I'm having a problem with both my freezer and refrigerator when turned to the coldest possible setting both are not that cold at all. I believe it's the newer type of fridge as there are no coils on the back. What can I do to fix this?
Look down GrassHopper ... .. and turn the dial back to 2. Wipe up all the water from the floor - it's the frozen block of ice melting away. Wait a day or two - the air channel from the freezer to the fridge might have a couple inches of solid ice to drain. Sitting crossed-legged on the kitchen floor and listening to George Harrison has been known to help. Smoke-em-if-you-got-em. John T.
Gonna love this. I was in 'thridge' post in the eighties. LOL
Either the unit that cools the unit is shot and you might as well get a new refrigerator. Or if you are lucky there is a fan probably in the freezer compartment that is not working and there is most likely a blob of ice on the coils. Get a new fan.
Unless it is unusual, there is only one cooling unit and that is for the freezor coils and the refrigerator part is just cooled by air from the freezor blowing into it.
Do you hear the compressor running, at all?
If so, replace the missing coils at CoilsRUs.com
Most common problem is the evaporator fan motor is not working. It blows cold air between compartments. When it dies, the coils often freeze too.
Depending on the model, in the back of the freezer there is a compartment you can open to get to it. You also have to let the coil thaw out.
And to add to this, before restarting, put the controls in the middle of their range, then restart the unit. If it seems to work, you can move the controls up or down, but only a little at a time.
both are "not that cold."
How "not that cold" are they? And how will you know if you get improvement?
Use a thermometer. It makes a huge difference if "not that cold" is 41 F vs 61 F.
Second, what type refrigerator, and how old? As someone else asked, do you hear the compressor start? If not you have to address that first; if yes then the fan etc. as suggested by others.
Third, WHY is the refrigerator set so cold? Often it's because your door seals have failed. No compressor can really keep up, but if you turn it all the way cold, you will also probably freez the ice dispenser and the water dispenser, if this refrigerator has one.
Oh, and have you cleaned the coils?
It helps if you know where the air flows from and have noticed it before when it was working correctly, so you know what to expect. As others have suggested, turn it off, let it thaw out thoroughly so if there ice blocking it, that will melt. Then turn it on, cover the door switch with tape so it thinks the door is closed and see if air is moving from the openings. If the compressor is running, but no air movement, then it's likely the fan is bad. If the compressor is running and there is air movement, close the doors and wait a couple hours. If it's not to around normal temperature, time for a new fridge.
I don't know if all refrigerators work this way. On mine, the actual cooling is done in the freezer compartment, and there is a pass through vent to cool the refrigerator space. The temperature setting controls the freezer. There is a temperature setting for the rest, but it just controls a damper in the vent. It did happen once that a chunk of ice blocked that vent and the refrigerator didn't cool, but I think the freezer still did, can't remember for sure.
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