freezer is already at -5 degrees F at the warmest setting of the cold control, you don't want to move it to a colder position as the compressor probably won't cycle off. If it's already colder than that at the warmest setting, it's too cold! But if the temperature is at the expected 5 or 10 degrees F, you should move the control to a slightly colder setting.

In that situation:
Turn the cold control to a colder setting to see if the compressor still cycles on and off and monitor the temperature in the freezer. Do it gradually and wait for at least a day each time you move the control to monitor the changes.
If everything is fine with the refrigerating system and the insulation, the compressor will still cycle on and off (but with slightly longer "on" times) and the temperature in the freezer should drop much below 0 degrees F once the setting is too cold.
If there's a problem, the temperature probably won't drop at or much lower than 0 degrees in the freezer and the compressor won't cycle off.

In both cases, that would cause the temperature in the refrigerator to drop slightly too which is normal.

The bulb for the cold control in this model senses the temperature in the freezer, so setting it to a colder setting should drop the temperature mostly in the freezer. You should also notice that once the temperature gets cold in the refrigerator, the thermostatically-operated aiflow control should partially close the ventilation in the refrigerator automatically when the compressor and fan are working (you can feel the amount of air that circulates from the main air outlet above the cover for the light bulbs if you hold the light switch pushed as if the refrigerator door was closed). But even if that works fine, the temperture in the refrigerator section might get a bit too low if the compressor doesn't cycle off sometimes as there is still some restricted airflow when the control closes.

 

[hooverwheelaway]

Hi Phil,

 

I don't remember which timer we put back in offhand, either way it seems to be working just fine.

 

I should have actually looked at the dial in the fridge before I posted that last night.  It's on the "A" setting.  Seems sort of backwards the way Frigidaire did it:  (warm) 3 - 2 - 1 - A -B - C (cold).  In any case, we have it set at A.  The freezer is about 4*F and the fridge fluctuates between 30*F and 40*F, depending on where it is in the cycle and if the door's been opened, etc...

 

Thanks for all of the info!  I think for now though, we're just going to leave well-enough alone.  If it ain't broke...

 

 

 

[philr]

That seems fine! It also means your cold control is OK!

 

[funktionalart]

Sorry to reopen a 3-year old thread…!

Just thought what I am going to post here should be included as my post relates to the same series of 60s Frigidaire refrigerator units. Mine is a 1963 FPI-16B-63--photos included here are of some wiring I unearthed today in my freezer compartment.

Here's my concern: The unit works just fine. I'm not trying to fix anything that isn't broken or mess with a good thing! BUT: this refrigerator has been running in a spare room all by itself. Nothing else near it or plugged in. I decided to finally install this in my kitchen and got one hell of a shock (literally) when I touched it today. I have NOT got a 3-prong grounded corset on it (am definitely going to remedy that ASAP). Cord is still original.

Because I had an old recollection of reading this thread years back, I decided to open up the freezer compartment and see if there was any loose/corroded wiring or other issues. It took some digging, but I managed to pull out the orange drain heater. It seems fine--nice and supple--no problems~however a grey wire showed up when I pulled this cluster of wires out. It has no cap on it and I don't know where or IF it should even be connected with any others.

As I say, this unit works just fine so can I presume that simply capping or electric taping this single grey wire (along with adding a 3-prong cordset)--my electric shock issue might probably go away? Pics of this are below, along with some other random ones I took while I was down on the floor!

BTW~PhilR…if you see this post, can you advise on replacement for that perished rubber "U" shaped mount I show in the last photo?

 

[philr]

Allen, I also had to replace this mount on one of my fridges, I couldn't locate the original part so I used a piece of rubber to replace it.

The only gray wire I see in my plans is the one that goes from the refrigerator section's light switch to the freezer fan. Does your blower still stop when you open the refrigerator's door? Is the wire that's cut still live (check with the refrigerator door closed).

As for your electrical shock, If it's not related to the gray wire that has been cut, I can tell you it's often caused by defrost heater that's shorted to the ground. It might still work but it makes the whole cabinet live.

