Chosen Solution
So I have a Hotpoint ff175 where the relay in the PCB starts clicking at a rate of once to three times per second or so and won’t stop until I disconnect power for 5 minutes. Then it might run again for 30min to 3 hours without any clicking, but when it starts again it won’t stop until I disconnect power. I checked the relay with a multimeter but it seems fine. The small capacitors are also fine, but I didn’t check the rectangular one.When I place a strong magnet on the relay, it won’t click anymore but once the cycle starts you can instead still hear something humming in a rapid power up-power down cycle. Seems to be coming from either the hot coils on the outside or the freezing ones in the freezer section section on the inside.The compressor starts acting like a sputtering engine, even though it does work otherwise. Something is trying to power up and seemingly never “getting there”? Does this mean a capacitor in the PCB is broken? Maybe the big one for the compressor?When the clicking starts, the fridge lights no longer go on, but it does still seems to cool (too much even though that’s just a guess).I cleaned the coils, defrosted, checked the fan.The compressor can get very hot, but the clicking power cycle also happens when it is just warm.If I reconnect too early, the relay starts clicking like mad.This fridge freezer does not seem to have a relay next to the compressor (it never clicks in any case), it is instead part of the PCB installed in the front top I guess? Don’t know what else that relay would be doing there. I scoured the internet and I could replace the relay, but it seems that it is just responding to something else not drawing enough power. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! More pictures in this report (p 86), yes, it is the same fridge that cause that massive UK apartment building fire, but inspection cleared it, not too worried there.
Hi, If the compressor has trouble starting it may be that the start capacitor is faulty and needs to be replaced. It is used to ensure that there is enough current flowing through the start winding of the motor to enable a smooth start. Here’s a link to just one supplier of the part. It is only shown to give an idea of the cost of the part, although I’m at a loss as to why there seems to be two similar parts with such a price differential. You may have to ask the supplier about this if you decide to replace the part and use this supplier.
