CK-2-B16 fridge questions

If it’s keeping cold you should be fine. The click you are hearing is the start relay and the thermostat when it first comes on.

I'll record a video later and post it. Another thing I've noticed happening that seems odd is the ice tray is accumulating a lot of ice buildup. I fully melted the ice tray 4 days ago and have found that it's got about 1.5 inches of buildup in some spots today. It remained within a light frost for the first couple of days, but it started to build up a lot of ice while having a patio door open over night. I'm suspecting that this is due to the door seal not being perfect - I have new material on order.

Will it cause damage to have ice left on it like this, or would it be best to shutdown and melt it? I have included a picture for better review. Only the edges are getting a lot of ice, while the rest of the tray have mostly frost.



www.youtube.com/watch?v=39N1Pqo_38s

I can't seem to catch it starting up, since it does this at random intervals, but not too often. It sounds like the low humming in this video but louder for a quick moment. The actual level of sound I hear in the room in relation to the mics sensitivity is very low.

Hi Zane. A clicking or clacking at startup is normal. There are two things which happen when it starts. First, the thermostat contacts click on with a slight clicking sound. That's a single click.  Then, a fraction of a second later, there is a heavier double-clunk noise from the start relay. That is normal as well. Those of us who are familiar with these can confirm it being normal, once we hear the sound in a video.

As for the ice buildup; you had mentioned that the door gasket is in poor condition. This will cause the heavy ice buildup due to a constant supply of moisture laden air infiltrating the cabinet. Once the gasket is replaced, you should see less ice buildup. 

You mention your fridge was restored previously. That is one word which people will often abuse and which I avoid when describing anything I have. There is a lot of disagreement as to what repairs are needed in order to qualify a fridge as "restored" versus "repaired" or "refurbished" or any number of other similar terms. Selers use the word "restored" to justify a premium price for their work; while buyers often use the promise of a "restored" example to justify their complaints about very minor defects.  

In general terms, "restored" means that you brought it back to a previous state. With appliances people generally expect it to be brought back to a like-new state. However, people toss around that term to describe lots of different levels of repair. I think most of is would agree that a restored fridge would have definitely received all new wiring, and a new door gasket. Those two items are perishable and will limit the usefulness and life of the fridge. In my humble opinion, any repair which is a candidate to be called a "restoration" would at minimum need to have the wiring and gasket replaced, plus additional cosmetic reconditioning as well. So I would not want to claim I restored a fridge, only to have the new owner fighting ice buildup due to a deteriorated door gasket. But that's just my two cents worth LOL!

Sincerely,
David

youtu.be/WpqMKe4E4qg

Here is the startup sound.

That is an unusual buzzing sound during and after the start. It would be good to know how many amps of current is't drawing. It almost sounds like the relay its self has something wrong with it. Have you looked down between the cooling fins, to see if the relay has maybe fallen sideways or isn't mounted correctly? They are position sensitive.

Just a little dusty!   

That's the control in your picture, which is the thermostat and overload circuit breaker.  If you look around by the back; there's another device down in the fins. It's the start-relay I'm interested in. The power cord goes to the relay, directly.

That looks like an original, early style relay. Can you tell if the buzzing is coming from that area?