How To Bypass Start Relay On The Refrigerator?
How would you feel if your water isn’t ice cold as you prefer, or have melted ice-cream in your refrigerator? There’s a possibility that something went wrong with the start relay. As furious as you could be, we are here with a solution.
The compressor of your refrigerator keeps your appliance cold by running at uneven intervals. It isn’t intended to run continuously, hence the relay is used.
What is a start relay of a refrigerator? A start relay is an electrical switch which is responsible for the compressor to turn on or off depending on the requirement of cool air inside the unit. If the relay fails, the compressor might never kick on so you may have to bypass the refrigerator’s relay system.
Important Safety Considerations
- Before you decide to bypass your refrigerator’s start relay, know that bypassing is just a temporary fix and make sure to call a professional to fix this issue as soon as possible.
- Make sure the unit does not get overheated which may lead to damage to other parts of the refrigerator.
- Turn off the power and unplug the refrigerator before you bypass the start relay. Slowly move the refrigerator away from the wall with precaution since the appliance is heavy.
Let’s dive into the steps required to bypass the start relay of your refrigerator after you’ve followed the safety precautions.
Follow these steps accordingly
- After moving the refrigerator away from the wall, locate the cover plate at the bottom rear of your refrigerator. Remove it with the help of a screwdriver and keep it aside.
- Next, flex and disengage the metal box in the lower right rear of your refrigerator. Once it has been removed, you should be able to see the relay system of your appliance.
- With the help of a flathead screwdriver, press down on the space between relay and its casing. To remove the relay from your appliance, press and pull out the relay from the refrigerator.
- Now, slide the wire from the relay to make it accessible . For you to do this, you’ll need to remove the metal connector that is attaching the wire to the relay system then use pliers to strip away some of the wire on either side(not more than ¼ inch).
- Utilise an electrical tape to connect both ends of the wire back to the relay housing. This will completely bypass the missing relay and close the circuit of your appliance.
- Replace the relay system metal box and the cover plate at the rear of your refrigerator.
- Once you have bypassed the start relay on your appliance, you need to follow these steps to ensure everything works until a professional comes to fix it.
- Plug the refrigerator back and switch on the power. Now, you will need to monitor it for three to four hours to make sure the compressor is functioning smoothly.
- If you hear the compressor make clicking sounds or a humming sound, you can tell that the relay itself is defective.
Do not leave the appliance in state of relay bypass for a very long time since you have to avoid overloading of the compressor. As previously mentioned before, this is just a quick temporary fix. So you should contact a professional repair technician to repair your refrigerator relay and get your appliance back in its best condition as soon as possible.
Are you looking for start relays for your refrigerators? Here are some of the links to purchase them for your refrigerators.
1. LG Electronics PTC
https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-6748C-0004D-Refrigerator-Start/dp/B00AUDA0GQ/
2. QP2-4.7 PTC Starter Relay 1 Pin Refrigerator Starter Relay
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B087C25PDL/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Now, you can continue to enjoy an ice cold drink of water, and frozen ice- cream from your refrigerator.