The short answer
On the Amana AFC refrigerator family, a cabinet that runs but will not hold temperature points at the compressor start circuit, because the pattern owners describe on these models is a machine that keeps making noise in bursts while the cabinet drifts warm. The brand-generic article puts a stalled defrost cycle at the top of this symptom. It does not lead here, and on these models it is not what the first three checks are looking for.
What you observe on these models
- The compressor never stops — It runs without ever reaching temperature, which is the same fault seen from the other side.
- The outside of the cabinet is hot to the hand — Heat that has nowhere to go stays in the cabinet walls, and it is felt most at the sides.
- Temperature recovers overnight and fails by evening — A pattern that follows the room rather than the machine, and it changes the whole ranking.
- NEAR MISS — the cabinet is silent and nothing is cold — That is a no-power or start-circuit fault and belongs on a different page.
Causes, most likely first on this family
- Start relay or overload protector on the compressor — The first thing to rule in. A failing relay lets the compressor try to start, trip and rest in a cycle of a few minutes. The cabinet drifts warm while the machine still makes periodic noise, so it does not read as dead.
- Condenser coil choked with dust, lint or pet hair — Second, and close behind the first. The coil is the only place heat leaves the cabinet. Once it is blanketed the compressor runs longer and longer for less and less cooling, which is exactly the pattern of a unit that hums all day and never gets cold.
- Condenser fan slowed, stalled or fouled — Third. A fan that no longer moves air across the coil produces the same warm cabinet as a dirty coil, but it usually comes with a change in the sound of the machine rather than a gradual slide.
- Sealed-system fault — a refrigerant leak or a restriction — Last, and the only one of the four here that is not owner work. The compressor runs and the coil never gets properly hot, or gets hot in one patch only. It is the one cause on this list that is licensed work rather than owner work.
Check in this order, and why
- Note whether the compressor starts, runs briefly and stops — Start here. A short cycle repeating every few minutes is a start-circuit signature and is nothing like a fan or airflow fault.
- Look at the condenser coil — Then this. It is reached without tools on most cabinets and it tells you in one look whether heat can leave at all.
- Watch the condenser fan while the compressor runs — Third. A fan that is not turning, or turning against debris, is visible from the same access panel as the coil.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel; a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off.
Models covered by the AFC family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| AFC07**BW | amana:refrigerator:afc |
| AFC10**BW | amana:refrigerator:afc |
| AFC15**BW | amana:refrigerator:afc |
| AFC22**BW | amana:refrigerator:afc |
When to call a technician
Call once the owner-side checks above are clean, and call straight away if the fault is on the sealed system: refrigerant work is licensed work and the tools for it are not owner tools.
The other faults covered for this family
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