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blueamy66

(6,795 posts)
Fri Jul 18, 2014, 04:31 PM Jul 2014

Refrigerator question...

So, the freezer is working, bit the fridge is warm. No cold air is being "sent" to the fridge. I moved all the food to our other fridge, so I'm not freaking, but....

BF doesn't seem to care, as he's working 12 hour days and is TIRED. I care, cause I cook and would like the fridge in the kitchen to work.

Any ideas?

23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Refrigerator question... (Original Post) blueamy66 Jul 2014 OP
Ours did that last year right around this time and I found that the drain Purveyor Jul 2014 #1
Thank you! blueamy66 Jul 2014 #2
Is your refrigerator running? KamaAina Jul 2014 #3
Not anymore! blueamy66 Jul 2014 #4
had to replace a fridge last year because of this grasswire Jul 2014 #5
I have a Kenmore I bought in 1978 that still works great. Scuba Jul 2014 #19
My parents had a chest freezer they bought in 1960.... lastlib Jul 2014 #23
It'd be easier to replace the boyfriend with one who can fix appliances. Kaleva Jul 2014 #6
He's cute and can fix anything.... blueamy66 Jul 2014 #9
That happened to us, years ago. A thermostat in the freezer needed replacing. winter is coming Jul 2014 #7
Gonna check this out. blueamy66 Jul 2014 #10
cool site! lovemydog Jul 2014 #12
Sounds like the inside fan is not pulling/pushing air to the non-freezer part. Common problem. BlueJazz Jul 2014 #8
What to do? blueamy66 Jul 2014 #11
You've gotten almost all the tips I would have tried. gvstn Jul 2014 #13
Thank you for this. blueamy66 Jul 2014 #14
To diagnose the problem, google refrigerator troubleshooting pinboy3niner Jul 2014 #15
Thank you. blueamy66 Jul 2014 #16
Soooo.....fried wiring....he says we're lucky we didn't have a fire blueamy66 Jul 2014 #17
Scary! gvstn Jul 2014 #18
It's fixed and cooling down. blueamy66 Jul 2014 #20
Good work! LiberalEsto Jul 2014 #21
Me too. blueamy66 Jul 2014 #22
 

Purveyor

(29,876 posts)
1. Ours did that last year right around this time and I found that the drain
Fri Jul 18, 2014, 04:43 PM
Jul 2014

tube that allows water to drain during the defrost cycle was clogged and frozen.

This allowed ice to build up and block the cold air flow into the lower compartment.

Turn the fridge off for about 8 hours and let everything thaw then remove the back panel in the freezer compartment to find the drain hole.

I used a turkey baster to put straight vinegar down the hole and let it set for about 20 minutes. Then I used the same baster to force clean water into the drain hole to flush it out.

Problem was solved.

grasswire

(50,130 posts)
5. had to replace a fridge last year because of this
Fri Jul 18, 2014, 08:41 PM
Jul 2014

12 years is the life expectancy of a fridge these days.

lastlib

(28,435 posts)
23. My parents had a chest freezer they bought in 1960....
Sun Jul 20, 2014, 07:55 AM
Jul 2014

...that ran til last year--about 52 years!

Kaleva

(40,396 posts)
6. It'd be easier to replace the boyfriend with one who can fix appliances.
Fri Jul 18, 2014, 08:58 PM
Jul 2014

Red Green: If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

j/k!

Purveyor's suggestion looks spot one and will probably fix your problem.

 

blueamy66

(6,795 posts)
9. He's cute and can fix anything....
Fri Jul 18, 2014, 09:25 PM
Jul 2014

but is tired...

Gonna defrost it and go from there!

winter is coming

(11,785 posts)
7. That happened to us, years ago. A thermostat in the freezer needed replacing.
Fri Jul 18, 2014, 09:00 PM
Jul 2014

Our fridge would be warm, while the freezer compartment was ice-o-rama. We defrosted the freezer every other day until the part we needed arrived.

on edit: I've found http://www.repairclinic.com to be a useful site. I've fixed the fridge, the washer, and the dishwasher using their tips and sometimes their parts.

