Fridge not cooling well

[hereitgoes]

Hi! I have a Kenmore bottom freezer fridge I bought in 2001. #596-69872991

It has recently not been cooling well and that seems to be consistent across both the fridge and freezer compartments. The freezer has also developed some frost on the back wall.

Right now the freezer is about 24 degrees set on high, and the fridge is 20 degrees warmer and that doesn't seem to matter what it's set at. (I haven't tried changing the temp of the freezer). One thing to note is that 4 years ago, we had a storm coming and were expected to have power outages. I usually turn everything colder but that time the fridge temp didn't change and I never touched that dial again (or looked into fixing it)

Yesterday I pulled the fridge out, cleaned everything behind it, re-leveled it and cleaned the coils. The coils were a mess and I still need to get a brush to finish cleaning them. The back where the fan exits wasn't bad.

At that point I plugged it back in and felt it was running a bit quieter. It ran for awhile and then shut off and started to defrost for about 45 minutes - didn't get rid of everything on the back wall though.

Woke up this morning to find the temp hasn't really changed from before the cleaning.

Before I start throwing random parts at it, is there anything else I should do? I can get a coil brush and finish cleaning those but I don't think what's left in there is going to make that much of a difference. It looks like there is a defrost timer for both fridge and freezer but is it likely they are both malfunctioning? I feel the fridge temp switch already has issues. The manual says the freezer has to be functioning when turned on for the fridge to work so they are tied together somehow.

I am borrowing a mini fridge to put our food in for the time being and can completely defrost the big one then to see if that helps. I know I should probably buy a new one but I hate to toss something that just needs a couple of parts.

Thank you!!

 

[jamiel]

Start by unplugging and letting it get to room temperature and entirely thawing out any ice deposits anywhere in the unit. Make sure you monitor the defrost water tray under the grille (if there's a lot more ice than normal it may overflow and flood the floor.

Once it gets to room temperature do a thorough cleaning--there may be something plugging the defrost channels.

Then plug back in and see if it's solved. If it still isn't right, you have multiple failures possible---defrost heater stuck on, light bulb stuck on, thermostat problem, charge issue.

 

[cfz2882]

In addition to the above...

check that both fans are working good and do not grind to a stop after running for a bit.

 

[hereitgoes]

Thanks! I don't think it even has a tray, it was dripping on the floor last night.

Light bulb - I didn't think of that. But would the fridge and freezer bulbs be separate? Or would there be one thing that controls them both?

I will double check the fans. I never hear anything that sounds bad but now that I think about it, I only saw one lower vent. I'll have to see if there is a second one, or if they both go to the same place. I didn't pull any panels off the back, just brushed lint off the vent (which was blowing outward so it was working)

 

[combo52]

Poor cooling Amana built bottom freezer refrigerator

After the refrigerator been running for several hours, unplug it and take the rear panel out of the freezer compartment from the inside and look at the frost pattern on the evaporator coil. It should be evenly frosted everywhere on the aluminum coil. I suspect it’s not.

A lot of these refrigerators develop a big clod of ice where the Freon lines connect to the evaporator from a low charge situation, the refrigerator needs a very serious repair. It’s basically done unless you want to invest a lot of money in it.

You can try to defrosting the large chunk of ice with a hairdryer and put it back into use, but I don’t think things are going to improve substantially.

There is only one defrost timer in this refrigerator. It’s in the refrigerator section, the condenser coils do not have to be perfectly clean don’t bother buying a coil brush, etc..

John

 

[philcobendixduo]

Reply #4 above......

......is just what happened to my 1987 GE 23Z.
Frosting on one side - warm temperatures in freezer and refrigerator.
"Old timer" repair guy took one look and diagnosed compressor failing.
That was in 2011.
My U.S. built Whirlpool top freezer that replaced the GE is still running strong despite having coils that are impossible to access without moving the refrigerator (so have never been cleaned....)

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>... despite having coils that are impossible to access without moving the refrigerator ...</blockquote> Air compressor?  

 

[whitewhiskers]

most likely defrost thermostat failure

There are two reasons why your Kenmore (made by Amana) refrigerator isn't cooling. One is the evaporator fan has gone bad. The second is the defrost thermostat has gone bad. I had both go bad at different times in my Amana. As Combo52 suggests, take off the rear freezer panel, which is a real pain as you'll have to disconnect the ice maker if so equipped, plus you'll be crawling around on the floor in an awkward position. The coils are most likely loaded with ice as in my included picture.

