Refrigerator Question

[graygun]

It's s GE side by side,model etc not known...maybe 10 yrs old...

freezer is 8 deg F
fridge is 60 F

If I turn it off for a day... back ON and it's ok for about 3 weeks...fridge will get down to 40 F or a little lower

I feel ice inside the port from the freezer to the fridge side when the above problem occurs

What causes this?

 

[NikA]

Humidity causes this. There may be several underlying causes: old seals not sealing fully, or, as I have experienced several times, the defrost sensor not working. The defrost sensor should be a sheathed wire extending into the port from the freezer to the fridge. Finding parts varies in difficulty, I mitigated this problem in my current unit by adding desiccant packs to keep the humidity down.

 

[mohavesam]

Coils could be filthy, causing overheating/cycling off and immenent complete failure.

 

[reuben_j_cogburn]

My refrigerator/freezer works great....... from late november to about mid march...

Both responders seem viable... and rarely have I seen anyone clean the coils.... out of sight.. out of mind..... but very important.....

 

[ronto]

Unplug, take off back, clean (I blow out the crud with my air compressor twice a year). You'd be surprised how much dust accumulates in there.

 

[graygun]

I cleaned all the stuff in the rear recently...coils etc.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

The cold air passageways are getting frozen up probably. My side by side used to do that and I would have to turn it off and take a hair dryer to blow the ice out. I solved the problem by making sure the openings in the fridge were wide open and not obstructed by a drawer or something. Also don't try and get the fridge too cold and check the balance between the freezer and fridge settings.

 

[collectorruger]

sounds like the defrost timer is bad. when you unplug it has time to defrost and then frost builds back up and it will not cool

 

[Aqualung]

Could be defrost timer, a very common problem.

Check the front panel at the base of the unit. There should be a little box with a knurled knob. That knob might have an index mark (or slot).

Make note of the position of that index (3:00, 5:00, whatever). Wait about 30 minutes and check again and see if the index moves. If not, you need a defrost timer. A quick & easy part to replace.

To replace your defrost sensor and/or defrost heater, you need to tear the back off the inside of your freezer, most likely. Check out youtube for videos.

I had mine apart to replace the defrost sensor, heater and the time earlier this year. It was the sensor, but I changed the other two because i'd bought them all. All three parts were about $65.00 shipped.

Aqualung

 

[graygun]

Thanks for all the replies.

This is the first time the freezer has been that cold and the other side so much higher.

I bought a small unit (14.3 cf [live alone]) at COSTCO today. Maybe I can fix the other and sell it on CL.

 

[Bull Barrel]

It's always been the defrost timer on my GM side X side.
Next time it gets retired. It's 40 years old and runs a lot.

 

[caryc]

I noticed one evening that my refrigerator was losing it's cool. It was not running and did not come on and run all night. I was sitting the next morning and looking in the phone book for new appliance places when I heard the motor come back on.

I called a repair place and the guy said it was most likely a bad timer. He came out and put a new timer in it for a very cheap price and it's been fine for around 5 years now.

He said my timer must have just had a bad spot in it that kept it from cycling on and off like it should. The timer was a generic part that he had on the truck.