The refrigerator section is running at about 46 degrees and the freezer is at 42. We cleaned all the dust out of the back and there doesn't seem to be any improvement. I am an electronics technician however I don't know too much about refrigerators. All the food is spoiling and I' hope that someone can please point me in the right direction to troubleshoot this thing. We had a GE for 22 years and against my better judgment had to get rid of it because my wife didn't like the rust on the bottom. Now we're stuck with this non functioning pos. Thanks for any assistance. Lenny
If the 24 hour defrost appears to clear your problem, you may find it was caused by failure of the automatic defrost.
I had a Frigidaire refrigerator with a defrost timer whose motor stopped in defrost mode. If yours works like mine, its motor may have stopped in refrigeration mode, causing a buildup of frost.
My defrost timer was available at a local appliance parts dealer, and was easy to change.
klem kedidelhopper wrote in news:dd664d3b- snipped-for-privacy@v10g2000yqn.googlegroups.com:
Could be failure of defrost system, even if compressor is running. You can check by removing the cover in the back of the freezer section, if that is how you get to the freezer coill thingies, the aluminium bits.
This causes the ice that is there to slow the flow of air from the fans to the fridge compartments. Next step is to find out why, if this is happening.
My Maytag uses an electronic "Adaptive Defrost Controller". This PC board is located in the upper right of the refridgerator compartment and ceased working a couple of years ago with the exact symptoms described by the OP. I had a tech come in and replace it [$150] but kept the old one to see what had happened. It turned out that the bulk filter cap [22uF 50V electrolytic] had gone high ESR, so I replaced it with a new high ripple cap and put the board away. A week or so ago I heard a buzzing like a chattering relay from the 'fridge and went a pressed on the panel in the freezer that covers the evaporator and felt frost on the coil so I guessed that the replacement board cap was failing. I went on line to find the instruction on how to access that board in my model and took it out and to the bench. Indeed tha same cap was high ESR, so I replaced it and then reinstalled the board into the 'fridge. Total time from start to finish of the removal, repair and re-installation was about 30 minutes. Problem seems to be resolved. So, if you have the same board [it seems to be used across many brands], you should not need to spend $43 for a new one, just replace the 22u cap with a better quality one. Neil S.
Hi everyone Thank you to everyone who has responded and nice of you to once again get involved in another one of my problems Neil. I'm trying to figure out where this board, if my machine uses the adaptive defrost controller might be on my model..When you open the refrigerator door and look up sort of on the frame there is this rectangular panel with separate freezer and refrigerator soft push button controls The book recommends "4" for each section. Right now we have the fridge set at 6 and the freezer which my wife set up all the way is now set back to 4.The fridge runs between 40 and 45 and the freezer is running at 45 as well. So the fridge is almost OK but we lost the frozen stuff. My problem is that I don't really understand the theory behind the operation of this machine so its very hard for me to try to fix it. I think of thermostats as two wire devices not a board. And unlike my old GE that came with a service manual and lasted
22 years,(it was still working when I donated it to the Boy Scouts because my wife complained about the rust on the bottom) I have no service or even parts layout for this thing. Can anyone shed any light on the theory part and information perhaps on where these parts might be located. Thanks, Lenny
Basically, a two section type refrigerator has the refrigeration system consisting of a compressor, a condenser outside the box to condense the high pressure Freon into a liquid state by radiating the heat, a capilliary to control the flow of liquid to the evaporator and an evaporator inside the box [usually the freezer section or betwixt the freezer and 'fridge sections] that does the actual cooling, and some fans. In my side by side the evaporator is behind a panel in the back of the freezer. The evaporator is very cold when running so it accumulates any moisture in the inside air as frost on the fins, and since it is located in the freezer, that frost will never melt on it's own. To get rid of the frost there is a heater [usually a flexible cable], of typically about 500W, around the evaporator and this is turned on about every 24 hours to melt the frost and the water runs down into a tray outside under the unit where heat from the condenser evaporates it into the room air. If the frost is not removed regularly, airflow is blocked through the evaporator and proper cooling of the 'fridge/freezer stops.
Have a look at this site and see if it has information on your unit. The link is to the adaptive controller for my fridge along with a video of how to access it. Look for similar info on yur model.
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