Danby DWC283BLS-1 not cooling

[rgroves]

Ok, I've got a Danby DWC283BLS-1 and for the last year of so, the temperature is slowly rising.   I set the Upper and Lower thermostats to my desired temps, (52 and 46 as an example).  The unit will NOT cool things down to those temps.  WHen it was new it was spot on, and then after about 10 months it was about 1-2 degrees off (warmer), and it was like that for many months. This took it outside my warranty (how convienient). Then, I was at home when we had a power failure, and immediately unplugged the unit before the power came back on, and let it sit for about an hour, plugged it in and reset the temps.  After about a day, then temps were 4-5 degrees warmer than what I set and they would not go any cooler.  I was a litle worried, but it stayed that way for several more months. Then once again, another power failure, I unplugged the unit as soon as I could and let it sit for a few hours.  WHen I plugged it in, and set the temps, about a day later the temps were 10-12 degrees off (warmer).  Well, this is still going on, BUT now the temps will just rise by about 1-2 degress every week on thier own.  Right now the thermostat is set to 50 on upper and lower sections, but the read out shows 62 and 66.

I've tried multiple times to unplug and let the compressor cool off, for several hours.  - No change in operation.

I've cleaned the underside of the fridge, but have not removed the access panel inside.  I'm going to do that this evening.

I know that everytime I plug the cooler in, I hear the compressor kick on, and if I'm near the unit every so often I can hear it kick on or off.

What could be my problem?  The thermisters? The control board?   The unit will still COOL to about 10 degrees BELOW room temp, and as far as I can tell it's not freezing up on the inside, and I never see any water in the drip tray underneath when I let it cool down.

[JWWebster]

Well it is cooling how about dropping your temp setting and see what happens?

[rgroves]

The temp was set as low as the thermostat would let me asnbd there was no change ov er all of this time.  I finally just set them to 50 so I might to avoid burning something out.


right now they are set to 50, and they are reading 62 and 66, so it's gone up another degree since 2 days ago.  at this rate it'll be room temp in there in about few weeks.

Tomorrow I'm going to unplug it, open it up and see what I can find on the inside.

[JWWebster]

Try and take some photos if you can. This is a wine cooler am I right? I have one right now with them kinda fans in the back. No compressor tho.

[rgroves]

I will.   It is a Wine Cooler, and has a compressor.  I think there are fans in the back of the cooler box and the last time I looked I think they were spinning.


Pics will be added tomorrow evening.

[rgroves]

Ok, didn't get a chance to work on it last night.   I'll get them tonight for sure.

[rgroves]

Ok, I got a chance ot open things up.  The fridge was still behaving like it has been, only cooling a few degrees below room temp.

I unplugged the fridge, removed the shelves, and pulled the center control panel out as far as I could and I found the pipe right behind the panel with almost 1.5" of ice on it, I've attached a picture.

Also, the drip tray now has a little bit of water in it as the ice inside started to thaw.  I'm going to let it completely thaw out over the weekend.

Any suggestions as to what to look at next or where to go from here?  I'm guessing the freon is low, am I right?

[JWWebster]

Dude I would try replacing this first:

http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Humidity-Sensor/DG87W/2112981?modelNumber=DWC283BLS-1


Humidity Sensor Part # DG8-7-W

[rgroves]

I'll give it a shot.   

Wow, shipping was actually higher than the part itself.  I don't care as long as it helps fix my fridge.  I can't fine one I like that fits in the space I've got available.


Thanks.    I'll update when I get the part and the fridge has had a few days to get back up and running.

[rgroves]

Got the part today.  The one in the fridge had a plug about 3 inches from the sensor and another plug on the controller board.  The wiring looked to be embedded in the foam on the side of the cooler box, so I ran the wire along the inside of the fridge and into the back of the controller shelf and up to the controller.

The fridge is on and hopefully I'll know by the end of the weekend I should know if this fixed the problem.

[rgroves]

It's been nearly 2 days and hte temp inside the fridge has only dropped 2-3 degrees from room temp.  The fridge started @ 75 degrees, and has dropped to 69/74 (lower/upper). 

The two fans in the middle of the fridge are spinning and the fan in the upper is not spinning at all.


Please advise as to what I should look at/for next....

[rgroves]

I pulled the center control panel shelf out and found the lines frozen up again after just 2 days of running.  I've attached a picture of the icing.

[JWWebster]

It has plenty of gas. If both fans are the same swap em out and see if you have a bad fan.

[rgroves]

I'll give it a shot on Monday.

[rgroves]

I've been busy the last few days, and have not had a chance to swap the fan headers around to see if they work.

I'm going to do it this weekend, come heck or high water...