Refrigerator Problem - Think I dodge a bullet

[CardsFan]

Two nights ago, I noticed that the freezer temp., which usually reads 0 or 1 was at 11, then slowly up to 15. Uh-Oh.

I pulled it out, opened the back where the coils and compressor are at. Condensing coils are filthy, so I clean them off. Then I notice the compressor was not running and was too hot to touch. Uh-Oh.

Fortunately we have a beer/soda fridge in the garage, and the freezer was fairly empty. So we take out some beer and soda and unload everything to the garage fridge and retire, planning to call a repair person in the morning, and since the fridge is 10 years old, thinking about a replacement. Just for kicks, I left the fridge plugged in.

Wake up in the morning to find the fridge and freezer temps normal (0/37). Checked the compressor. It was warm, but not hot, and running.

I am assuming the compressor motor had a thermal overload that tripped on high temp. and then re-started when it cooled down. With coils clean it was able to recover.

Note to self: Clean the coils more often than every 5 years .

 

[Nick12]

You saved yourself a repair call. That would have cost you $200 to start. Cleaning coils yearly is a good PM.

 

[Sunset]

We have a side by side GE fridge about 20 yrs old.
The coils are on the bottom , and incredibly hard to clean, I stick the vacuum under from the front (remove a kicker panel first) but it barely gets the clumps of dust/hair off.

No idea how to actually clean them.

 

[Nick12]

We have a side by side GE fridge about 20 yrs old.
The coils are on the bottom , and incredibly hard to clean, I stick the vacuum under from the front (remove a kicker panel first) but it barely gets the clumps of dust/hair off.

No idea how to actually clean them.

Home Depot sells a wire brush . You stick the wire brush as deep as you can and when you pull it out the brush is full of dust and dirt.

 

[DrRoy]

The same thing happened to us with a previous fridge when the coils would ice up during humid times and then not cool the fridge.

 

[Helen]

You saved yourself a repair call. That would have cost you $200 to start. Cleaning coils yearly is a good PM.

We were told what repair bills would cost when the salesperson started talking about warranties. We decided to buy a lower end refrigerator and skip trying to repair it if it dies.