 

BlueJazz

(25,348 posts)
8. Sounds like the inside fan is not pulling/pushing air to the non-freezer part. Common problem.
Fri Jul 18, 2014, 09:08 PM
Jul 2014

gvstn

(2,805 posts)
13. You've gotten almost all the tips I would have tried.
Sat Jul 19, 2014, 12:53 AM
Jul 2014

Except you may want to find the condenser coils and make sure they are free of dust. (This wouldn't explain why the freezer is working but it can't help to see that they are clean.) They are either under the refrigerator of beneath a removable plastic panel on the back of the refrigerator. They are just an array of copper tubing.



You want to vacuum or brush away as much dust as you possibly can--they need dissipate heat to the surrounding air and dust impedes that process.

***
I don't have a spare fridge anymore so if I had your problem I would do the following:

1) Check coils to make sure they are clean.
2) Defrost (difficult without a spare fridge but you don't have that problem) as this is the single most effective tool. And do check that the drain is clear as reply number one suggested so you only have to defrost once.
3) If it still is working the same, where freezer is working and fridge isn't, then I agree with others that it might be a broken fan or thermostat. I've never had to replace those. I do know both my refrigerator section and freezer section do have a fan sound but have never tried to figure out if it is one fan or two separate fans.

One other thought is that ice cream needs a freezer temperature of about -10F. If you have any ice cream in your freezer make sure it is solid/hard. If it isn't solid hard then perhaps your freezer isn't working that great after all. Cleaning coils and defrosting would be my best guess if it is simply a matter of the freezer not getting that cold.

Lastly, I had one refrigerator where adjusting the refrigerator temperature dial seemed to just open a small window/lever/shutter that opened into the freezer. It was located behind the light bulb cover. So when I adjusted the setting from say 4 to 6 it just opened that window a little wider. One time when I was having a problem I noticed that little window was solid ice. So defrosting was the cure.

EDIT: I wanted to correct that last part. I'm not sure which refrigerator it was but looking at my current one it has the 0 to 9 dial which is probably connected to a thermostat and also a freezer temperature dial which goes from A to E. It is the freezer temperature dial that opens and closes the little window which probably bleeds coldness from the freezer into the refrigerator to make the compressor turn off earlier when not needed. On other refrigerators this dial was labeled something like "Heavier Freezer usage on one end and Heavier Refrigerator usage on the other". So these two controls do different things.

 

blueamy66

(6,795 posts)
14. Thank you for this.
Sat Jul 19, 2014, 05:02 AM
Jul 2014

I'm going to let the BF read this and go from there.

Gotta love DU people....

pinboy3niner

(53,339 posts)
15. To diagnose the problem, google refrigerator troubleshooting
Sat Jul 19, 2014, 08:21 AM
Jul 2014

That will turn up sites where you can find possible causes and how to narrow it down to what's ailing your fridge.

A quick check turned up a site showing possible causes for "Refrigerator Freezer is Cold But Refrigerator is Warm":

• The Evaporator Coils are Frosted Over

• Evaporator Fan Motor

• Damper Control Assembly

• Thermistor

• Temperature Control Board

• Defrost Thermostat

• Main Control Board (not common)


Entering your model # at a site can produce more specific instructions for troubleshooting your fridge.

Good luck!

 

blueamy66

(6,795 posts)
16. Thank you.
Sat Jul 19, 2014, 10:09 AM
Jul 2014

Boy is sleeping for a while....fridge is unplugged...will tackle this later today!

 

blueamy66

(6,795 posts)
17. Soooo.....fried wiring....he says we're lucky we didn't have a fire
Sat Jul 19, 2014, 02:38 PM
Jul 2014

He's at Loew's right now getting wire.

This dude can fix anything.

Thanks for all of the help.

 

blueamy66

(6,795 posts)
20. It's fixed and cooling down.
Sat Jul 19, 2014, 07:09 PM
Jul 2014

Dude is amazing.

Just waiting for it to cool down so I can move food back.

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