Kenmore 10664232402 evaporator fan cycling

[jeff lee]

The evaporator fan on this Kenmore (Whirlpool) top mount fridge intermittently will cycle off and on, when the fan is running, it will do so for about 10 seconds then shut off, then cycle back on after another 10 seconds. It does not do this all the time, but when it does I hear a clicking sound similar to a relay being energized/de-energized.

I replaced the compressor start relay and capacitor about a month ago (the relay was toast), this problem manifested itself about a week after that, the replacement parts were genuine FSP items.

The defrost feature appears to operate normally, it will go into defrost mode then cycle back onto cooling mode after about 18 minutes.

It's been an ultra dependable fridge all these years, I really don't want to dump it, besides the new fridges are garbage and unavailable because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

TIA!

[Vance R]

This refrigerator has very basic wiring. The compressor, condenser fan motor and evaporator fan motor are wired in parallel. Which they all run at the same time, as long the compressor and condenser fan motor are running good you probably just have a  intermittent evap fan motor.  The clicking sound you report is a concern because the only item that usually clicks is the overload for the compressor. May want to double check that the compressor and condenser fan motor are running when evaporator fan motor stops.

[Terry Carmen]

7 hours ago, jeff lee said:

The evaporator fan on this Kenmore (Whirlpool) top mount fridge intermittently will cycle off and on, when the fan is running, it will do so for about 10 seconds then shut off, then cycle back on after another 10 seconds. It does not do this all the time, but when it does I hear a clicking sound similar to a relay being energized/de-energized.

I had one that did this. It was so regular that I assumed it was by design and not a failure mode.

The customer said it had been doing that since it was new.

[jeff lee]

54 minutes ago, Terry Carmen said:

I had one that did this. It was so regular that I assumed it was by design and not a failure mode.

The customer said it had been doing that since it was new.

Well, I've owned this fridge since it was new, about 15 years ago and I can assure you it has not been doing this since it was new, otherwise I would not bother with it if it had.

Thanks for your response anyway Terry

[jeff lee]

7 hours ago, Vance R said:

This refrigerator has very basic wiring. The compressor, condenser fan motor and evaporator fan motor are wired in parallel. Which they all run at the same time, as long the compressor and condenser fan motor are running good you probably just have a  intermittent evap fan motor.  The clicking sound you report is a concern because the only item that usually clicks is the overload for the compressor. May want to double check that the compressor and condenser fan motor are running when evaporator fan motor stops.

Thanks Vance, I will check the other components as you recommended