Refrigerator Performance Change

[ZeeOSix]

I noticed the back of the freezer compartment where the evaporator coil lives started forming a big frost patch on the back panel. I knew that wasn't normal, so I removed the back panel to investigate and found an ice ball on top of the evaporator coil. The refrigerator was still performing pretty good at this point with the ice ball. I used a hair dryer to melt the ice ball off the evaporator and put the panel back on. Figured it would help the performance, but now the refrigerator is not cooling down enough to keep food totally frozen in the freezer compartment even with the thermostat set colder than normal. Nothing else was touched or changed ... any ideas?

 

[JTK]

I've had that happen in a few bottom freezer refrigerators in the family and was able to fix the 3 with a slight modification of the "duck bill" on the end of condensate drain tube. I suspect this is your problem. All I had to do is pull the rubber duck bill off and cut it back with scissors, which makes the opening bigger and less likely to plug and stop the draining of condensate.

 

[Oro_O]

Check the fan. I went through this just a few weeks ago. The fan war alles kaput, and would not force the cold air down into the fridge section via the duct. The freezer would be depths of hades cold, the fridge section only tepid. You can put a multimeter on the fan power leads to check for ac voltage, and then check the fan continuity to verify it’s bad. $30 and two days later, alles gut!

 

[ZeeOSix]

I can hear the fan in the freezer running, and it's blowing air out into the freezer compartment, but it doesn't feel very cold. The ice maker won't work now either (it was with the ice ball), probably because the freezer compartment can't get cold enough. It was colder when the ice ball was on the evaporator coils - both freezer and cold side kept temperature adequately. The condenser fan is also running. I wonder if the hair dryer heated up something and damaged it ... like that black sensor on the copper line. Not sure what that is exactly, maybe a temperature sensor? I ran the refrigerator with the back panel off after I melted off the ice block, and the top of the condenser where the Freon expands got cold pretty fast. I'm wondering if it just needs a Freon charge ... maybe low on Freon?

 

[StevieC]

Check the following: -Obstructions in cold air travel areas. -Check fan(s) for operation. -Check coils for cleanliness. (Highly doubt this is an issue though) -Defrost Cycle Timer / Control Module. -Also some units are equipped with temperature sensors that cut the compressor if the coil gets too cold. -Some coils have heaters to aid in defrost cycle and if these aren't working it never fully defrosts. -If the system has a gas leak and it's low on refrigerant it can cause super cooling and coil freezing. -Excess humidity in the area this is operating can cause this. Ideally 55% or less is what they design these for.

 

[Oro_O]

Originally Posted By: StevieC

Check the following: -Obstructions in cold air travel areas

I would do this first. Even after I changed the fan, I had blockage in the duct from the frost accumulation. Meant to mention that.

 

[Quest]

Once you completely defrosted the freezer section, it would take 24 hrs + for the fridge(freezer section) to build up cold sufficiently back to normal. So long as your defrost timer (defrost thermostat and defrost heater) isn't stuck on "operating" mode, your cooling fan is circulating the evaporator, you are good to go. Q.

 

[Nick1994]

I think often times when evap-coils freeze up they're low on freon. Could have a leak.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994

I think often times when evap-coils freeze up they're low on freon. Could have a leak.

That's what I'm thinking too, since it seems nothing changed to cause the lack of cooling except me melting off the ice ball. I also did wait 24 hrs to make sure it stabilized. The port near the ice maker where the cold air blows out in to the freezer compartment has good air flow, but it just doesn't feel very cold on my hand. The freezer is maintaining a temp of about 35~40 degrees F. Before I melted the ice ball, it would run around 0~10 degrees F. The refrigerator is 14 years old, but has been working great. It does seem like I had to change the setpoint a few notches cooler over the last 6 months to keep the temps down, and it seem to run almost constantly. Maybe it's slowly lost some freon charge lately and it's starting to show up. Maybe I'll have it checked for leaks and recharged, and see what happens. But I don't understand why it can't cool down like it should after just after removing the ice ball ...

 

[bullwinkle]

The fact that the ice ball has formed by the cap tube outlet is a bad sign-you're low on gas. If you have it recharged, have the service guy solder a low side fitting onto the compressor & put dye in it-that way you can see where it is leaking (likely coil).

 

[vwmaniaman]

where the ice ball was is likely where the leak is. When you have a leak it will build ice to partially block the speed of the leak. You can try putting bubble soap on it and see if you get bubbles. That may help isolate the problem. If it is an accessible strait pipe area that is leaking you can put a vampire tap over it and add charge from that. Good luck with your repair. A replacement fridge probably won't last 13 years like yours has.

