Fridge does not cool down

Hello;

My name is Peter. I am a retired field service refrigeration technician.

How do you know you fully defrosted the freezer? You have a defrost timer and heater to do that. Unplugging your unit for a few hours may not be enough.

You need to remove the lower back wall cover. There are several screws holding it on and the rubber molding around it easily pulls out.

Up plug your unit and remove the lower back cover.

1.) Frozen Drain - Your unit goes through a defrost cycle every 8-10 hours. During the time your freezer shuts down for 20-30 minutes except for your light. If you have a frozen drain, the condensate builds up behind the lower back wall until the cooling(evaporator) coils become plugged up and you do not get any air flow. You may even have a solid block of ice.
Repair: Using a hair dryer (DO NOT Use Metal Objects. You may damage the coils.) slowly defrost the coils. This will take 2-3 hours.

2.) Cooling (Evaporator) Fan Failure - Assume the coils are not iced up. Is your evaporator fan running?



Part #: 3-60336-001 Cost: $115.00
Check it out: With a multi-meter set to the lowest Ohms (Omega Symbol). Is the motor humming, Then it is bad and needs to get replaced.
Unplug the unit. Disconnect the motor. Put one meter lead in one connector socket and the other lead in the other motor sock. You should get a reading of "0" Ohms if the motor is good. Anything else the motor is bad and need to be replaced.

3.) Defrost Timer - Pull your unit out to access the lower back. With your unit plugged in, take a small flat head screw driver, insert it into the slot on the time. Turning clockwise one turn at a time, until the freezer shuts off. If you have turned one full cycle, then you have a bad timer.
Ok. The unit shut down except for the light. Observe the metal bar below your cooling coil. Is it hot? If not then you may have a bad defrost heater. Lets check it out - Unplug your unit. Once again with your multi-meter set on the lowest Ohms, disconnect each ends of the wire connectors. Be careful not to touch the fins on the cooling coil. They are razor sharp. The connector are hard to pull apart. Put one meter lead in one connector and the other meter lead into the other connector. If you do not get a Ohm reading between 50-250, then you have a bad defrost heater.

Substitution: 3-80405-003 Cost: $56.00
This is a glass tube with a spring in it. If it is burner or the spring is broken then you have a bad defrost heater.

4.) Refrigerant Leak or Obstruction - With the unit plugged in. Lay the lover cover the cooling coils. Close the door and wait 30 minutes. Remove the cover. Do all of the coils have a nice frost pattern? Is there a block of ice in the upper right hand corner of the cooling coil. If so you either have a refrigerant leak or an obstruction. In this case the repair will cost you $450.00-$500.00.

5.) If all of the above is good, then you may have a Bi-mel problem. In the upper right hand corner of your cooling coil there is a thermostat. This controls the temperature and compressor start-up. This may explode in the back. Check to see if it is intacted.

5.) Bad thermostat - These can not be checked for failure. If you have check all of the above this may be your problem.
Substitution: 4-83053-003 Cost: $68.00

Hello Karen;



My name is Peter. I am a retired field service refrigeration technician.



The top half of your freezer is warm because your cooling (evaporator) coil is on the bottom.



With your unit there are generally two cooling problems:



1.) Frozen Drain - You freezer will go through a defrost cycle every 8-10 hours. When this occurs, everything shuts down with the exception of your lights. Your defrost heater turns on for about 20-30 minutes, defrost you cooling coil and them turns your unit back on.

Most common, is that you have a frozen drain. If you have a frozen drain, when your unit goes through the defrost cycle, if your drain is plugged then the condensate builds up on your cooling coil and restricts the air flow. Use a hair dryer and melt the ice.



2.) Freezer fan motor is bad - Your freezer fan motor may be bad. This is easily replaced.



Ok, Lets get it done. I have faith in you.

a.) Unplug your unit.

b.) With a screw driver remove the 6 screws holding the bottom cover. You control may be in the way.

c.) I know you can do this. Remove the back cover. Is you cooling coil blocked with Ice? Defrost with a hair dryer. Do not use metal tools, you may damage the cooling coil.



b.) After defrost, Is you cooling fan running. You can do this as well. There are only two contacts to remove and a ground wire. If it is not running purchase a new one.



I have faith in you Karen. Call me and I will walk you through this.

443-306-1362, Glen Burnie, Maryland, USA

Hi Kenneth.

I understood that the fridge is starting but does not cool.

Check fridge temperature settings.

Check if the motor is starting. If the compressor is not running of if it clicks and does not start is the relay/capacitor connected to the motor.

Check if coils have been damaged or if the motor runs most of the time. If there have been a leak or if the refrigerant pressure is low the fridge will not cool.

If thermostat or electronic control is defective the fridge will not cool.

I can be a bit more specific if you give me the complete model number.

If there is no cooling at all on the fridge section but the freezer works then it is confirmed that the compressor and gas pressure is OK. Now shut off the fridge and leave it powered off while you clean and check the evaporator for frost. If frost is seen it is a good indication as the compressor is working with sufficient gas within.
Now after about 6 hours plug in the fridge to start. Observe cooling to happen in about one hour and ice to from under three hours.
Earlier make sure that the thermostat was set to normal mode for freezer and fridge.
However if ice forms in the freezer then observe the fridge for about 24 hours for cooling to continue and the fridge to cut off . If not the auto defrost timer, or the thermostat must be checked. Frost formation without defrosting could block the air flow and so shut the air passage to the fridge. Also the blower fan must work and if this is not working then the fan can be faulty. Also a fault on the control unit is a suspect to non functioning of any one of these components.
If defrost timer works but frost keeps forming check while the compressor shuts if the heaters are working, check continuity of the heaters.
So try this test using a multi-meter on the defrost timer and the thermostat and make your observations so that we come to the solution.

