How cold should a regrigerator freezer get?

A friend asked me, thinking I knew, but I don't.

Her standup side-by-side refrigerator is only getting to about 45F degrees with the controls set to max.

The freezer won't go below about 17F.

How cold *should* a normal sized refrigerator freezer get?

Reply to
Bernard
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My 26 year old Whirlpool refrigerator is set to about 38° and the freezer is well below zero.

Reply to
ItsJoanNotJoann

I have no idea how cold it should get but ours is -1. I suspect 17F is too high. Fridge is at 37F.

Reply to
dadiOH

Do you trust the FDA?

"To ensure that your refrigerator is doing its job, it?s important to keep its temperature at 40 °F or below; the freezer should be at 0 °F. Since few refrigerator controls show actual temperatures, using an inexpensive freestanding appliance thermometer will allow you to monitor the temperatur e and adjust the setting of the refrigerator and/or freezer if necessary. Buy one for the fridge, one for the freezer, and check them often."

Reply to
DerbyDad03

She has a problem.. Should be about 0 and 37 max.

Options are to spend $100 for a service call, plus repairs that can be very costly, but if it is an old unit, time to replace it.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Mine is set to 0 and 37 also. It could be a little higher or lower, but 17 and 45 are not right. Especially the 45, which is already in the beginning of the zone where food spoils.

+1

Probably $100 min to find out and min of several hundred more to fix. I would make sure it's not fozen up with ice from a failed defrost mechanism though. If they have a place to put the food, leave it open, let it warm up, to get rid of any ice blockage. A hair dryer on low carefully placed can speed it up. Just don;t aim it so it melts some plastic and keep an eye on it. Then plug it in and if it doesn't come to proper temp, unless it's an expensive, relatively new model, I'd go looking for a new one.

Reply to
trader_4

I'm not sure where you guys are getting your estimates from, but those numbers aren't what I recently experienced for a similar problem.

$75 diagnostic charge, $25 part.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

It all depends on where you live and what the charges are for your area.

Reply to
ItsJoanNotJoann

Cheapest around here is $85, most are $100 to $115 for a call. Real numbers from real appliance service. Oh, the $85 guy is now an exterminator. I guess he could not make it in appliances.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I set mine to 0 freezer and 40 refrigerator.

Have you cleaned the coils? Checked the door seals for leakage? Do those before calling the repair tech.

Reply to
TimR

Are you going to share with us what the symptoms were and what the part was?

Reply to
trader_4

Similar problem: Freezer hovering in the mid teens, fridge approaching mid-50's.

A thermistor was bad which was screwing up the defrost cycle and causing the unit to freeze up. I'm sure I paid more than I should have for the part, but there's always a mark-up.

The point of my post is that regardless of the labor rate in a particular location, to toss out "a min of several hundred more to fix" may not have been the best choice of words.

IMO "Maybe several hundred more to fix" or "Up to several hundred more to fix" would have been better than "a minimum off".

In fact, the tech said "It's a good thing it wasn't the control board. That costs almost $200", which is still below your "min of several hundred".

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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