Thermador Fridge Inverter Board Replacement

The compressor on this Thermador fridge in Surrey wouldn’t start. We swapped out the inverter board that runs it, and the visit took about an hour.

A compressor that needs its own board

This fridge, model KBUDT4265E, has a variable-speed Embraco compressor. It doesn’t run straight off the wall outlet. A separate inverter board, which Embraco labels the compressor electronic control unit, takes in household power at 115 volts and sends the compressor its own supply at anywhere from 53 to 150 Hz. That’s how the fridge speeds the compressor up or slows it down.

So when that board stops working, the compressor gets nothing and stays off, and the fridge can’t cool.

What the old board looked like

The compressor sits in the bay at the bottom of the fridge with the inverter board mounted beside it. Once we had the old board out of its housing, the inside of the grey plastic cover had a clear scorch mark.