Hi,

Let's start by diagnosing the freezer;

Fan problem is one of the most common reasons for the freezer to start failing, this is called "frost free failure." Ice can build up on the evaporator coils over time, and this ice builds up until it starts blocking the fan. The fan is responsible for circulating cold air throughout the freezer, so if it is blocked the freezer will not be able to freeze any food. You can usually check this by removing an access panel in the back of the freezer to inspect the coils. If ice is built up on the coils, a hairdryer can assist in defrosting them.

It's also possible that the fan is not running at all. If the fan is burned out or the motor isn't running, cold air can't circulate through the freezer and everything will melt. You can normally hear the fan motor switch on and off from time to time. Listen for it and if you can't hear it coming on for an extended period of time, the motor may need repair or replacement. The wires connecting to the fan may be the problem, preventing the fan from receiving electricity.

Several other problems could be keeping your freezer from freezing:

There could be leaks in one or several of the hoses in the refrigerator, which results in the cold air being lost instead of circulating properly throughout the fridge and freezer.

If you have the freezer so full that the cold air can't circulate, your food will thaw even though the freezer isn't malfunctioning. Always leave some space open in the freezer and try to not store food right up against the cooling vents.

The thermostat might have shorted out, which means the freezer can't accurately determine how cold it is. If this is the case, the refrigerator would probably not be working, either.

If your defrost drain becomes clogged, the water in the line will just refreeze over and over again, which could damage the lines as well as the fan. Always check the drain and make sure no sludge is building up in it if you have a self-defrosting refrigerator.

Always try to keep the freezer door closed for long periods of time. The more the door is opened, the more warm air is let in and cold air is released. If the door is opened frequently, the freezer could be warming faster than the fridge can cool it, which will thaw your food

As for the fridge, the same solution but for more details. If refrigerator is not cooling properly can be due to a defrost timer, which is causing the fridge to go into defrost cycle. Usually it takes 45-60 minutes for refrigerator to come out of defrost cycle. If the timer goes bad then it will not come out of defrost cycle and can result in this kind of issues. It can also occur due to defrost thermostat, it allows current to pass through it at temperatures of 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit and prevents current from passing through it at 40 to 60 degrees. This is difficult to test, though, because it takes a prolonged, very-cold temperature to turn it on. The defrost thermostat is snapped onto the top portion of the evaporator. The thermostat sends temperature information to the processor. The defrost heater must be replaced when replacing the thermostat.

1. Remove the lower fan duct work from the evaporator cover.
2. Remove the 1/4-in. evaporator cover screws and remove the evaporator cover.
3. Disconnect the defrost thermostat wiring connector.
4. Remove the defrost thermostat from the evaporator.

I hope the above helps.......

Regards.

The compressor could be gone, the niose you hear will be the internal fan unit running , this circulates the cold air arount the inside of the unit. If this unit has a timer, it will be a located in the compressor housing well in the lower rear of the , it will be separate from the compressor and will have 5 wires plugged into it, on that unit, locate a small round knob and turn it clockwise, it should start, if it does, replace the timer, if not, check the thermostat. This may need a tech to do safely as you are working with a live curcuit.
Hope that helps but without being there it quite hard to explain.

Dont forget to vote and goodluck, need more help contact me [email protected] and if you are in Perth Australia, I can have a look at it.

if the evap fan is not turning try to turn it by hand a few times then start you freezer if it does not turn it needs to be replaced.make sure there is no ice build up on the evap coils.alos check the continuity of the defrost heater below the evap coils.once you het teh fan replace your unit should cool down to the proper temps.

dear sir/madam

i think this is thermostat setting problem please make sure freezer,s thermostat nobe (nidle) is in correct position .then see thermostat temperature settings . may be thermostat is not controlling to compressor motor that why it,s running continuously.

hope answer the question,
thank you
please vote!

Good day,
If the unit is running but not cooling then check the following.
1. The fan motor behind the rear panel is not running, you will have to remove the panel, being careful not to damage the control thermostat, and inspect the motor, and replace if needed.
2. The defrost system has failed, icing the coil behind that same panel, and not circulating air. There are 3 parts to the defrost system, the main heater, a calrod unit mounted on the bottom of the cooling coil, a defrost control thermostat which is located on that same coil, but on the top. It is a small 1" round disk with 2 wires coming out of it.
Lastly, a timer which is located on the back of the machine and determines how often the unit defrosts.
If you have an ohm meter and know how to use it, you can test the heater and control thermostat for continuety if the coil is indeed iced up. If not iced up, the test will not work.

To test the timer, you take a screwdriver and with the machine on, turn the shaft clockwise until it shuts off. wait 35 minutes. If it turns the machine back on, it's O.K. If not, it needs replaced.
A tutorial on defrost systems is at the end of this post.

3. If none of the above work, then it is in the compressor/sealed system. This machine has had many issues in this area and is a serious problem unless...........
The unit is under 5 years of age, then warranty will cover the repair.

http://www.appliance411.com/faq/howdefrostworks.shtml


Thank you for using FixYa

if it seems like the evaporator is getting cold then your sealed system should appear to be ok. you need the evap fan to transfer cold air into fresh food section. if not turning u need to replace fan motor. make sure your not getting to much frost build up on the evap.