Electrical relay question

Dav010 · 10-01-2021 8:58am #1

I would appreciate help from an electrician/appliance repairer on this.

Our wine cooler stopped cooling, on inspection the compressor isn’t working. I took out the relay/overload to change, it is a QP3-12A J4 JX unit. I got on to a few wholesalers yesterday, all advised me to go on eBay, they are pretty cheap to order.

Problem is, I can only get QP3-12a J1 unit, not the J4. I have ordered one which I hope should be here this month, but will it work in place of J4 do you think?

Thanks.

DublinDilbert · 10-01-2021 9:13am

Dav010 wrote: »

I would appreciate help from an electrician/appliance repairer on this.

Our wine cooler stopped cooling, on inspection the compressor isn’t working. I took out the relay/overload to change, it is a QP3-12A J4 JX unit. I got on to a few wholesalers yesterday, all advised me to go on eBay, they are pretty cheap to order.

Problem is, I can only get QP3-12a J1 unit, not the J4. I have ordered one which I hope should be here this month, but will it work in place of J4 do you think?

Thanks.

You need to find a datasheet or spec sheet and find out the difference between a J1 and J4 device, it could be very little or nothing. Do you know that this is the faulty part? have you been able to test it with a meter?

Dav010 · 10-01-2021 9:20am

DublinDilbert wrote: »

You need to find a datasheet or spec sheet and find out the difference between a J1 and J4 device, it could be very little or nothing. Do you know that this is the faulty part? have you been able to test it with a meter?

I don’t unfortunately. The kitchen company we bought it from has gone out of business and the manufacturers, Caple have told us as it is out of warranty they will not help. The unit was over €1k, less than 3 yrs old and at the moment it is difficult to arrange a repair due to Covid, so I thought I’d try this in the meantime.

alan4cult · 10-01-2021 12:15pm

Buy the J1 relay. Get a multimeter and tests the two parts side by side for resistance across contacts. I'd be almost sure they are the same or very similar. It's a compressor relay so fairly standard, they are not the overload switch which is more important to match.

Are you sure the compressor is still good as that is usually what goes?

Dav010 · 10-01-2021 12:27pm

alan4cult wrote: »

Buy the J1 relay. Get a multimeter and tests the two parts side by side for resistance across contacts. I'd be almost sure they are the same or very similar. It's a compressor relay so fairly standard, they are not the overload switch which is more important to match.

Are you sure the compressor is still good as that is usually what goes?

I am not sure about the compressor, I’m replacing the cheapest part more in hope than certainty. It’ll cost a lot more to get someone to call and repair, and it’ll be at least a month, so I’ll spend €20 and change the relay, hoping for the easy fix. In this particular relay, the cut out is part of it, all-in-1.

https://www.buy-spares.ie/ptc-starter-qp3-12aj1-jx-for-compressor/product.pl?pid=2271703

alan4cult · 10-01-2021 1:35pm

Cool, best to check the relay first yes before a new compressor.

The Red Ace · 10-01-2021 11:30pm

Before you incur any expense it may be the current temperatures that are causing it not to work, if the compressor is cold to touch you could try rising the inside temp by putting a saucepan of boiling water into it and see if it cuts in. Any electronic relay that matches the wattage of the compressor will do but you need to know the start windings from the run windings, any sparks with a clamp meter will know in seconds

omegab · 10-01-2021 11:41pm

Might be of use to you:

https://www.bechulaalr.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=333584
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-Midea-refrigerator-QP3-12A-J-QP3-12A-J4-starter-protector-overload-protector-/283522210928

Dav010 · 10-01-2021 11:48pm

Thanks, I did see some of the J4s on Chinese seller sites, but chances are it would take quite a while to arrive, for €20 I took a chance on J1. Surprisingly I can’t find any info about difference/effect of using either/or. Got the J1 from UK seller, they’ll accept return, should be here reasonably soon.

Caple have terrible customer support, they would not help at all and only referred me to their Irish stockist.

This is the cooler.

https://www.caple.co.uk/online-shop/appliances/wine-cabinets/wi6150/

SimonH123 · 15-05-2021 10:01pm

How did you get on with the J1 @Dav010?

I have a similar issue to yours but with a LEC T5039W fridge/freezer where the freezer is working but the fridge is not getting cool (I've already tried changing the thermostat). I've taken out the compressor relay which rattles a bit (I don't think that's a good sign!) and says QP3-12A J4 on the side, but looks identical to QP3-12A J1. The J1 is cheap/quick/easy to buy on eBay so could be worth a punt...

TIA! Simon

Dav010 · 15-05-2021 10:17pm

Simon the J1 works perfectly.

SimonH123 · 16-05-2021 12:21pm

Great stuff - I'll be ordering one of those today then! Thanks for the super speedy reply Dav010!

SimonH123 · 27-06-2021 7:38pm

Well, with the new compressor relay the freezer compartment cooled like before (so QP3-12A J4 and QP3-12A J1 seemed to work the same) but the fridge didn't start getting cold, so whatever was broken was something else than the relay. Therefore, as my LEC T5039W was around 10 years old and not all that expensive in the first place, it went to meet its maker! Thanks for the posts on here though, since it was a cheap/easy replacement and others may have more luck.

Electrical relay question

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