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Homeowner Forum / General / July 2008Warm Refrigerator
Lately, I started hearing a loud humming sound in my fridge and all of a sudden, ice cream wouldnt freeze, the fridge portion was warm. So, I opened the back and used a shop vac on the fan by the compressor. The problem was the same. The compressor is quiet and the fan near it is quiet. I removed the lights and plastic top on the inside of the fridge and I saw a small rectangular box (it may be a sensor or a thermostat) and a small rectangular hole next to it. A little bit of cold air was coming out of the hole. The humming got louder so I took everything out of the freezer and removed the rear plastic piece. I saw a fan where the loud humming is coming from. It was full of ice, so I turned off the power and let it all thaw out. When I turned it back on, there was a lot of cold air coming out of the hole on the inside top of the fridge. So, it looks like the compressor makes the air cold and the fan on the bottom blows the cold air up to the fridge and keeps that section cold. In the past week, this has happened three times so my fix is only temporary. When I thaw it out, the ice cream is frozen solid and the fridge is cold as heck. What is causing the bottom fan to ice up and thus, not be able to blow the cold air up to the fridge? Is there a sensor that is not working? > What is causing the bottom fan to ice up and thus, not be able to blow the > cold air up to the > fridge? Is there a sensor that is not working? Is this a GE by any chance? They use a flapper to direct the cold air between the freezer and refrigerator part. The amount of air diverted each way depends on your settings and how cold each part is. GE ran into a bad bunch of these flapper arms, and they tend to break. When that happens, you get full freezer cold in your refrigerator, causing it to freeze up. The coolant loop then overheats and shuts down. This might be your issue if you have a GE of the year 2000 - 2003 vintage. Might be a similar problem even if it isn't a GE. -john-  Signature====================================================================== John A. Weeks III 612-720-2854 john@johnweeks.com Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com ====================================================================== The refrigerator is a Maytag. I bought the house in 2004 so I dont know how old the unit is. When I remove the entire plastic section on the top inside of the fridge, there is a rectangular metal piece in the rear with a circular wheel on it. When I turn the front wheel (cold ---> coldest control), there is a belt that turns that wheel in the rear. I would guess it acts like a thermostat but I really dont know. There is also a rectangular hole underneath that rear piece that looks like it should open and close. It seems to be stuck open at the moment and I cannot even close it using my finger. Tony >> What is causing the bottom fan to ice up and thus, not be able to blow the >> cold air up to the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >-john- >What is causing the bottom fan to ice up and thus, not be able to blow the >cold air up to the >fridge? Is there a sensor that is not working? In my experience with an Amana/Maytag refrigerator, the seized up evaporator fan is caused by having the freezer temperature dial setting too high. When you set the dial too high, the evaporator coils freeze up. The more the refrigerator runs the worse things get. As more and more ice accumulates on the coils and fan blades, the freezer gets warmer and warmer. If a defrost cycle kicks in things may melt and reset but only temporarily. The solution is to set the freezer temperature dial to a lower number. If your freezer dial has 8 or 10 markings, try setting on number 3. Put a thermometer in the freezer and check the temperature after a few hours. It should read 0 degrees F to -5 degrees F. If it's reading above 0 degrees F. you may have a leaking door gasket or try setting the freezer dial higher half a notch. Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this non corrisponde ad un utente |message is not related to a real reale ma all'indirizzo fittizio|person but to a fake address of an di un sistema anonimizzatore |anonymous system Per maggiori informazioni |For more info https://www.mixmaster.it >>What is causing the bottom fan to ice up and thus, not be able >>to blow the cold air up to the [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Per maggiori informazioni |For more info > https://www.mixmaster.it Everything mentioned so far is valid, but there are other things as well. If this is a self-defrosting refrigerator/freezer (it sounds like it is) then it could be that the defrosting coil is not working. It could either be burned out itself, or the defrost time could be not working any more. If you feel up to it, find the defrost timer and figure out the wires to the heating (defrost) element. Check them with a good ohmmetter. If they read infinite resistance then the element is probably bad. Otherwise, bypass the time and connect the element directly to line voltage. If the element gets warm, it is quite possible that the timer is bad. Either way, you can find a parts source yourself, or bite the bullet and bring in a service man. BTW, how is the temperature in the refrigerator portion. If that is ok, then you are probably not having a problem with the flapper/diverter. If it is warm as well, then you probably have a disign where all the cold air goes to the freezer and then some is sent to the refrigerator to cool it. If so, you will have to fix the problem with the freezer in order to get the frig part at the right temp again. ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com ** Tim It is not a self defrosting refrigerator. I also used the lowest settings and the problem is still there. You are correct in that all the cold air is going to the freezer and then it is sent up to the fridge via a fan in the freezer that blows up some duct that ends up in the fridge. The fridge is warm. The freezer is cold enough to freeze chicken, ice cubes, frozen veggies and such but ice cream is mush. When I take the back out of the freezer, the area where the fan is is all iced up. It still spins but it gets noisier as it ices up. When it is iced up, the fridge is warmer. When I get all the ice out, it all works fine again for 2-3 days and the cycle repeats. So, something is causing the area in the freezer to ice up around the fan. Click on link below to see a picture. http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee225/trusso11783/freezerice.jpg Tony >>>What is causing the bottom fan to ice up and thus, not be able >>>to blow the cold air up to the [quoted text clipped - 46 lines] >right temp again. >** Posted from http://www.teranews.com ** > The fridge is warm. The freezer is cold enough to freeze chicken, ice cubes, frozen veggies and such > but ice cream is mush. When I take the back out of the freezer, the area where the fan is is all > iced up. It still spins but it gets noisier as it ices up. When it is iced up, the fridge is warmer. > When I get all the ice out, it all works fine again for 2-3 days and the cycle repeats. That's often an indication that the coolant level is low and/or the compressor isn't working right. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:32:57 -0400 from Tony <trusso11783@yahoo.com>: [tale of woe] Is this a Maytag, by any chance? There's a known problem with Maytag fridges failing prematurely, as I found from an Internet search before I almost bought one. Google for your particular model. I heard from the shop where I bought my Whirlpool a couple of weeks ago that Whirlpool bought out Maytag and shot down the factory with the quality problems, so recent Maytags are probably okay but I would not be surprised to hear of problems with older ones. Page 38 of the May issue of /Consumer Reports/ shows frequency of repair figures. It's an eye opener. SignatureStan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai... I solved my problem today by buying a new refridferator. Went to PC Richard and bought a scatch and dent model (with no scratches or dents but was missing a cosmetic plastic piece) for half price ($700). Nice 26 cu/ft side by side stainless steel model. I guess I am happy. I would have called the Maytag repair guy but if I was going to spend a few hundred to fix the 20 yr old one, I would rather put the money toward a new one. Thanks for the input guys. Tony > ... but if I was going to spend a few hundred to fix the 20 yr old one ... Ah hem, you should have mentioned that. 20 years is well past the expected lifetime of a fridge. >> ... but if I was going to spend a few hundred to fix the 20 yr old one ... > >Ah hem, you should have mentioned that. 20 years is well past the >expected lifetime of a fridge. I had no idea how old it was. I just moved into the house in 2004. After looking around at all the lables on the fridge, there was no obvious date but I did see 1988 in a few of the numbers, so I am assuming it is 20 years old. Tony Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:33:06 -0400 from Tony <trusso11783@yahoo.com>: > I solved my problem today by buying a new refridferator ... ($700). > ... I would have called the Maytag repair guy but if I was going to > spend a few hundred to fix the 20 yr old one, I would rather put > the money toward a new one. If your old one was 20 years old, you might make a similar calculation to the one I made. My fridge cost almost a grand, including tax. (Because the space for it was very tight, I didn't have a lot of options, and none of the scratch-and-dents would fit in the space.) energystar.gov said I should expect to save $100 a year in electricity versus my old model. So with a ten-year lifespan, mine pays for itself. SignatureStan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai... >I solved my problem today by buying a new refridferator. Went to PC Richard and > bought a scatch and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Tony Like just the other day i am putting a bunch of stuff in the fridg. Its in defrost cycle of course. defrost should NEVER come on during busy hours. i wish manufacturers would get it straight. I was working with a temp controller that was actually made for stuff like this. Programmable and about $50. That would replace the thermostat and defrost timer. When the defrost goes on for 45 minutes nasty things can happen. I monitored the two fridges I have in both freezer and cooling sections over days. I did not like what I saw. greg |
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