My bet is with the t-stat. Over time moisture gets inside of the thing causing it to swell and wires break inside. The result is the freezer never performs a defrost cycle when the defrost timer (the box with the red knob) clicks into defrost mode. Replacing the t-stat is an easy fix, just observe where it clips onto one of the copper tubes. The part# is 10442407.

 

[hereitgoes]

John, Reply #4

I suppose this qualifies as not evenly frosted? There was about an inch of ice along the bottom of the panel on the outside too, gradually thinning and reaching about 3/4 up to the top.

 

[fisherpaykel]

ice along bottom of outside panel

@hereitgoes, I would check that the end of your evaporator drain hose at the rear of fridge is not plugged thus causing this ice jam, I suspect that it is. This looks much the same as a relative's did a few years ago, I just cut off the nipple on end of drain hose rather than get Whirlpool/Amana's revised nipple, no more frost or ice buildup since, must be five years ago by now.

 

[hereitgoes]

Can I reach the drain hose from the inside? It's still melting so I can't see anything yet. Reason I ask is it's a process to get to the back of it. Thanks!

 

[rp2813]

We had an ~'85 Whirlpool SxS and more than once we had an issue with the defrost drain becoming clogged.  Something as small as an escaped frozen pea sitting on the drain opening was enough.  Fortunately, the drain was easily accessible by pulling out the storage basket at the bottom of the freezer.  One thing I should point out is that we never noticed any cooling problems as a result, but that may have been design-related.  I don't remember exactly how the clog was discovered, but my guess is that the storage basket became frozen in place, tipping us off that something was amiss before cooling became compromised.

 

The pattern of ice build-up you described matches what would occur from a clogged drain.  The drain opening should come into view once the entire glacier has melted.

 

[fisherpaykel]

drain hose access

Is only from the back of the fridge, behind the removable access panel, the end nozzle was gummed up, I just snipped it off. There were a few YouTube repair videos when I did the repair a few years ago. I assume yours is all defrosted by now.

 

[hereitgoes]

WhiteWhiskers & fisherpaykel

WhiteWhiskers When I posted my pic I didn't see yours and when I as scrolling through yesterday I thought it was my own! As you can see mine looked like that.

fisherpaykel yes it finally defrosted yesterday. The back was still wet last night in places.

I ended up plugging it in last night to see what it did, after cleaning the freezer out. At one point this morning the freezer was just below 0 (set at full cold), fridge had gotten to the low 30s.

I can sort of see the drain from the inside and it doesn't look like anything is plugging that, from the top anyway.

Just how big is the drain pan under it?! I could see water dripping through the grate but it never hit the floor. It must not be 100% level as I got some dripping in the right front corner which I caught with a cookie sheet, but there was still so much ice in there I am amazed it didn't get the floor wet overnight.

It's in a pantry which makes it challenging. When I move it forward I only have 20" in the back and have to access that while in the pantry (not fun when I forget a tool because it blocks the door when pushed forward). So I didn't do anything at the rear yet. If I do that I'll have to move it into the kitchen which means removing the door and wiggling it out - which I'd do for a repair man but apparently not myself. Maybe I'll work on it this weekend. I would like to be positive no water came out that I missed and check out those hoses.

I'd eventually like a new fridge anyway that is less than 30" deep but it would be nice not to have to make a decision immediately because of a dead one, which is how I got this monstrosity stuffed in my pantry 20+ years ago. The main door doesn't even open all the way.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[combo52]

The drain isn’t the problem and you can quickly test it by just pouring a cup of water in the drain trough below the evaporator if the water disappears, the drain is clear.

The problem is the evaporator is not defrosting. It’s either a bad wiring connection bad thermostat on the evaporator or bad timer Could be a bad heater but very unlikely this can all be fixed without moving the refrigerator. It’s done from the inside.

John

 

[whitewhiskers]

Yes, it's NOT a drain problem. The freezer isn't going through a defrost cycle. You can force a defrost by advancing the defrost timer knob until it clicks into defrost mode. You will know when you hit the spot. When the freezer goes into defrost you will hear pop, bang, sizzle, and gurgle sounds.

 

[hereitgoes]

I mentioned the drain because someone said they had a pea stuck in theirs! When the ice melted all the water left the freezer so it did drain out. Defrost sounds pretty noisy, bet it's been awhile since I've heard that correctly =:0

 

[hereitgoes]

I've been meaning to reply back - we replaced the defrost timer and thermostat and it seems to have fixed the problem. I'd like to say my energy usage dropped but we went right into tropical weather after that so I can't tell yet. In the meantime it seems my washer was affected by a storm the other night so I'm going to meander over there for a chat. Thanks for all the help!