 

[Badoil]

That's definitely looks like a refrigerant leak. I have seen it many times. That looks like a Maytag or magic chef unit. I have been a authorized Maytag- Whirlpool for 35 years. I have to find leak and repair and then recharge. You can recharge unit it might last 1 or 2 years depending on leak. You are only cooling on top part of evaporator.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Quest

Once you completely defrosted the freezer section, it would take 24 hrs + for the fridge(freezer section) to build up cold sufficiently back to normal. So long as your defrost timer (defrost thermostat and defrost heater) isn't stuck on "operating" mode, your cooling fan is circulating the evaporator, you are good to go. Q.

This was my thought. New, very small compressors are designed to run nearly continuously at lower load, and yield higher cooling efficiencies. Like most things, speed vs. efficiency is a trade. Our refrigerator had been making a knocking sound, because a fan was hitting come ice. While relatively easy to pull apart the plastic panels, its also likely easy for something else to get hit/nicked/come apart

 

[JMJNet]

Try replacing the defrost timer/heater and see how it goes. There are a few appliance forum or even youtube that shows you how to find that part. This is assuming that there is no leak as pointed above. I had to do it for my 20 years old Amana, replacing the part was not difficult. Defrosting the ice build up took a long time. Once the part was replaced, it is still running till now, 2 years later.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: Badoil

That's definitely looks like a refrigerant leak. I have seen it many times. That looks like a Maytag or magic chef unit. I have been a authorized Maytag- Whirlpool for 35 years. I have to find leak and repair and then recharge. You can recharge unit it might last 1 or 2 years depending on leak. You are only cooling on top part of evaporator.

It's a Frigidaire (Electrolux) brand, side-by-side configuration. Cold right hand side gets cooled down my a vent door (controlled by cold side thermostat) that feeds the colder air from the left hand side freezer side. Quit a few years ago, the cold side thermostat failed (so vent door control was lost) and I bought a new one off ebay and replaced it. I'll see if I can get a guy out to recharge and look for any leaks for a reasonable price. If I can get 2 or 3 more years out of it I'll be happy.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Does anyone know what the sensor is (red arrow) clipped onto the outlet tube of the evaporator? I'm assuming it's a temperature sensor?

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix

Does anyone know what the sensor is (red arrow) clipped onto the outlet tube of the evaporator? I'm assuming it's a temperature sensor?

That's the defrost thermostat switch. It will engage (close) when it's cold, and this is to turn on the defrost heater element when in defrost mode; if there's nothing cold (like ice chunks) on that section of the evaporator, the switch will stay open circuit so that the heater will not come on (heat) even in defrost mode. Simple way to test (while you have the panel off) is to get a can of compressed air. set the fridge to defrost mode and then invert the liquid air and spray liquid onto the defrost thermostat switch (to chill it). If sufficiently cold, the switch will close and the defrost heater should come on. Q.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Qwest - thanks for the info. This fridge doesn't have any "defrost setting", just temperature control settings for freezer side and cold side. The fridge probably has a cycle it goes through, and defrosts by powering the heater when it determines it. So not sure how I could fool the sensor to test the defrost element operation.

 

[zzyzzx]

Check the defrost timer. I have had to change it out twice on my vintage 2003 refrigerator.

 

[ZeeOSix]

So I talked to a very experienced refrigerator repair guy and sent him the photos and explained what I was seeing. He said it's most likely the compressor getting weak and not building enough high side pressure, or it's a slow freon leak, which he said is pretty unlikely from his field experience. Probably so, since I have also noticed that I had to set the freezer temp setting a bit colder on the thermostat over the last 6 months to keep things frozen. Cost of putting in a new compressor would be the same as just buying a new lower end fridge ($1000~$1500). He said the new refrigerators today are basically "disposable" if they have any major repair work needed. Plus he said a lot of the new fridges today come with a measly warranty, like only 1 year when before they were around 3 year warranties. The reason it was cooling better with the ice block on the inlet side of the evaporator is because that ice ball helped as a cooling source, and it also allowed the expanding freon to cool the evaporator farther down the coils which helped the cooling efficiency by adding cold surface area. It's been ~3 days since I melted the ice ball off the evaporator, and the fridge is slowly gaining some cooling performance (enough that the ice maker now works some times), probably because another ice ball is forming. So guess it's time to go new fridge shopping. The guy I talked to said the two top best brands these days are Kitchen Aid and Whirlpool. Found a Whirlpool at Lowe's on close-out for $839 (was ~$1200), should probably just go buy it. Some of these high end refrigerators are over $5000 ... crazy!