Does a refrigerator compressor have reed valves?

[nucleus]

Does a refrigerator compressor have reed valves?
is there a a check valve in the freon line?

10 year old kenmore top freezer refrigerator began
making annoying noise from compressor about a month
ago. cooling properly, exterior compressor mounts
are fine. coils clean, defrost timer working properly,
defrost cycle working properly.

the noise sounds like a valve-type internal clatter,
am not sure of compressor RPM but extimate the noise
is several hundred cycles per minute. when compressor
starts, the noise is not there but after a couple
of minutes (maybe after the freon pressure builds),
the noise is annoyingly loud.

so the question: is this a valve problem? i've never
had this happen on any other refrigerator we've ever
owned.

 

[Meat Plow]

Does a refrigerator compressor have reed valves?
is there a a check valve in the freon line?

10 year old kenmore top freezer refrigerator began
making annoying noise from compressor about a month
ago. cooling properly, exterior compressor mounts
are fine. coils clean, defrost timer working properly,
defrost cycle working properly.

the noise sounds like a valve-type internal clatter,
am not sure of compressor RPM but extimate the noise
is several hundred cycles per minute. when compressor
starts, the noise is not there but after a couple
of minutes (maybe after the freon pressure builds),
the noise is annoyingly loud.

so the question: is this a valve problem? i've never
had this happen on any other refrigerator we've ever
owned.

Most light duty compressors are reed valve equipped. Often the compressor
is loud when there is a lack of head pressure as is when the compressor
first starts then over a period of a minute the noise diminishes. This is
normal. In your case the reeds make noise once the head pressure builds
and is abnormal. How long will it last? Good question. It could operate
this way for months, maybe years. Or it could fail tomorrow.

 

[James Sweet]

Does a refrigerator compressor have reed valves?
is there a a check valve in the freon line?

10 year old kenmore top freezer refrigerator began
making annoying noise from compressor about a month
ago. cooling properly, exterior compressor mounts
are fine. coils clean, defrost timer working properly,
defrost cycle working properly.

the noise sounds like a valve-type internal clatter,
am not sure of compressor RPM but extimate the noise
is several hundred cycles per minute. when compressor
starts, the noise is not there but after a couple
of minutes (maybe after the freon pressure builds),
the noise is annoyingly loud.

so the question: is this a valve problem? i've never
had this happen on any other refrigerator we've ever
owned.

They do, and the valves are about the only part of them that ever fails so
long as the refrigerant charge isn't lost. The other thing that can happen
which gets noisy is if one or more of the springs breaks. If you open up a
hermetic compressor, the mechanical assembly floats on some springs in a
pool of oil, if a spring breaks, moving parts can clatter on the inside of
the dome.