Your food will stay safe in your fridge for up to 4 hours and in your freezer for 24-48 hours while it’s disconnected from power. Avoid opening the doors to prevent it from heating up faster. [2] X Trustworthy Source FoodSafety. gov Online portal combining food safety information from the U. S. Food and Drug Administration, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Go to source If you expect your repairs to take longer than 4 hours, move your food to a different fridge or into an insulated cooler. If your fridge hasn’t been working and you don’t know how long it’s been, throw away perishable foods since they may be at an unsafe temperature.
You do not have to remove the entire back of your fridge.
Sometimes, you may need to use a screwdriver to pry tabs open on the plastic cover to remove it from place. Your fridge may not have a plastic cover over the relay.
There may be a wire that’s attached to a screw on the relay. If so, loosen the screw with a screwdriver before pulling the wire out of place.
Be careful not to pull the relay so it bends or breaks the prongs on the compressor.
You may also be able to smell char on the relay if it’s burnt or shorted.
You can buy a multimeter from a hardware store or online.
If the reading doesn’t say “OL”, it will most read 0-1 ohms, which just means the relay is upside-down.
The PTC relay has a small metal piece inside that moves when there’s an electrical current running through it. When the metal piece comes into contact with the ports, it closes the line and creates 0 Ω of resistance. If the relay has correct readings, then you should check the compressor next to see if it’s causing the problem.
You can buy replacement PTC relays from appliance specialty stores or online. They usually cost anywhere between $20-80 USD. If you can’t find the model number on the PTC relay, then search for the refrigerator model you have so you can buy a piece that fits inside. Try testing the compressor before getting a new PTC relay to make sure it’s not the cause of the problem.
The prongs will be shaped like a triangle that’s right-side up or upside-down. Use the prongs that are horizontally across from one another for the first measurement. The resistance between the 2 prongs will vary depending on the fridge model and compressor.
If the prongs are configured in an upside-down triangle, then the third prong will be on the bottom. If they form a right-side up triangle, then the third prong will be on the top. Hold the probes on the prongs for at least 5-10 seconds or until the resistance settles on a single reading.
Compressors can be expensive to fix, so you may want to buy a new refrigerator instead. If the compressor still works, then there may be a problem with the internal fan. Contact a repair person to take a look at your fridge to further diagnose the problem.
