Newb: Refrigerator is constantly running

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
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1

New member here, and did a search of this site and on the good ole Google but haven’t really solved my problem. I apologize in advance for a topic that has probably been covered a lot in the past.

So long story short, I bought this Refrigerator used 3 days ago to put in my basement. Seller advertised it as working properly and upon inspection the fresh food side was cold and the freezer colder. I handed my money over and went on my merry way.

Anyway, get it set up, it powers up and starts cooling. Next morning, the thing is still running, so I thought maybe it needs a good 24hrs to set the temperature, but I figured I’d go buy some temp gauges and place them inside just in case. That night when I got home from work, it was still running. Hopped on the web and found a little checklist to go over.

So in order:

  1. I cleaned the condenser coils of all the crap that was on them.
  2. I set the freezer to a lower temp than the fresh food part
  3. My temps are -2 and 33 degrees
    4.Both evap and condeser fans are working
  4. thinking my evap coils were frozen I removed the back of the freezer panel. See pic for how they currently look. Do they look normal for 4hours of on time after a manual defrost?
  5. I manually turned the defroster timer to see if the defrost coils worked and they were both bright red.
  6. I am not sure my timer works properly - so ordered a new one
  7. I think the seals on the doors are good, because there is resistance when sliding a business car along them.

Couple questions:
If the defrost heaters work when manually triggered does that mean the defrost thermostat on the evap coils work as well?
Or
Is it possible it is only recognizing a high temp when voltage is sent to it?
AND
Do I still need to check for continuity on the defrost thermostat?

Is there anything else I’m missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

3

I think you should complain to your freezer dealer or company from where you bought it and describe your freezer problem.

4

From what you wrote about the fridge, I dont think anything is wrong with it. You mention the temps are -2 and 33? Those are pretty good temps, you probably have the temp in the fresh food turned to the coldest setting. The pic of the evap looks normal. Your heaters work, the fans are running. It is summer time, and without a food load in there, you are short cycling. Meaning as soon as the compressor kicks off, the temps rise quickly causing the fridge to seem like it is running constantly…Put jugs of water in the freezer and fresh food section. Get your thermometer you bought and after 24 hours check the temp of the water in the fresh food. Bet it’s normal…Good luck

5

Just wanted to update the thread as many times people never do when the problem is resolved. Seems like abadfish66 was absolutely right, after about 36hours the refrigerator is cycling like it supposed to. I purchased a new thermostat and defrost timer that I’ll keep just in case but the temps are steady and everything seems to be working correctly.
It stills runs a bit longer than my 1yr old fridge in the kitchen, but I’ll chalk that up to this one being older and less energy effficient.

Thanks for the replies all!