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Refrigerator getting warming then fixes itself.

For the last week our refrigerator/freezer was getting successively warmer each day. I looked on line and thought it may be the defrost timer/thermostat. I open up the back panel (side-by-side Frigidaire ) and saw that there was no frost build up on the coils. We had a guy from G&G appliance come in and he QUICKLY determined that there was a leak in the system or a restriction in the condenser. He said to junk it, it would be to costly to fix.

However the next day (today) it is back to normal. The freezer is ice- cold again and the fridge is cold.

I called the guy back and he said that if there was a leak, moisture could have gotten into the condenser and caused the restriction. Once it warmed up enough the moisture freed itself and the fridge must have started to work again. He still stood by his decision to junk the fridge and that there is still a leak that could come back in 1 week or 6 mos.

My question is, if there is a leak, how could it have fixed itself and cooled itself back off... wouldn't the refrigerant have dissipated? Any help would be appreciated as I don't want to get a new one!

Reply to
Jay
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His diagnosis may well be correct, though usually any sort of leak will lose all the refrigerant fairly rapidly. It could also be some other bit of contamination in the system that lodged itself in the expansion orifice or one of the reed valves in the compressor. Let it go for a while and see if it happens again, but if the compressor is running and the evaporator isn't getting cold, there's obviously a problem in the hermetic system. I've been playing around with refrigeration for a few years, but unless you have a decent vacuum pump, a guage set, silver solder, and good knowledge of how the system works, there isn't much you can do. There's some legal aspects too, though getting a type I certification is a joke, and besides, it's perfectly legal to use R143a to blow dust out of your computer, but illegal to vent it if used as a refrigerant. Gotta love silly loopholes.

Reply to
James Sweet

If it had a leak, the freon would leak out. If there was moisture in the system it could cause an ice restriction in the evaporator (cooling coil) then go away when it warmed up. Don't know what other mubo jumbo the G&G dude told you but what I said is the way it is, period.

Reply to
Meat Plow

Yeah, that's basically what he he said, I just couldn't remember it right. Is it possible that it would come back?

Reply to
Jay

I was only speculating on the blockage being ice. If your fridge has been trouble free and hasn't been worked on pertaining to the sealed system there isn't any way for moisture to get in to make ice. But to answer your question yes, a blockage could occur again. Is this the culprit? Don't know for sure without paying you a service call next time it acts up :)

As far as a leak goes it doesn't take much loss to disrupt the operation and that loss can happen quickly. One thing that does trouble me is that an experienced technician will be able to distinguish between a leak and a blockage and not leave you with "it could be one or the other." Maybe next time if it happens get another company to have a look. Hell it could even be totally unrelated to the freon system like maybe a defrost timer stuck on.

Reply to
Meat Plow

How much did you have to pay for the non-service call? That guy was playing pretty fast and loose with the truth.

Reply to
hrhofmann

$60. He basically said all of that what you guys said. Either a leak or a blockage in the system. The compressor was running, there was no ice in the back back panel at all. The heater was not on either. We ended up moving it out to the garage... Thanks for all the the help!

Reply to
Jay

Since the problem obviously isn't a leak (since it does operate properly on occasion), the problem must be an obstruction within the sealed system. I've had one refrigerator and two automobile A/C units that had the same symptoms, all with the same root cause. The problem in all was a broken desiccant bag, which allowed the chunks of desiccant to roam freely inside the system. The bits of the desiccant would restrict the Freon and not allow proper cooling.

The only remedy for the refrigerator was replacement, since the cost of repair was close to the cost of a new box. The auto repairs involved opening the system, and back flushing to clear the desiccant out of the system, replacement of the dryer and recharging. Not cheap, but the only recourse available.

In your case, unless the problem is properly diagnosed and repaired, it will continue to plague you, and always at the most inopportune times.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net  (Just substitute the appropriate characters in the 
address)

"In theory, there isn't any difference between theory and practice.  In 
practice, there is."  - Yogi Berra
Reply to
DaveM

Our (then) 18 year old Whirlpool had that symptom a couple of years ago.

After a defrost cycle, the compressor would cycle on for only a few seconds every minute or so, then after a couple of hours of that, it would start up again, stay running, and cool things down. Usually after the ice cream had melted.

It turned out to be a defective overload thermostat on the compressor. My guess is that after a defrost cycle, the compressor was a bigger load and the overload switch (a bimetal click disk) would self heat and cut out.

The new combined overload switch/start relay ($44) has worked fine since. The new unit (made by GE, go figure) appears to be solid state, probably using PTC resistors instead of bimetal disks and that funny bouncing start relay armature.

Mark Zenier snipped-for-privacy@eskimo.com Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Reply to
Mark Zenier

Is it a frost-free freezer in the refrigerator? It may be sticking in the defrost cycle.

Reply to
Gizmofiddler

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