GE Monogram Refrigerator - Compressor Never Stops

[shergenr]

I have a GE Monogram side-by-side refrigerator (BIS42ajc). The house is for sale, vacant and the freezer/refrig is empty. Last month, I had the compressor replaced (ouch!). It is now cooling properly, but I notice that everytime I have gone to the house, the evaporator fan is running and runs until I turn the thermostat to off. It will kick into defrost mode if I advance the defrost control knob (it goes in defrost for about 20+ minutes).

So, here is my question is it normal for the evaporator fan (and compressor) to run continuously if the freezer is totally empty? My thinking is that there isn't anything in the freezer to hold the cold....Is it a problem for this to run continously and should I simply cut it off?...Or do I have a defrost control or a thermostat problem?

Finally, since the service tech replaced the compressor shouldn't he have tested the t-stat and or defrost control?

Thanks in advance for your help/advice.

[Icehouse]

The biggest problem is time. When the company I worked for was taken over by GE, we were no longer the local appliance repair guys and customers sure did notice. They had a time for every repair and had "snoops" watching us and checking with stop watches.
As far as your refrigerator goes, it will run until the thermostat is satisfied, or until unit enters defrost.
Compressor manufacturers rate them to have an 80% on time and a 20% off time. :)

[shergenr]

Icehouse,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. By the way, I hear what you are saying about GE taking over.... I have had mixed feeling on the service - in general the work is good, but I do feel like they have cut corners on some repairs/diagnoses. In fact, I won't go into the details but I was pissed off at them enough, that I didn't use them to install the new compressor/relay/guardette. The service I did use, had never operated on one of these and I have been left a little nervous as a result. Since I don't occupy the house anymore and am trying to sell it, I want to make sure that it is fixed properly and thus my questions. Futher, I know the longer I wait the less likely the service company will honor any warranty on the compressor replacement.

I interpret your answer to mean that the compressor running 80% of the day (over 19 hours/day) is normal? Or would an occupied freezer provide enough cooling/insulation value that you wouldn't expect it to run that much? If the above is the case - should I just turn the thing off?

By the way, this AM I ran by the house to check it, and voila the fan/compressor were not running (though it was cold)! A few days ago, I had advanced the defrost control to test the defrost cycle... In addition, I have returned the tstat to "5". Could I have had a defrost control that was stuck? Or do you think the lower setting on my tstat isn't working properly?

Again, thanks for your advice.