The first thing to check (assuming the fridge has been used recently and the freezer coil is still wet) is the conductivity between each of the two blade connectors of the plug (with the plug disconnected from the outlet of course!) and the cabinet with a multimeter on the "ohms" reading. If it's still shorted, you'll see some conductivity on one of the blades of the plug and metallic parts of the cabinet (the one you touched when you got a shock should work!). If you see that there's some conductivity, you have to figure what causes that condition. If there's no conductivity, you might have temporarily "fixed" the situation by moving something or letting the freezer compartment dry from not being used for some time.
But if there's still a short, the first thing to try is to disconnect the defrost heater to see if you still have conductivity between the plug and the cabinet.

Also, I see that your defrost timer has been replaced, probably with a 4 wire model. There is probably a green wire that has been disconnected somewhere. This green wire is NOT a ground and it shouldn't touch the cabinet. Since the compressor was replaced by another Frigidaire compressor and the defrost timer also seems to be a replacement from Frigidaire, there are good chances that the person who fixed it knew what he was doing so there might not be issues with the wires. But it's still good to have a look at that.

Here are a few pics of the pages of the service manual that might help you with the wiring. I can't send you the whole manual as I don't have an internet connection at home and I'm just relying on my limited data plan on my phone.

If you find that the defrost heater is shorted, the good news is that a similar replacement part is still available. It's a bit tricky to replace but I have done it on a few similar 1964 fridges (but not on my 1963 yet!).

 

[funktionalart]

Phil~Thanks for this. I will have to do some work sorting this out…I just found it odd that this "shock" situation never happened before I moved the refrigerator into the kitchen to put it to use. It was in another room holding cold drinks and never did it shock me in there.

Yes, my fan works properly via the door light switch as it should. Open door, fan stops. Close door, it resumes. I'm just so reluctant to mess about with any wiring on this refrigerator--just because everything works perfectly on it. And that defrost heater heats up fast and nicely. But as you outline…full investigation
is definitely in order. Getting strong shock off the cabinet is really scary…!

Any ideas what the date/rating of the replacement compressor might be? When I first bought this a couple years back, you'd asked me about it and I really didn't know. I only knew it was replacement based on it being painted white vs. black. It seems to be an identical unit to the original, but I've no idea what the hp rating is. Pic of it is #6 up above…

As for that rubber mount--I'm sure I can craft my own--was just hoping that it was something that might be available already made. I shouldn't hope for anything like that for a 55 year old appliance though…!

 

[philr]

Did you happen to touch something else than the fridge when you got the strong shock? Usually it happens when you touch something else that's conductive and grounded (a sink if there's one nearby or your kitchen range for example).

 

[funktionalart]

Well, I had on a steel watch, and the fridge is placed right next to a KitchenAid KDS23 dishwasher…the range is on the opposite wall. Also, the electric cord on the refrigerator is original, and not a 3-pin grounded type (I'm about to remedy that…).

 

[philr]

Wait until you fix the problem before you add a grounded cord!

I have looked at your compressor part numbers in my documents and couldn't find it.

 

[funktionalart]

Phil~ found and fixed the electrical shock problem. Two of the wires running along the lower left compartment floor had been a little bit too near the heating element so the wire insulation was cooked in a very, very small area. Doubtless it was touching metal somewhere. Repaired now…fridge running and NO electrical shocks or any of that mild "buzzy" feel on the outside of cabinet.

I've even touched the dishwasher and the fridge at the same time--no problem. Kept my steel wristwatch on the whole time, too. Nice to know this '63 isn't going to electrocute anybody now!

 

[rp2813]

Allen/Phil,

 

What if you carefully undid the wire nuts for the orange/blue leads and also for the orange/gray/gray leads to see if maybe there's an extra braid of wire that detached itself from the disconnected gray lead?  It sure looks like the detached gray wire is curved as if it used to be twisted with the orange & blue.

 

[funktionalart]

Ralph~ I did do that, actually…and found nothing. I'm going to try to not worry anymore past this point as it all seems to be fine now--but do have to wonder why this is cut in the first place--unless it has to do with the fact that the defrost timer is a replacement (I've not opened it up to see how it differs from the original one). I am just a little surprised that whoever cut this didn't at least cap/seal the wire end and tuck it out of sight..,

 

[philr]

The defrost timer looks like a 4 terminal model from the setting knob. Compare it with the one in the picture that I sent, there's 5 terminals on these and the advance shaft is made of metal instead of plastic.

 

[goatfarmer]

Glad you got it fixed!