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My 'Fridge is Kinda Broke, Need Suggestions on Replacement
Peter Principle
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Registered User regular
I went to get a bottle of water out of the 'fridge night before last and it didn't feel as cold as it normally did. I thought I had shoved some food in there and bumped the cold dial in the wrong direction. It is a dial numbered 1 through 7, and it was shoved over to 5/6. So, 1 is coldest and 7 is warmest, right? So I dial it down to 1 and let it sit for a few hours, and then check the temperature of my water again. It is still the "it's cold but not nearly as cold as it should be" temperature. So then just for yucks I dial it up to seven and let is sit for awhile. The water is still the same temperature. My freezer works just fine, and food is still frozen.
There is cold air coming out of the cold air vent, but it is not blowing out of it. I suspect that perhaps a fan has gone tits up, but I have no way to confirm this.
Is this something I can fix myself? Or do I need to go buy a new 'fridge before all my food goes bad?
There is cold air coming out of the cold air vent, but it is not blowing out of it. I suspect that perhaps a fan has gone tits up, but I have no way to confirm this.
Is this something I can fix myself? Or do I need to go buy a new 'fridge before all my food goes bad?
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Edit: Wouldn't hurt to get it diagnosed, though.
This is a repairable problem, but unless you're fairly handy, you'll probably need someone else to do it for you. I had repairmen out to do it to my fridge once, and it took two guys 2-3 hours to do it. (I'm sure it depends on your fridge, but on mine they had to remove the floor and sides of the freezer in order to reach the fan.)
Also, if the food in your fridge is warm enough that you notice it's not cold, then some of it has probably already gone bad. Milk, eggs, lunch meat...these things should not be above 45 degrees for any length of time.
This is true, but I take his noticing that food and drinks don't feel cold to be strong evidence that they're well above 40 degree mark.
And get a new fridge.
Yep.
I think the cold from the freezer might be somehow leeching into the fridge, so there is some chilling action going on.
I'll probably need to get a new fridge. Suggestions?
-material collecting/clogging the air duct
-dead or dying circulating fan
-heavy icing in the evaporator coil (do you live in a high-moisture climate?)
-weak seals on the doors leading to the above concerning the coil
-refrigerant leakage from a damaged gas line causing a loss in cooling efficiency (not really an air flow problem, more of an air temp issue)
You could get an HVAC tech to look at it, although it'll probably cost around 100 dollars to diagnose the problem and some more to repair it. How much is your fridge worth to you? It may be cheaper to buy a used/cheap new fridge.
If you have access to Consumer Reports (either via a friend with a subscription, the library, or shelling out the $20 to view their website), check out their latest fridge report and look at what they label "Best Buys."
Edit: It turns out you can now get a one-month subscription to their website for $6. I'd do that if I were you.
Does that thing have a USB port? That would be sweet.
I just look at that auto open/close mechanism and think, "Great, it'll be another $500 to repair when that breaks."
I do live in Seattle (more or less), and my fridge has a particularly weak seal on the door. I've noticed condensation on the inside of the fridge. Can you tell me more about how to check if this is the case?
You can fix this problem easily. Take the back panel off the in the back of the freezer to get access to the condenser fan. Ice could be building up on the coils and stopping the fan, or it could have debris in the way, or it could just be burnt out. At worst, you will have to take the fan out and bring it to a place that sells replacement fans. You should be able to buy a new one for like 30 bucks.
If it is working, then check the air duct going from the freezer to the fridge compartment, it may be blocked with a package of something.
This is an easy fix, and you don't need to buy a new/used fridge.
Definetly makes me think weak door seals. But that is half the problem with moisture buildup inside the box.
There should be a defrost pan to catch melting condensation from the evaporator coil when your fridge goes into a defrost cycle. You might also want to check that algae/nasty shit hasn't accumulated and is blocking the drainage tube that runs out the back of your fridge and down into the condensor coil pain (the heat from the coil dissapates the moisture(water) into the air of your house). This will cause a moisture buildup in your box and seriously reduce the effectiveness of the evaporator since it will probably keep getting iced up and not completely de-icing, blocking air flow.
Also, check the fan like Buddies and I said, if it's dead or dying (slow), it will definetely reduce the efficiency of your fridge.
