Frozen Fridge

[kindalazy]

I'll try to be brief. We just bought a new GE Monogram fridge. After suffering from multiple Kenmores (about 5 in 7 years replaced under warranty) I switched brands.

The fridge is installed at our farm house.

Okay, so we only occupy the farm house about 3 days a week, and during the time we're not here, the ambient temperature is set at 45 deg. F. Does that temp make the fridge act funky?

The fridge is set at 37 deg. F., and the freezer at 0 deg. F. When I noticed there was no water dispensing, the fridge temp was 29 deg. F. and the freezer 0 deg. F.

The water line to the ice maker and dispenser froze inside the fridge, (it wasn't dispensing) not the supply line from the main pipe. Upon defrosting, I noticed water on the floor of the fridge compartment.

Is it possible that the freezing caused a crack in the reservoir, or is it just accumlated condensation melting? I would think it would have like an overflow valve, but, who knows. It's not a continuous leak/drip, I may have noticed it more if dispensing water. The plumbing leading to the unit is fine.

So I don't appear to be ignorant person I tend to be, what should I be informing the repairman, and what would be an approximate cost, for what I would assume to be 2-3 hours of labour, plus parts? Rough figures, of course. I just hate getting ripped off.

Cheers!

 

[maytagbear]

Refrigerators and freezers work best at

a room temperature of 55F or above.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[mattl]

The fridge is more or less sealed with the thermostat inside the sealed unit so i would suspect a problem there. The ambient exterior temp should not have any effect on that. It would only affect the heat gain inside the unit causing it to cycle.

True, the compressor works better at higher ambient temps as Lawrence noted, But I would think that would only impact the efficiency of the unit, not the interior temp - but I could be wrong.

 

[estesguy]

My GE Profile had the water reservoir in a plastic tank, in the refrigerator area, behind the crisper drawers. So if it got to 29 degree's, it probably did freeze up, but no idea if the plastic could expand enough to avoid cracking the tank. Some GE's only have an evaporator in the freezer area, and use damper doors to control air flow into the refrigerator area to control the temperature. Higer end models, like Monogram's, may have dual evaporator coils in both sides. If its damper controlled, it may have a door not closing properly and making the refrigerator side colder than it should be while keeping the freezer at 0. So its most likely that you will need a skilled GE tech to diagnose the problem, as I can't figure out why you are having such a low temperature reading on just the refrigerator side.

 

[gadgetgary]

Recently had the same problem

My Sears fridge water dispenser would not work, even though it made ice.  Turned out to be dirty coils.  Once they were vaccumed, the water started flowing again.

 

 

[kindalazy]

And the verdict is....

I love our local repair guy. Not only is he the only one in town, but he just took a course at Whirlpool, so I know he's up to date.

The reservoir did freeze and crack, so, that's what requires replacement. As Maytagbear wrote, the ambient temperature must be around 50-55.

He said our fridge was made in Mexico by Frigidaire, which i found interesting. As well, one thing led to another, and will be receiving a 1998 Maytag Dependable Care washer/dryer. Not sure which model, but the last Maytag he sold us about 10 years ago, was a 1969 A107 which is still in use for dirty gardening clothes and rags. I was curious one day and opened everything up, and he really did a good job restoring it.

He said it would take him about 2 weeks to clean up the set we're to get. He said it was manufactured by Maytag in Newton, because I didn't want a Whirlpool thing. Is that right?

This guy also services Huebsch and stuff, but he mentioned that one year, Speed Queen decided to use a plastic transmission which failed miserably. Is that true?
Of course all the teeth on the gears got stripped. He also mentioned that at one point, Crosley produced a better machine than Maytag.

Any thoughts?

Thx

 

[kindalazy]

a pic

I just checked my email, and the repair guy sent this pic of the washer panel. He's asking $350 Canadian. Is that okay?