Freezer working but not colder enough to freeze.

You probably have one compressor that cools the freezer section and the refrigerator section. Usually the freezer gets cooled directly with the cooling coils. A fan blows cool air to the refrigerator section. The air flow to the refrigerator may be modulated with some time of "air door". What you have written says to me, is that the fans and air doors are working but there is enough cold for the refrigerator but not enough for the freezer.

Here is what I would do:

1. Put a thermometer in the refrigerator and in the freezer.
2. Be sure the coils underneath or behind the refrigerator are clean. If they are very dirty, clean them.
3. Keep the doors shut for at least 12 hours and then read the thermometers and write down the temperatures.
4. Freezer temperature
   1. If the freezer has started freezing again, you fixed it by cleaning the coils
   2. .If the freezer temperature is between 0 deg F and 32 deg F, consider putting the food in a cooler and packing in some dry ice to try and save it.
   3. If the freezer is warmer than 32 deg f, throw away the food.
   4. Doctors and hospitals are pretty expensive. I would throw away the food no matter what the thermometer read.
5. Look inside the freezer at the cooling coils. See if they are ice coated or not.
   1. If the freezer is above 0 deg F, and the coils are ice covered, the defrost control is not working. Unplug the refrigerator for 12 hours and let the ice melt. (Keep the doors shut.) Then, plug in the refrigerator for 12 hours and check the temperature like in step 3.
   2. If the freezer is above 0 deg F, and the coils are NOT ice covered, the compressor is not working.
      
6. Call the service technician. When she comes out show her the temperatures and tell her what you found out about the ice on the coils.

Good luck

Ice cream needs to be at 10 degrees or colder to stay hard. Check your thermostat and move it colder if you need but give it 24 hours to stabilize to the new setting. Another thing you might check are the coils on the outside of your freezer. They will be on the back or underneath your freezer. What you need to look for is to see if there is any lint or dirt that might be built up on the coils. If they are real dirty they need to be cleaned off with a vacuum or an air hose if you have one. The dirt build up keeps the freezer from cooling efficiently and causes it to run warmer than normal. If all of that is clean and boosting the thermostat to a colder setting does not take care of it you might need to call a service tech. Hope this helps.

You need a new bimetal fuse for your defrost cycle in your freezer.

It could be many things. My first guess would be the defrost. The coil that gets cold in your freezer builds ice on it and the only way to get the ice off is to run a heater near the coil long enough for the ice to melt. All freezers have something built in to defrost and domestic are typically just an electric heater on a timer. When your freezer stops working again, you may want to pull open the panel of your freezer and see if your coil (a heat exchanger that probably looks a lot like your car radiator) is covered in ice. If it is, it could be the timer or the actual heater that is bad.

If freezer is ok and cooling ( 5 degrees or less) one thing you might want to check is that the flow of cold air to refrigerator is not obstructed by the items in your freezer. The ductwork has to be available. Also check the opening of the damper if fridge is not cold enough. And is the fan operating at full speed - are the bearings dirty and slowing it down?
Also check your freezer temp - there are degrees of freezing. Water freezes at 32 degrees but a good freezer should go down to about zero. And the colder your freezer air is the colder your fridge will be.

If the coil is frosting half way, shows signs of a leak, restriction, our bad compressor.

Hi,

Many times a freezer and/or refrigeratordo not work right because of a dirty condenser coil...there are also many otherthings that can go wrong. If you are hearing a clicking or buzzing thencheck out the last two tips.

If your refrigerator is running but warm, then...

Check out these tips that I wrote about that... it is a great place to starttrouble shooting your unit...and something that you can do rather then callinga repair person to do a simple thing for you...

Refrigerator Condenser Coil Cleaning Refrigerator Repair

Refrigerator Troubleshooting Refrigerator Compressor

Refrigerator Compressor Start Capacitor and Start Relay
Refrigerator or Freezer not Cooling or Getting Cold

heatman101

Checked Freezer Fan is working. Also checked defrost Fuse in freezer.
To checked freezer fan is working or not open freezer door press Door Switch and checked Cold air is coming from duct or not.

Hi, The freezer is not staying cold enough...ice cream takes colder temps...
Many times a freezer and/or refrigeratordo not work right because of a dirty condenser coil...there are also many otherthings that can go wrong. If you are hearing a clicking or buzzing thencheck out the last two tips.

If your refrigerator is running but warm, then...

Check out these tips that I wrote about that... it is a great place to starttrouble shooting your unit...and something that you can do rather then callinga repair person to do a simple thing for you...

Refrigerator Condenser Coil Cleaning Refrigerator Repair

Refrigerator Troubleshooting Refrigerator Compressor

Refrigerator Compressor Start Capacitor and Start Relay
Refrigerator or Freezer not Cooling or Getting Cold

heatman101

Hi,

Many times a freezer and/or refrigeratordo not work right because of a dirty condenser coil...there are also many otherthings that can go wrong. If you are hearing a clicking or buzzing thencheck out the last two tips.

If your refrigerator is running but warm, then...

Check out these tips that I wrote about that... it is a great place to starttrouble shooting your unit...and something that you can do rather then callinga repair person to do a simple thing for you...

Refrigerator Condenser Coil Cleaning Refrigerator Repair

Refrigerator Troubleshooting Refrigerator Compressor

Refrigerator Compressor Start Capacitor and Start Relay
Refrigerator or Freezer not Cooling or Getting Cold

heatman101