I would like to thank everyone in advance for all the things Ive learned on this forum! This is a wonderful community of knowledgeable people!

I have this obscure fridge that was intended to be a retail soda cooler like what you would find in the checkout line of the grocery store. Its a very cool fridge except it doesnt work....


The refrigeration unit slides out the bottom and is a self contained unit. It has a separate overload device, start relay,and both run and start capacitors. When plugged in, the cooling fans run and the compressor hums for a second and then the klaxon overload device clicks and the compressor shuts off. If the unit stays plugged in, the klaxon will eventually (approx 30-45 sec) click again which triggers the compressor hum for another second and so on and so on.

I have tested the klaxon with an ohmmeter, which reads about .3-.4ohms...my understanding is that this is an acceptable reading indicating that the overload device is good. Here is a picture of this device. My next check was the start capacitor which had very funny readings so I assumed it was bad. After further research I realized that the start capacitor has a resistor soldered across the terminals which makes the ohmmeter go crazy. I un-soldered this resistor and the start capacitor has normal readings indicating that it too is good. I havent seen or heard any other instances of a start capacitor with a resistor soldered across the terminals. Is this a common occurance? I re-soldered it back into place with the assumption that it MUST belong there.

The compressor itself checks out good as well with the ohmmeter, reading the start and run windings with the common pin I get two numbers which add up to the readings two windings together, indicating that the compressor is also good.

Sooooooo. The only thing left is the start relay which is an elecromagnetic type and one that Ive not seen anywhere in any of my research. It is white with a strange model number that doesnt turn up anywhere in my searches.


It has both the start and run capacitors running through it as well as being connected to the overload device. I suspect based on all my other tests that this start relay is bad. Ive tried to test it, but get inconclusive results, and since everything else checks out ok, this would seem to be the obvious culprit.

Will a bad start relay cause the symptoms outlined above? Is there a relay that I can use that will be an acceptable replacement? Has anyone seen a relay like this before or know where I can find one? Is there a conclusive way to test it?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Brandon