Hello all-
I am hoping to tap your collective knowledge to help me troubleshoot and repair my LW11P model GE wall hung fridge. A little back story:
We bought it about 4 years ago and had it serviced then. The tech, (wonderful gentleman in the Parkville, MD area) added R12 (and a valve) and a temperature controller knob as the original one was missing.
At that time the freezer and refrigerator both cooled and the coils on both halves frosted across the length within an hour of it running.
The compressor was and is running fine. It was a replacement made before our time, with a hang tag stating it is a GE reconditioned compressor, work done in 1971.
We shipped it to Florida in a Pod and checked it again after it arrived. Both sides cooled.
We tested it a week and a half ago, before we hung it on the wall as part of our whole kitchen re-do. (Based entirely on having a working GE wall hung refrigerator.) I cannot say with certainty because everything is blurry now, but I believe the coils on the refrigerator side were frosted down their entire length at that testing.
After it went up, we plugged it in and it ran all evening. The freezer reached -28º and the fridge never got below 50º and eventually settled in to 58º.
Pepper of Antique Appliances, who I emailed pleading for help, suggested running a hairdryer on the point where the coils on the fridge stopped being cool. We shut it down overnight with the doors open and tried that in the morning. I left the dryer run on the spot for an hour. We tested it and the coils were not frosting any further but we developed a new frost patch on the fridge side on the underside a plastic cover near the top right side.
At the suggestion of another helpful refrigerator enthusiast we also tested the valve which was added when the freon was added. We could see no bubbles with the soapy water test.
We were reluctant to get into to removing too many covers or parts of the unit because we were in the midst of trying to get the kitchen to a point of having a final inspection done by our township.
So here are my questions:
Is she a lost cause and we should start looking for a different, running unit?
If it is a freon leak, are they impossible to find and or repair?
Is anyone on this forum in the Ft. Myers, Florida area and willing to look at it?
If not- do you know anyone in the Ft. Myers Florida area who works on refrigeration units and likes a challenge?
Will we be able to get this unit down without damaging the cabinets and countertop below it? (We used a rental jack to lift it on to its cleat, but that was with lower cabinets not yet in place.)
I am attaching photos to show areas of interest.
We actually live in Baltimore, Maryland so any additional pictures can't be had at this time.
I'm feeling pretty disheartened and hugely disappointed as I absolutely love these fridges.
I appreciate any and all advice you can offer.
In the photos, the one with blue tape on it shows the area where frost newly developed after using the blow dryer on the area of the coils where they went from coolish to room temperature.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Angie
I am hoping to tap your collective knowledge to help me troubleshoot and repair my LW11P model GE wall hung fridge. A little back story:
We bought it about 4 years ago and had it serviced then. The tech, (wonderful gentleman in the Parkville, MD area) added R12 (and a valve) and a temperature controller knob as the original one was missing.
At that time the freezer and refrigerator both cooled and the coils on both halves frosted across the length within an hour of it running.
The compressor was and is running fine. It was a replacement made before our time, with a hang tag stating it is a GE reconditioned compressor, work done in 1971.
We shipped it to Florida in a Pod and checked it again after it arrived. Both sides cooled.
We tested it a week and a half ago, before we hung it on the wall as part of our whole kitchen re-do. (Based entirely on having a working GE wall hung refrigerator.) I cannot say with certainty because everything is blurry now, but I believe the coils on the refrigerator side were frosted down their entire length at that testing.
After it went up, we plugged it in and it ran all evening. The freezer reached -28º and the fridge never got below 50º and eventually settled in to 58º.
Pepper of Antique Appliances, who I emailed pleading for help, suggested running a hairdryer on the point where the coils on the fridge stopped being cool. We shut it down overnight with the doors open and tried that in the morning. I left the dryer run on the spot for an hour. We tested it and the coils were not frosting any further but we developed a new frost patch on the fridge side on the underside a plastic cover near the top right side.
At the suggestion of another helpful refrigerator enthusiast we also tested the valve which was added when the freon was added. We could see no bubbles with the soapy water test.
We were reluctant to get into to removing too many covers or parts of the unit because we were in the midst of trying to get the kitchen to a point of having a final inspection done by our township.
So here are my questions:
Is she a lost cause and we should start looking for a different, running unit?
If it is a freon leak, are they impossible to find and or repair?
Is anyone on this forum in the Ft. Myers, Florida area and willing to look at it?
If not- do you know anyone in the Ft. Myers Florida area who works on refrigeration units and likes a challenge?
Will we be able to get this unit down without damaging the cabinets and countertop below it? (We used a rental jack to lift it on to its cleat, but that was with lower cabinets not yet in place.)
I am attaching photos to show areas of interest.
We actually live in Baltimore, Maryland so any additional pictures can't be had at this time.
I'm feeling pretty disheartened and hugely disappointed as I absolutely love these fridges.
I appreciate any and all advice you can offer.
In the photos, the one with blue tape on it shows the area where frost newly developed after using the blow dryer on the area of the coils where they went from coolish to room temperature.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Angie
