Fridge stopped cooling for no reason...

ablexus · 07-08-2007, 12:29 PM

Anybody ever have this happen? Get back after a week on vacation and the fridge is completely thawed, and the freezer is cooler than the atmosphere, but just barely... wtf?

Andrew

helomech · 07-08-2007, 12:38 PM

I had one that the freezer got stuck on the defrost cycle. I unpluged it and pluged it back in and it worked. I just never completly trusted it again. We started using it for bait and such.

cpaul · 07-08-2007, 12:57 PM

Mine did that. The defrost coils went out (shattered) and the cooling coils froze up. The circulation fan also iced over. What caused this was somehow a dirt dauber stopped up the drain tube and it couldn't drain. The resulting water shattered the heating coil when it came on. This was about 2 weeks after the warranty went out. Now I just pull the bottom of the freezer compartment out about once a month and defrost it manually. I'll keep doing this until I run across another fridge that will fit. It's a odd size.

**gadget74** · 07-08-2007, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpaul

Mine did that. The defrost coils went out (shattered) and the cooling coils froze up. The circulation fan also iced over. What caused this was somehow a dirt dauber stopped up the drain tube and it couldn't drain. The resulting water shattered the heating coil when it came on. This was about 2 weeks after the warranty went out. Now I just pull the bottom of the freezer compartment out about once a month and defrost it manually. I'll keep doing this until I run across another fridge that will fit. It's a odd size.

My defrost timer is out, and I'm waiting for the guy to get here with the new one. Long story, but I've had to manually defrost mine once a week!
Getting very old and I'm getting more than slightly pissed at this guy!

Anyway for the original poster........check the back of the freezer to see if it is frozen over!

BobNYC · 07-08-2007, 01:07 PM

Most likely the coils have frozen over. This can happen in very humid weather when the auto-defrost just can't keep up with the ice build-up and/or the drain is clogged (as another poster mentioned.) This has happened twice to my now 27 year old GE. Both times, the repair guy removed the bottom on the freezer compartment and used a hair dryer to defrost the coils. Also, he ran boiling water down the drain pipe.

You should also vacuum the dust off the external heat exchanger a couple times a year.

Good luck.

src4usarmy · 07-08-2007, 01:24 PM

is the compressor and the fan running? you should be able to tell if it is stuck in defrost. it will get really warm in it.

ablexus · 07-08-2007, 01:54 PM

My fridge is a fairly recent GE side by side model. There is a lot of dust in the bottom in the rear but the fan appears to be working, I can hear the compressor clicking on so it appears to be functional. After looking at this website:

http://www.appliance411.com/faq/defrostproblem.shtml

...I looked in the back, and sure enough, there was frost buildup in the freezer on the back panel. Removed it (3 screws, 2 bolts... weird) and the coils were all frosted up.

I'm hoping it was an isolated incident due to lack of opening and closing the door and the heat of me being on vacation (house was 100 degrees when I returned). I put a fan on it and it's defrosting quite nicely. The drain tube doesn't seem to be plugged.

Thanks for the responses. Keep them coming.

Andrew

ablexus · 07-08-2007, 03:06 PM

Okay!

The fridge is defrosting and water is coming from the underside of the fridge... I'm guessing that there's a leak in the drainage line somewhere.

Andrew

src4usarmy · 07-08-2007, 03:18 PM

If there is a lot of ice, then you will see some water as it melts. Probably just too much water at once for the drain to handle it.

ablexus · 07-08-2007, 03:36 PM

Yep, it was a false alarm. The catch at the bottom of the fridge is an open air one, designed to handle a little bit of runoff and evaporate it as it accumulates. All of the melting ice overflowed it. Used the turkey baster method (good also for changing out power steering fluid) and she's draining good again.

Andrew

TitanBlue · 07-08-2007, 05:40 PM

That's asking a lot extra to have a fridge work in 100 Degree temps. That could be part of what started the chain of events.

ablexus · 07-12-2007, 09:35 PM

What also contributed to the chain of events was the fact that the ice machine line had a leak in it. I hadn't set my ice machine to make ice since I bought the house. I flipped the switch to make ice a couple weeks back before I went on vacation. The water dripped down, saturated the coils, and froze. The fridge temp was the first to go. The freezer shortly after.

Remember that all your fridge's cooling comes from the freezer. If your fridge is warm, you might want to start there.

Andrew