The short answer
On the Amana AMAR refrigerator family, a cabinet that runs but will not hold temperature points at the condenser fan, because the sound of these machines changes before the temperature does and owners usually date the fault to that change. 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 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.
- The compressor never stops — It runs without ever reaching temperature, which is the same fault seen from the other side.
- One compartment is right and the other is not — The freezer holds while the fresh-food side drifts, or the reverse, which narrows the fault sharply.
- NEAR MISS — only the ice maker has stopped — A cabinet at temperature with an empty bucket is an ice-maker fault, not a cooling fault.
Causes, most likely first on this family
- Condenser fan slowed, stalled or fouled — The first thing to rule in. 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.
- Start relay or overload protector on the compressor — Second, and close behind the first. 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 — Third. 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.
- 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
- Watch the condenser fan while the compressor runs — Start here. A fan that is not turning, or turning against debris, is visible from the same access panel as the coil.
- Note whether the compressor starts, runs briefly and stops — Then this. 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 — Third. It is reached without tools on most cabinets and it tells you in one look whether heat can leave at all.
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 AMAR family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| AMAR27**E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR27S1E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR31T**E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR35**E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR35S1E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR43**E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
| AMAR46TS1E | amana:refrigerator:amar |
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. Call the moment you see oil at the compressor or smell anything burning. Oil outside the tubing means the system is open, and every hour it runs after that costs more to put right.
The other faults covered for this family
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