True Refrigerator - Too hot, too cold - Want it just right!

[drobins9]

Hi-

I bought a (used) True GDM11SD (small refrigerator) from a restaurant wholesale supply warehouse to store drinks in for my garage.  It worked great for a few months, and then is started only cooling to 50 degrees.  The compressor often wasn't coming on.  I bought a kit and replaced the relay, solenoid, and one other part near the compressor.  It worked great for a couple days, and then returned to 50 degrees.  My thought was the problem must not be the compressor or the mechanical parts, since it works great sometimes.  I wondered if it was the thermostat.  I just left it plugged in and after about a month, it started working great, and kept working great for about a month.  Now, I just want to get a bottle of water and it is 0 degrees in there and my water is freezing!

I am thinking the only thing that can be wrong is the thermostat.  Does that sound right?  I'd like to be right, because I paid $350 for the refrigerator and I think about $100 for the other parts, so I am putting a lot of money into it compared to the initial price.

Thank you.

[Sean Hufstedler]

Check out www.truemfg.com/Support/Resource-Library. This is the Technical service manual for ALL True brand refrigeration products. Scroll down to the bottom just above the warranty section is the Thermostat section. It should give all the MODEL SPECIFIC information you need to check the thermostat on your unit.

[drobins9]

14 hours ago, Sean Hufstedler said:

Check out www.truemfg.com/Support/Resource-Library. This is the Technical service manual for ALL True brand refrigeration products. Scroll down to the bottom just above the warranty section is the Thermostat section. It should give all the MODEL SPECIFIC information you need to check the thermostat on your unit.

Hi- Thank you for the reply.  I have seen the manual.  The warranty for this one is at the very bottom.  There is a section that deals with manual adjustments of the thermostat for altitude, and that talks about how the thermostat works, but I don't see anything that would suggest how I can tell if it is defective or not.  I'm sure it doesn't require an altitude adjustment, as it worked great for months.  I am not sure if there is truly a way to "test" the thermostat?  Or at least, based on the symptoms, to be pretty sure that is the problem before I replace it?

Don

[Sean Hufstedler]

Is the thermostat mechanical or electronic? You'll have to look at the body of the thermostat because they both have the same adjustment knob.

Edited October 16, 2016 by Sean Hufstedler

[Hiroshi]

Since the unit is freezing water... if you turn the cold control to "0" does the compressor cycle "off?"  If it stays running in the off position, then the control is the problem and has welded contacts.

If the unit turns off when you set it at "0," see if it supplies 120VAC to the compressor when you turn it to "9." If you hear the internal 'click' of the cold control, but get no 120VAC to te compressor to cycle it back on again, then the contacts in the control bellows are failing- and you would need a new cold control.

If it is an electronic unit, the same tests would apply, except there can be a 7 minute delay in compressor re-start time when you turn it from "0" to "9," and instead of contacts on a bellows it will be board mounted relay.

You can try to adjust the cut-in and cut-out, but that is not likely to be a longterm fix, if at all.

[drobins9]

On 10/16/2016 at 0:24 PM, Sean Hufstedler said:

Is the thermostat mechanical or electronic? You'll have to look at the body of the thermostat because they both have the same adjustment knob.

Hi- Does this picture help you know that?  That is ice you see inside there.

https://goo.gl/photos/GpGaaYMHcK25Qdkz6

Today, the fan on top was getting pretty noisy.  I hit the top to see if it would help, but it got far worse, so I had to unplug it right away.  I took the grate off, and it was ice building up in the fan area that was causing the noise/rubbing:

https://goo.gl/photos/pgDzbZve5cMubT4h8

[Budget Appliance Repair]

Defrost problem if it has a defrost timer and heater, or just a bad t-stat if it is a cycle defrost system, (which an all refrig could be since it doesn't have to get down to freezing temps).