Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can fail in strange ways, especially used with dimmers or manufactured in mass quantities. Fridges are prone to corrosion as well because of condensation issues.

Whirlpool fridges and their brands — including select Kenmore, Maytag, Roper, Jennair, KitchenAid, and Amana — have a light assembly fail in many of their refrigerators. The wires in the fixture are often stiff or incorrectly crimped, which creates stress on the unit during installation. This can happen in older fridges when the electrical connection finally fails.

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• With the power on, carefully fold the wires so there is only low stress on the fixture during reinstallation. If there is a cold solder joint and this worsens the issue, take a look at the circuit board for bad connections.

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Refrigerator light modules corrode with humidity and can sometimes be easily repaired with basic soldering skills. The top light assembly is wired in series with lower lights and can cause fridge-wide issues.

• In order to fix it without replacing the light assembly, remove the top light assembly, and then remove the circuit board from the housing.
• Look for cracked or detached surface mount (SMD) resistor contacts on the board —these are the little black rectangles identified with an “R”. All it takes is one end of a resistor to corrode through and the board won’t function properly.
  • On the flat side of Whirlpool light assemblies, look for the resistor labeled R15. This resistor is likely burned or blown out.

• Using a utility knife, scrape off all of the burnt residue from around the affected resistors.
• Continue cleaning with isopropyl alcohol.
• If you have a soldering iron available, repair the solder connections.
• Reapply a waterproof coating over the failed resistors and circuit board.
  • This coating may take the form of clear nail polish, conformal coating, silicone or RTV, or acrylic paint.
• If you need to replace resistor R15, search for an “SMD 127Ω resistor” R17 is usually 91Ω. If replacing another resistor, decode the resistor value printed on the back of the resistor or find its value in the circuit diagram. The resistor can also be skipped by creating a thermal bridge of solder.

When these fixes don’t work, you can always replace the assembly itself. This is usually significantly costlier, and the issue is likely to happen again within a year or two.

• Pry the old light out with a spudger, or flathead screwdriver.
• Replace the failed assembly. Use silicone caulking to waterproof the new assembly for future condensation resistance. Silicone comes in different-sized tubes, and a smaller container is likely enough for your entire fridge.

Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY