This evening I found my fridge had stopped working, and upon checking, the freezer as well. After removing all food from it, I found neither the fridge nor the freezer were blowing any air, cold or otherwise. There is a fan in the back that is running, and it appears to be the only thing making noise. I’ve attempted to include a picture of the fan in question. I shut down the unit, and unplugged it for about 20 minutes before restarting it, with no results. I vacuumed all the dust I could from beneath it, and am no longer sure how to proceed. Any insight at all would be appreciated. If it makes any difference, it has a water-dispenser, and ice-maker in the left (freezer) door. Those are not hooked up at the moment.
After leaving the unit on overnight, this morning I found new frost on the bottom half of the freezer’s rear wall, and the fridge’s rear wall feels slightly cooler. No change in the sound the unit is making, still no air blowing.
After shutting the freezer and fridge off and leaving it unplugged for a day, both worked again when I plugged it in and turned them back on. It worked properly for a week, and then the fridge started to warm, barely blowing any air at all. I bought a thermometer for each. The freezer is working as normal, but the fridge is holding at around 10’. Both were set at and left at maximum. As of this update, I have turned both down to see if there is any change. I’m left confused by one working while the other is not. Can anyone please offer any insight?
Sounds like a defrost problem to me. Look at the back wall of the freezer. There is a panel there you can remove to expose the evaporator coil. Have a look and see if it’s plugged up with frost. There is a fan back there as well that circulates air from the freezer to the fresh food side and then returns via ducts in the bottom. If any of those channels are blocked by frost, it won’t cool and will show up first in the fresh food side. Take a look and see if you have a plugged evaporator or frosted over supply or return duct and make sure the evaporator fan is running and repost so we can determine the next step.
Thanks for your reply. I’ve been away, and the fridge has been off since the time of your reply. I intend to follow your kind advice and open up the rear of the freezer when I am home long-term in a week.
Can I expect to see the evaporator fan running constantly, or does it run on and off?
It runs off and on based on cooling needs.
This evening, I removed the panel at the back of my freezer and found ice as you predicted. The fan pictured is running and blowing air upwards. It’s the only fan visible at the time of this posting. I can see where the air enters the fridge half of the unit, but not where it exits the area behind the freezer. What do you recommend from here?[ATTACH]8875[/ATTACH]
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What you have is a defrost issue. The first thing to do is thaw it just enough to check the ohms on the defrost limit and heater. Be careful not to thaw the limit disc out, just enough to get at the wires. Check the ohms thru the limit, then disconnect and check ohms thru the heater. Post what you come up with. If they both check out ok, you will need a new electronic defrost timer. Below are all parts for reference.
http://commercial.********************************.com/partsdirect/showPart.pd?partNumber=5303918214&productGroupId=0046&supplierId=253&brandId=0582&documentId=R0609103&keySuffixId=NA&modelNumber=25357188601&keyId=0021&pageId=00006&productTypeId=0165000&searchModelNumber=25357188601&subCompDesc=System&brandDesc=KENMORE&modelDesc=REFRIGERATOR&blt=11&hideDiscount=&pathTaken=partSearch
http://commercial.********************************.com/partsdirect/showPart.pd?partNumber=240316107&productGroupId=0046&supplierId=253&brandId=0582&documentId=R0609103&keySuffixId=NA&modelNumber=25357188601&keyId=0014&pageId=00006&productTypeId=0165000&searchModelNumber=25357188601&subCompDesc=System&brandDesc=KENMORE&modelDesc=REFRIGERATOR&blt=11&hideDiscount=&pathTaken=partSearch
How about these part numbers…
bi-metal
http://www.appliancepartspros.com/frigidaire-thermostat-defrost-5303918214-ap2150145.html
Defrost control
http://www.appliancepartspros.com/frigidaire-control-defrost-242011001-ap4560766.html
My apologizes, I was distracted by a call and didn’t look them up here since I was on another site. Never even realized I posted from there instead of here.
No worries; sadly I allowed the unit to completely defrost, so I was not able to check what you suggested, but it’s back on now. I should mention I set the unit to do a defrost cycle, by manually clicking the light switch 5 times fast last time and it took far longer for it to clog with ice. I’ve not done that this time, though that back panel is still off.
Once you get a good frost pattern on the evaporator, run a manual defrost again and watch to see if the heater gets hot and melts the frost. If it does, you need a new electronic defrost timer. If not, check the limit and heater as previously suggested to determine which one has failed. It will take a couple minutes for it to start defrosting once manual defrost is started. It should have thawed it all out within half an hour. Hope this helps!
I made sure the defrost cycle was selected, and nothing happened, the frost continues to grow (damned fast this time). I gave it a day and a night after I selected defrost, because the semi-clear instructions on how to do so suggest it needs that much time. I know it was enabled because one selected, the unit’s sound changes. I’m looking for something to let me measure the ohms. I’ll look at the manual when I get home to see what the parts to be measured look like.
The Compressor Start Relay. The start relay is a small device mounted to the side of the compressor. It provides power to the winding for a split second at start up to help the compressor run. The other component that may have failed could be the Start Capacitor. The start capacitor acts almost like a battery to give the compressor a small boost during power up.So cheque it .
— Begin quote from Dean Haustead;903568
The Compressor Start Relay. The start relay is a small device mounted to the side of the compressor. It provides power to the winding for a split second at start up to help the compressor run. The other component that may have failed could be the Start Capacitor. The start capacitor acts almost like a battery to give the compressor a small boost during power up.So cheque it .
— End quote
Dean is a spambot with 29 posts. I sure wish someone would delete him.