Kenmore 795.71013.011 Fridge Not Cooling - Compressor Issues

[Paul S.]

My Kenmore 795.71013.011 bottom-freezer fridge (here's a picture of the fridge tag with model number) is not cooling (both the fridge and the freezer are warm). Here are the things I have tested and what I have noticed:

• These things seem to be working fine:
  • The evaporator fan runs fine inside the fridge
  • The evaporate coils do not have frost on them, so the defroster system seems fine
  • The condenser coils on the back of the fridge (inside the back panel near the floor) are clean (no dirt/dust issues)
  • The condenser coil fan is running fine
• These are the issues I have noticed:
  • The compressor is running on a regular cycle, but it seems to be drawing too little current (anywhere from 0.5 Amps to 0.8 Amps during the cycle)
  • The compressor also does not draw consistent current throughout the cycle. It starts at 0.8 A, goes down to 0.5 A, then back up to 0.8 A before it stops.
  • The compressor makes a strange noise when it stops the cycle (see this video to see the current draw during the cycle as well as the strange noise at the end of the video)
  • The compressor isn't really heating up during operation; it's maybe slightly higher than room temperature
  • The refrigerant lines into and out of the compressor are pretty much room temperature all the time

[gdodge]

When you first checked the evaporator, did you happen to notice a ball of ice while the rest of the evaporator was clear of ice? Sounds to me you had a leak and the compressor doesn’t have any refrigerant to move around. You should attach some nitrogen to the sealed system and use a leak detector to locate the leak.

[Vance R]

From your post basically the compressor is running, no frost on evaporator, condenser is clean, all fans running. This would indicate some kind of sealed system issue and time to tap into the system to check pressures.

[Terry Carmen]

If the compressor and all the fans are running and the refrigerator and freezer are both warm and the discharge tube isn't hot, the machine has a sealed system problem.

While it would be interesting to know exactly what is wrong, unless you do sealed system repairs, it's not useful information.

The refrigerator will at a minimum require a new compressor and drier and evacuation and recharge because the compressor is bad in it's own right, or there is a leak or restriction and a bad compressor.

Unless you already have your own sealed system tools, this isn't going to be a DIY job.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Terry Carmen