Freezer door not freezing

[BWR1953]

Our upright side by side fridge/freezer is misbehaving. The inside of the freezer section is working normally (23 - 25 degrees) but the freezer door temps are 33 degrees. The stuff we had in the door has started thawing out.

Right now my wife is moving critical stuff from the upright to our chest freezer.

Any ideas on how to correct the freezer door issue?

 

[alldodge]

Need to get it checked but most likely you need a new fridge. Freezer section should be closer to zero

 

[alldodge]

A so, so easy (no real easy) check. Remove the back panel behind the freezer and see if the evaporator coil is froze up, and or drain is clogged

 

[BWR1953]

Update: both sides of the fridge/freezer are getting warmer. So whatever is going on is affecting both sides.

We're looking to see how to remove the back panel now.

 

[BWR1953]

I think we found the problem.

My wife is cleaning it now.

 

[alldodge]

That would help, just not sure "now" if it isn't to late. If compressor was getting hot because of ventilation issue, and over time the comp gets weak. Hope cleaning it up gets it going, but looks a lot like my Mom's when she told me about the issue

 

[BWR1953]

Got it cleaned up and plugged back in. Waiting with fingers crossed now.

 

[BWR1953]

How long should it take for it to drop down to normal temps? It's been 75 minutes since we plugged it back in.

Freezer sections have temps ranging from 21 - 33 degrees. I put some frozen stuff from the chest freezer in there to help. Not a lot of stuff, just some.

Fridge sections are 45 - 47 degrees. There's some food in there, but nothing critical.

 

[alldodge]

While they don't lower that fast in most cases, the fridge section should be closer to 40

I think you need a new one

 

[BWR1953]

While they don't lower that fast in most cases, the fridge section should be closer to 40

I think you need a new one

There are appliance repair companies around here. If the temps don't drop down a lot more by tomorrow morning, I'll contact one of them and get it repaired. Has to be a lot cheaper than buying a new one for $1,500 - $2,500.

 

[BWR1953]

Update: it's been over 3 hours and the freezer sections are at 23-24 degrees but the fridge sections are still in the mid-40s.

We're gonna leave it alone overnight and see how it is in the morning. Hopefully, we only wounded it and didn't kill it completely.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I think it would need at least 6-8 hours to get cold.

 

[BWR1953]

Good morning, guys.

We let it run overnight and still no joy. It's 27 in the freezer section and 47 in the fridge.

I'll be calling the repair place when they open.

 

[alldodge]

Bummer

 

[Grub54891]

I had a fridge that wasn't cooling properly, I was renting. The landlord sent the repair guy over and he replaced the fan in the freezer. Worked perfect after that.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Hope it's a cheap fix!

 

[BWR1953]

Repair guy will be here this afternoon. He did say that my 15 y.o. fridge is a good one and should be repairable. Sort of like an older truck.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[dwco5051]

Might just be the defrost timer if you are lucky. Don't know how long it was off but the evaporator coils could be completely iced up. Also bad fan motor as someone also said. Bad drain or coil heaters. My side by side went haywire on me out of warranty and I had to replace a circuit board. $130 for the board which I replaced myself but beat the almost $2300 for replacing it with a new one just like it. Just like everything else including motors and cars they are getting harder to trouble shoot and repair.

 

[BWR1953]

All fixed!

It was indeed the defrost timer. Total cost to repair was $190.

I am one happy camper!

 

[BWR1953]

Update: some 4 hours after the repair, the fridge was getting warmer, not colder. I called the tech and he stopped by and checked it out. He discovered that the evaporator coil was frozen at the bottom and along one side.

So he used a steam cleaner and got the ice off and put everything back together. Now we wait. If it isn't back to normal tomorrow morning, I'm to call him again.