Hello all,
Last week weather started warming up here in CA, and coincidentally, our GE side by side (Manufacturer mid-2004) stopped cooling properly. Popsicles melted, ice cream turned to soupy yuck. I cleaned out the condenser coils which of course had a bunch of cat hair and junk in them, and observed the following over the course of about a day.
Freezer temp was fluctuating around 10F-20F, ice in the icemaker was looking pretty glassy, but not melting. Fridge side was 37F-38F, the little door that lets cold air pass between freezer and the other side seems to be working fine.
The compressor is very hot to the touch, I assume because it’s running non stop. It’s whirring away and sounds quite normal to me. Not kicking on and off or anything weird.
The condenser fan seems to be blowing fine- spinning fast enough to where I wouldn’t want to get my hand in the fan blades…
The condenser coil is warm, but not hot to the touch.
The evaporator fan is blowing air through the freezer normally, like it has for years.
Exposing the evaporator coils shows the coils with an even layer of frost, but only half way up. No ice block, no puddle of water in the pan…
By chance, a refrigeration repair tech was walking past our place and I was able to talk to him for a bit. He said it was more than likely a defrost timer problem, and that I should trouble shoot the defrost system. I explained that it’s controlled by the mainboard, so he tells me that it should be replaced. Okay, well the main board in has already been replaced to fix the "GE howling evaporator fan" problem, and from what I understand, these boards are notorious for causing problems.
Fair enough, so I get a new board, install it in less than 5 minutes, and wait about 3 hours. Same problem, coils frosted about 50% of the way up.
At this point I am thinking it’s either something really simple, like a sensor that tells the defrost system to run is shorted, OR it’s something much more sinister, like a bad compressor or the refrigerant is slowly leaking out of a bad joint.
Is there anything else I might be able to do to fix this thing? A circuit or sensor to test? A big hammer?
If it’s the compressor ($500+, +labor), the fridge is basically junk. If there is some sort of leak, does it make sense to have it fixed? If so, what’s a reasonable fee for such a repair? What’s a resonable fee for a diagnostic service call considering I have done plenty of diagnosing already? Not willing to get taken for a ride, you know…
With the economy where it’s at, we aren’t in the market for a new unit. Buying a used one makes me nervous, and the wife wouldn’t go for it anyway, as this is how the broken GE we have now came to pass. What to do?
Help? Please?
Travis