Check your problems:
-check the evap coil (inside the box) for ice. Tells you you have bad airflow and/or poor drainage and/or weak door seals.
-If the fan is ok, check the drainage pan/tube for blockages.
-If the drainage pan/tube/fan are ok, check your door seals. If you close the door and can see gaps, this is bad. Also a weak seal can be check by trying to open the fridge, if it takes no effort at all, you may need new seals (usually very cheap, and usually self-adhesive).
Last ditch, check your condensor coil (the coil outside the box in the back, that dissapates the heat). Almost every call I had on units, these were dirty as fuck, because people don't think to clean them. I've had an inch-thick coat of dust/hair covering the fins. Once I peeled it off by hand, there was an immediate drop in internal temp.
Pray it's not your compressor that's on it's last legs.
**EDIT** At Buddies: Most residential units don't usually have a condensor fan on them, unless it's a regional thing, which may be the case. Almost every kitchen unit I've worked on had a full-backed coil with latent heat transfer being the main means of dissapation as opposed to fan-blown. I'm not disagreeing, because I don't know the standard layout.
At the OP: If Buddies is right and there is a condensor fan and it's pooched, that's a HUGE problem, but should be cheap to replace (the fan). Also should be done right quick as it might burn out your compressor over time (working harder with less heat exchange to the air).
I just now checked it, the freezer air supply grille is blowing arctic winds rights into my face, but there is barely a dying gasp coming out of the refrigerator air supply tunnel. I tried to figure out how to get at this tunnel to see if it was somehow blocked, but I couldn't see how to get the back off to get at this piece. I also couldn't figure out how to remove the drip pan or get at the condenser tubes outside the box.
I've got pictures:
Full back view:
Exposed electronics closeup
closeups of the crap in the back:
Here are the front coils, when I take off the front plate under the freezer (the frige is on top of the freezer).
Spec sheet:
Close up of the cabinet airflow diagram:
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Cost 116 dollars so If I were you I would find out what is wrong before buying a whole new refrigerator
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Also, turn the unit on and see if that fan runs, if not you need to replace it asap or risk damaging your compressor.
However, from the sounds of it, you got cold air from the freezer, if it's blowing out strong there but not in the main box, you probably have a blockage of some sort in the duct.
**EDIT** The fact that you are getting forced air in the freezer tells me the evaporator fan/coil are probably alright. Although getting at them and seeing if the coil needs a good cleaning could help.
The sad fact is, most of this equipment is not designed for easy servicing.
**MOAR EDITZ** I can tell by the pitch of the fan blades that its for pulling air through the front underneath the box and up the back wall behind where the fridge sits. The coil under the unit needs to be clean or it'll be like sucking air through a clogged straw (nothing will happen, or a least less efficient).
It's true, if you tilt your compressor past a certain angle, the oil inside could leak out into the refrigerant tubing. It should settle back into the body of the compressor if you leave it sit for a night before firing it back up, but this leaves you without cooling for that time, and if any leaks into a verticle bend in the tubing, it may not be able to settle properly.
Essentially, cleaning both coils is the first step to refridgeration maintenance, as the refrigerant can't do it's job properly without good air flow, unless you get into water assisted cooling, which you don't have.
I really can't see how you can get at the evap coil in that unit from the pictures. Maybe there's someone with experience on that model lurking around here.
So I guess now the question is what was the root cause of the vent freezing closed? I'll leave it, and see if it does it again.
Cleaning your condenser coils will improve your fridge's behaviour. Dirty coils mean it will take longer for the compressor to move that warmth outside the fridge. This will result in longer "warm" periods and an increased time for condensation to build up. I don't know if this is the cause of the ice build up, but it certainly wouldn't help. Cleaning will also reduce the time the compressor needs to run, and reduce your electricity usage.
I thought I had a similar "OMG I need a new fridge!" issue a while ago. A good cleaning solved my problem.
Remember that it can take 24 - 48 hours with a closed fridge to bring the temp down to normal once it's been off. I remember checking mine every hour (this of course let all the cool air out) and made the problem seem much worse.
Get a fridge thermometer. It's a tiny expense that can give you a heads up on fridge problems before you lose a hundred dollars in frozen and cool foods and meats.