Same Thing In Reverse
The same thing can happen to the freezer on top type. My parents have a 30 year old Amana. The drain pan hole was plugged up and the coils turned into a block of ice. We took the bottom out of the freezer and found a deteriorating piece of Styrofoam over the coils, the drain hole was plugged and the pan was full of Styrofoam debris and old bits of food. We pulled the fridge out, turned it off, let it thaw, carefully lifted up the freezing coil, and sucked the water and debris out of the pan with a wet vac. Then poured a bit of water in the pan and it wouldn't drain, so we took the drain hose loose on the back of the fridge and poked a wire up through the opening and dislodged a big blockage. Then we used the vac to suck up toward the pan and down toward the evaporator pan to make sure there was no more blockage, hooked the drain hose back up and poured water again. It went all the way through. No blockage. There was also one coil of wire from the defrost element that dropped through the drain hole in the pan to keep ice out of the hole. If your fridge has this, watch for it and make sure it doesn't get damaged and remains in place.
We happened to have a piece of Styrofoam in the shop that was the same thickness as the old piece, so my dad took the old piece, used it for a pattern, cut a new piece, placed it over the freezer coils as before, put the bottom back in the freezer and...Voila, fridge fixed.
Take note. If you move the coils around in a refrigeration system be careful. If you cause even a microscopic fracture in the sealed system, it is ruined. Also be careful of the coil fins. They can be very sharp and cut like a razor. Keep the condenser coils, fan, and air pathways clean. You can get a coil brush to clean the coils, but we found there are sometimes many places you just can't get to with a brush or vacuum cleaner, so we cleaned as much dirt as we could with the former then resorted to compressed air for the final cleaning. It makes a terrible mess, but it's just about the only way to completely clean the area under the fridge. We used compressed air from the back and used a wide vacuum nozzle on the front to try and catch as much dust as we could. You can also place an air cleaner near by set on high to help clear the dust out of the air.
One last point and a question, if anyone knows. I told my Mother to keep Dad from bringing lots of frozen food home and packing the freezer so full that the air can't circulate. Same goes for the refrigerator section. People make the mistake of thinking that refrigerators should be packed like a deep freeze for efficiency. Not true. In a refrigerator with forced air, items have to have some space around them and between them and the vents for air to circulate for effective cooling. During the repair I noticed the bin for the ice maker was being pushed to the back of the freezer, blocking a duct that blew extremely cold air over the ice maker to make ice quickly. My Mom got a small block of wood to put behind the bin to keep it in the proper position so it wouldn't get pushed back. That helped a lot too. Remember, don't pack a modern refrigerator. The old kind with only the evaporator coil that had to be defrosted manually could be packed a bit more tightly.
The question I have is, why does the compressor seem to have a hard time starting up. Sometimes it seems to be worse than others. Seems like it's worse in the summer. It makes this "grunting" sound before it finally gets up to speed. My Dad says it's, "loading up". I think what he's referring to is an imbalance in pressure between the condenser and evaporator sides of the system which will cause a compressor to overload and kick off until the pressure between the two sides equalizes to the point where it can come back on. I don't think this is the case. The unit will shut off for a thirty minute defrost cycle and when it kicks back on the compressor will make the same sound even though it's had plenty of time for pressure equalization. I suspect an under voltage or current situation. A few years back they had the drop line to their house replaced because it was old (50 years) and had gone bad. It seemed to get a little better after that, but didn't completely go away. When I'm in the basement by the breaker box and the air conditioner comes on, the box buzzes briefly. I know it's not the same circuit, but I suspect a commonality. Could one leg have a loose connection? Possibly a loose connection in the outlet box or a bad outlet? A loose connection in the refrigerator's wiring or a weak compressor start capacitor? Do compressors get weak over time? I could check the line voltage drop at the outlet when the fridge comes on. How much should the voltage coming out of the cap. to the compressor drop when it comes on. I would entertain suggestions. I'd rather this refrigerator not die. Thanks.
