What I know about this side-by-side:
-Freezer=cold/making cubes/all is well
-Frig= cool but not cold (60 degrees). (This unit has been working just fine until the last few days)
-coils are clean
-fan by coils in bottom of unit is running fine
What I don’t understand:
-I hear a clicking sound coming from the top right front of the frig side of this unit. The sound appears to be coming from behind a push button switch that says " Automatic Exterior Moisture Control". When this thing starts clicking the lights dim like there is a big electrical draw. It will try to start up for a few minutes and then appears to give up until a later point in time.This is a recent development. Any ideas? Thanks
jeffm
In the freezer there maybe a little condensation but I don’t see any frost. In the frig side there is lots of condensation on the freezer wall side and condensation up on damper cover. Also I have turned the frig temp. control knob listening for some clicking of the thermostat clicking on but nothing no matter what direction I turn it.
All cooling is driven by the fresh food side. The thermostat is directly behind the temp control knob and the bulb that reads the temp is in the damper housing. That being said, the fresh food side being warm will cause it to run and run and run even if the freezer is ok. Sounds like an air flow issue to me. Check to be sure the evaporator fan in the freezer behind the back wall is running, the evaporator coils are not clogged with frost, the return ducts from fresh food to freezer are not frosted over or blocked by anything and lastly check to ensure the damper door didn’t come loose or break and get stuck in the closed position.
Check to be sure the evaporator fan in the freezer behind the back wall is running- I can hear it but I will disassemble and visually look at it.
--the evaporator coils are not clogged with frost–are these the coils under the entire unit accessed by the floor through the front and back of the refrigerator? I’m not I’m looking at the right thing
–the return ducts from fresh food to freezer are not frosted over or blocked by anything —Sorry I’m not sure where these are located either. –check to ensure the damper door didn’t come loose or break and get stuck in the closed position.–I’m assuming that is under the damper cover right?
*Interesting note: If I open the frig side and put my hand up by the damper cover I can feel just a little air coming out. If I continue to do that and open the freezer half of the unit (both sides are now open)then lots of cold air pours through the damper in to the fresh food side. Are the return ducts on the inside bottom of the fresh food side?
Thanks for you time on all this . I REALLY appreciate it (and so does my family)
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The evaporator coils are behind the rear wall of the freezer where the fan is that you can hear. It sounds like you can rule the damper out. I would start with checking those return air ducts. They are near the bottom of the fresh food side. Pull the drawers and such out and you should be able to find them. Take the back wall off the freezer and inspect the coils to make sure they are clear, then use a hair dryer to blow warm air thru the return ducts and make sure you can feel it on the other side. Your problem is either a defrost issue (coils clogged) or a duct clogged or blocked by something and not allowing air to be drawn from fresh food to freezer for cooling.
Many Thanks cbmserviceguy! I took the back wall off of the freezer section and you were right on! Coils were frozen over. I thawed out the coils/ checked the air ducts and put it back together. It has been about 24 hours now and the fresh food side is down to about 43 degrees. You have saved me a service call and lots of money. Again thanks for you time and wisdom
The refrigerator does still make that clicking sound right behind the "automatic exterior moisture control" button on the top right front side of the fresh food side. When it does that "click" the fan motor shuts down/interior frig lights dim for a moment during the click ( if that makes sense).
Unfortunately thawing it out is just a temporary repair. It will happen again within 7 days. Unplug the frig, pull the back cover to expose the coils you thawed. There is a defrost heater and a defrost safety t-stat back there. I will attach the links to each part for reference of what they look like. You need to use an ohm meter and check to be sure both of those components show continuity across them. If they do, then you need a new adaptive defrost board. I will attach the link to it as well. It is located in the control panel in the top of the fresh food section. If one of the previous parts checks out bad, replace it. Please feel free to post any further questions.
Well I’m about to dig in to this thing again…and you were correct…it froze over again. Here is my question: when I go to check the T-stat should it have continuity when it is warm at room temperature? or does it have continuity when it is cold? I’m figuring the T-stat is kind of a "switch". I just don’t know at what temperature to check it.
Well I just thawed it out. The heater has continuity but the T-stat does not (at room temperature). Does the T-stat have to be tested at a certain temperature?
The t-stat is a closed circuit when cold, usually around 0 degrees. It is open when warm, usually 30 or so and above. We really need to know if that t-stat is good to know what’s wrong with it. When resistance reading did you get on the heater?
I just did a basic continuity check with the heater–unclipped the wires for both ends of the heater/put one probe on wire on one end and the other probe on the wire on the other end and it showed continuity. I’m not sure I answered your question did I?
I like to be sure of things is all. If it shows as a complete circuit, it’s likely ok. I like to see the resistance readings just to make sure they are in the ballpark of what they should be. If the t-stat tests out ok as closed, the control board is bad.
Got the control board and installed it about 18 hours ago and things are cooling down in the fresh food side (about 37 degrees). I did another "hair dryer defrost" this past Sunday so it had been about 48 hours since the last thaw out when I installed the board. I went ahead and installed it with out taking apart the freezer side and doing a "h-d defrost" thing again. Do you think that if there was some frost built up on the coils over 2 days that the newly-working-defrost-system will now be able to defrost any build up that was there?
I would pull it apart and thaw it just to be sure. If it starts to thaw and doesn’t get it all, it will turn to ice and never thaw. Better safe than sorry.