GE Profile side by side not providing enough cooling

[CarlottaBear]

GE Profile side by side from about 2010 (Model number pscs5rgxcfss) cooling / freeing ability not enough.

woke the other morning after a very large electrical storm (but no power cuts nor nearby lightning strikes) the night before to notice that the compressor noise was slightly different tone and seemed to sound a little more mechanical than before, and the air being blown from under the fridge was particularly warm. Pulled unit out and removed rear covers. Notice that the inside temperatures were rising. condenser fan run as I can see it. evaporator fan runs by listening to the noise inside. 

when unit is turned off I can hear the freon inside so dont think there's a leak. and it is providing some cooling, but not enough. freezer is slowly rizing at about 20F whereas the fridge is already at 50F

compressor is running but not very fast / hard. measured ohms on the three connector pins on the compressor and the were between 7 and 8ohms, but I did notice that the longer I left the multimeter attached that the resistance decreased with time. is that usual?? is there compressor suspect too?

the control board looks ok on both sides (no obvious burns), but I suspect it as I did get an electric shock off whilst touching one of the heat sinks on the control board and then measure the voltage to the earth screw on the compressor feet to be 77v DC!! The compressor control voltage measure both on control board and at connector to the inverter and found to be continually fluctuating between 5.5v dc and 4.3v dc over a period of 1 second. is this normal?

what's the best way to check the control board and how can I be sure its only the control board? or can a power surge affect the inverter as well as the control board?

Any help will be gratefully received and many thanks in advance.

 

[CarlottaBear]

anyone fancy a stab at offering any advice at all? doesn't have to be only related to my issue, but could also be how to be more successful at getting responses on forums.....

[DurhamAppliance]

If your board is providing control voltage to the compressor,  providing proper voltage to all fans... and if compressor, evap fans are constantly  running and no defrost failure... your board is probably ok.  Unless there is visible damage or a measurable voltage failure found on the board,  the only other way to determine a failed board is through process of elimination. 

check out the following thread for a discussion on a similar model..

btw,  with regards to getting responses check out the original thread that's linked insided the thread below.  

Notice how the op provided info in an easily digestible and succinct manner..No convoluted diagnostics  no question about heat sink shock (techs don't touch them.. so we certainly aren't wasting time to find out voltage! .. nor are we wasting time by keeping our probes on compressor pins).  Techs are busy people,  our help here is voluntary... to be frank,  shortly into your post most techs will have flashbacks of walking into a customer's house and the customer starts telling him everything he has done,  including screws and parts being  removed unnecessarily as well as results of inapplicable testings that have been performed.  During all this time,  the tech is hoping the customer would just stop,  answer a few questions concerning symptoms and step back. 

 

[Hiroshi]

Any frost on the back wall of the freezer?

[CarlottaBear]

Thanks Durham and Hiroshi for the info,

I have finally got round to some more checks on this appliance & list the facts below:-

Resistance of all 4 thermistors as suggested with the unit unplugged for days (so ambient temp of around 77F) & they are:-

J1 - 1 FF Evap = 4.81 kOhms

J1 - 2 FF Therm = 4.79 kOhms

J1 - 3 FZ Therm = 4.81 kOhms

J1 - 4 FZ Evap = 4.77 kOhms

The FF Evap fan starts running after the door is open a while,

The FZ Evap fan starts running after the door is open a while

The Condenser fan is running ok

The Compressor fan is running ok, but doesn't sound like it's running flat out.

The FF Evap coil is warm & not cooling at all.

The FZ Evap coil starting to cool a little but no frosting at all after being plugged in for 2 hours.

The Styrofoam housing around FF Evap coil has a 2 inch hole melted in it. is it possible that is caused by Sealed system leak? I have some photos of the FF Evap coil showing metal corrosion & melting of the Styrofoam insulation housing for the Evap fan but cannot work out how to upload the photos to this post. any help with that too?

Hope you can help any further or confirm my suspicion that this appliance terminally ill?