This refrigerator has been sitting awhile. Plugged it in recently and it doesn’t cool or freeze. The fan is on, the compressor comes on, the starter relay does not rattle, cool air blows in the freezer, and a little cool air blows into the bottom. The compressor doesn’t have the "going out" sound. The bottom is clean looking, dirt or lint built up. My condensor is hot, the coils next to it are cool. Cool air is blowing from the bottom on the back side.
What’s my problem? thank you!
If the compressor is on all the time other than when the unit goes into defrost and the evaporator/freer fan is running then a sealed system problem goes to the top of the list.
Remove the cover in the freezer so you can inspect the evaporator coils. If you only have frost in one area (usually where the freon enters the coils) then it is a sealed system problem. Could be it is low on freon.
This will be an expensive repair as you need a pro. Often it makes more sense to put the dollars towards a new unit.
I don’t have any frost in the freezer at all. I do have some moisture with drops of water and cold on the line going into the coils. when i leave the fridge running for 10 mins and turn the dial to off, I do hear a fair amount of continuous gurgling and crackling when putting my ear to the outside wall. I thought that was a test for low freon or absence of it, so I’m really stumped at this point.
any other ideas? or do you still think it’s a freon issue?
Yes it sounds like a freon problem.
May also be that an porifice in the sealed system is plugged.