LMXS30776S/03 LG Fridge Won't Send Cool/Cold Air Into Compartments

[Skip70]

Good day,

I am retired military living on a fixed income requiring me to repair everything I can myself. I have a 3 year old LG French Door fridge - LMXS30776S/03 - that initially, had water damage on the front display unit within the water/ice/display insert. At the same time, it stopped cooling and freezing within both compartments. I purchased a replacement display/water/ice unit and installed it into the left door cavity the old waterlogged one once was located. I thought this was the reason the fridge stopped working since I was unable to effectively use all the controls once water seeped into the unit. Unfortunately, after spending $250 on the replacement display unit, the problem did not rectify itself: it still does not get cold or freeze. After looking at several YouTube videos on how to test for the problem, I removed the upper and lower rear plate per the instructions.

BTW, the display unit on the old waterlogged unit no longer worked properly but worked perfectly when I installed the new replacement unit. But unfortunately, it did not solve my problem of the cold air and freezer compartments working properly.

When I plugged in the fridge, I found that the fan was turning properly and the black compressor on the lower left side was vibrating. The YouTube video indicated that meant my fan and compressor were likely good and were not the problem. I then moved on to the next phase of the video's suggestions  and pushed the test button to initiate a diagnostic test.

The test cycle was interesting: what I found was there was no air at all going into the upper and lower sections of the fridge (upper two compartments to keep food cold: lower freezer to freeze items). However, when the test cycled through the test sequences, there was suddenly cold and freezing air blowing into the upper and lower sections of the freezer. When the test ended the air stopped flowing into both compartments as the unit went back into its normal cycle when I unplugged the fridge momentarily and plugged it back in. (the compressor and fan were working but no air was moving into the fridge).

I opened the door and looked at the "Multi Air Flow" square at the rear top of the cold air compartment. It had a marking saying "open" on the top left and a "close" on the top right. I tried pushing both sides to see if that affected any air flow but it did not: no matter how much I "fiddled" with this 4" square, nothing affected the air flow at all. Still no air flowing into the compartment above or below.

Few questions regarding the above:

1)when I installed the new display/water/ice unit and plugged that unit into the various plugs (after cleaning out the interior of dust etc), I found there was one open female plug with no male plug off the new display unit to plug into. Is this ok/common? It is located on the top right corner of the new replacement unit. I was worried that this might have to be plugged into something, thus causing my problem, but I am unable to find any wires on the fridge male plugs or the new replacement unit male plugs to go to that female receiver. 

2)what should be my next step? Should I replace the entire circuit board? Would that seem to be the problem? Perhaps the faulty circuit board on the back of the fridge has a problem sending a signal to open a "butterfly valve" that would allow air to flow into the cold air and freezer air ducts?

3)does my logic above make sense and am I heading into the right direction as far as troubleshooting the problem step by step to the point where eventually, I will solve the problem by replacing the correct part that has failed? 

Thank you so much in advance for any assistance you could give this retired soldier!

With kindest regards,

 

Skip Trafford

Ocean Springs, MS

[Vance R]

10 hours ago, Skip70 said:

1)when I installed the new display/water/ice unit and plugged that unit into the various plugs (after cleaning out the interior of dust etc), I found there was one open female plug with no male plug off the new display unit to plug into. Is this ok/common?

Is the new board the same as the old - same number of connectors?

 

10 hours ago, Skip70 said:

2)what should be my next step?

From your description- with the fan working in the test cycle would be to check the door switches for the refrig doors.

[Skip70]

Vance; thank you very much for the reply.

1)Yes, the new display board is the carbon copy of the old one

2) I’ll check the fridge doors as you suggested. I assume there is a “spring loaded” button in the hinge side of the doors that shuts off the fan (air flow) when you open the doors? 
 

Since the upper cooler compartment (with the two French doors) doesn’t work as well as the freezer compartment below, wouldn’t that be very unusual that all of the French doors and slide out freezer doors are not working at the same time?

Thanks again,

 

Skip

[Vance R]

13 minutes ago, Skip70 said:

I assume there is a “spring loaded” button

Believe there are magnets in the door and reed switches in top cover.

