Any fridgies around? Keg fridge problem (480L Kelvinator no frost)

[kz412]

Hey all,
I've been using a 480L Kelvinator No Frost fridge as my kegerator for about 6 months now, however lately the fridge compartment has been sitting around 10-15 degrees, whilst the freezer compartment is ice cold. Pulling the back panels off, I saw that the evaporator fan wasn't spinning. A trip to eBay and 10 minutes with some wire strippers and a screwdriver later, up and running again - for a week or so. Fan not turning again.

I've double checked wiring etc., everything seems fine. Short of grabbing a multimeter off my brother to track down exactly where it's failing, any obvious ideas or things to look for so I can have a cold beer in the meantime?

 

[michaeld16]

Was the evaporator starting to ice up when ya took the back panel off?

 

[michaeld16]

Also is there a button you can see that the door pushes when shut

 

[kz412]

Bit of ice around the coils and the defrost element. The button for the door seems to be working fine, fridge light switches on and off when I push it.

 

[TheBigD]

I had a similar problem with my fridge I had a faulty fan so bought a new one but it didn't work also, so then I checked voltage, I only had 80 volts at the fan motor. I figured there was a hot or bad joint some where but I couldn't find it. I solve the problem by drilling a hole through the back where the Evap fan is located and running some orange circular cable to power the fan from the compressor power. Fridge works fine now.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Those fans have a habit of icing up. This can cause them to burn out

 

[michaeld16]

Yeah it sounds like a dud fan but youll need that multimeter to confirm

 

[kz412]

After rereading my original post (written after a beer or three last night), I should clarify - I grabbed a new fan motor off eBay and fitted it, and it was working for a week or two, but has failed again. You're right, still looking like the replacement may be a dud, just thinking I could be missing something obvious.

I'll grab a multimeter this week and check it, but it's looking like another fan motor is in order.

 

[michaeld16]

Its the only way to confirm also check to see if the ice on the coil has increased,i f it has youll need to defrost it otherwise it will keep on building up

 

[QldKev]

The fan will switch off when the fridge goes into defrost mode. You could just bench test the fan before ordering a new one. Have you checked the defrost timer to see if it is stuck in defrost mode?