[Skip70]

Ok thanks; I’ll check those out.

[Skip70]

Hello Vance,

I checked the LG fridge again and ran the tests through the button on the rear circuit board. There is air coming out of the top back of the top compartment as well as out of the two vents in the door during the test. However, when the test ends, there is no air at all coming into the fridge even though the fan is turning and the compressor (that is what the large black "tank" is called at the bottom of the rear fridge, correct?) seems to be running (there is a vibration on it when I place my hand against it).

What do I do next? Any idea why the test sequence makes air flow into the freezer and top section but when the test ends, there is no air going into the two sections at all and the fridge is +- 60 degrees.

I am at a lost what to do next. We have six in my family and we have been without a fridge for 20 days now, using an ice chest to cool our food. I can't afford to guess what to replace next or buy a new fridge.

Help!

Skip

[Vance R]

34 minutes ago, Skip70 said:

Any idea why the test sequence makes air flow into the freezer and top section but when the test ends, there is no air going into the two sections at all and the fridge is +- 60 degrees

The test mode runs the all the fan and compressor at 100% duty. This mode ignores the door switches and let the fans run with the doors open or closed. We established that the fans will work and the compressor is doing it's job. 

Have you test the door switchs?  

 

[Quick]

57 minutes ago, Skip70 said:

Help!

If I'm a betting man the compressor is out. Yikes I know.

I don't do LG warranty but I think you have parts and labor coverage on the compressor for five years.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

On 2/9/2021 at 9:30 AM, Skip70 said:

However, when the test cycled through the test sequences, there was suddenly cold and freezing air blowing into the upper and lower sections of the freezer.

 

9 hours ago, Quick said:

If I'm a betting man the compressor is out. Yikes I know.

@Quick If the info Skip70 gave in the first post is correct then it would seem this isn't the famous failing linear compressor problem in this one, (could very well be the reason you haven't seen anyone suggest that it is a compressor or sealed system problem).

[Quick]

1 hour ago, Budget Appliance Repair said:

famous failing linear compressor problem

 

1 hour ago, Budget Appliance Repair said:

If the info Skip70 gave in the first post is correct

I'm always skeptical I guess...

[Skip70]

Does anyone out there have suggestions of what might be wrong with my LG French Door Fridge? Here is what I know/have done so far:

*there was water damage to the display panel next to the ice/water dispenser, so I purchased a new one because I could not set the temperatures and  thinking that was why the fridge wound't cool/freeze. However, the new part did not solve the issue of no cool or frigid air going into any compartments.

*fridge won't cool or freeze. There is no air going into any of the compartments top or bottom.

*ran the test sequence and the fan worked fine. The condenser seems to be fine: slight vibration felt when I touched it and no unusual clicking sounds of any kind emitting from it.

*when I ran the test sequence, air blew fine into the fridge and freezer. When the test ended, nothing came out of either.

*I took the fridge and freezer plastic covers off and both fans worked fine during the test sequence but were not running at all when the test sequence ended.

*it has been suggested i test the door switches. How do I do that? I ran a magnet along the edge of the top and side of the doors but nothing happened. Was the magnet supposed to indicate an issue with the doors? But if that was an issue, wouldn't it be centralized to one bad door versus every single compartment in the fridge getting no cold or freezing air?

*what should be my next step? Is it possible the pcb board is bad? Is there a way of testing the compressor? Wouldn't a bad compressor make some sounds or have some inconsistent vibration indicating an issue inside?

Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you!

[Vance R]

8 minutes ago, Skip70 said:

How do I do that? 

Measuring dc voltage at the board. Check all door switch circuits. Custom chill switch is con7 pins 29 and 30 (white wires), Freezer switch is con7 pins 31 and 32 (yellow with black tracer), refrigerator door switch circuit has 3 switches in series and is con5 pins 13 and 14 ( 13 is red with yellow trace, 14 is a gray wire). Check for 0 volts dc when doors are closed on each circuit. Check for 5 volts dc with the door open on each circuit. In normal operation the board will turn off the evaporator fan when the door is opened. Beleive the custom chill and refrigerator sections share the same fan. Freezer has it's own fan.