Posted on 05/29/2015 6:28:50 AM PDT by PennsylvaniaMom
Need some expert FReeper advice on Refridgerators...
Here is my problem. Several weeks ago our whole house, central air unit broke. It's 23 years old, and had a major repair two years ago. We knew we were in borrowed time the last two summers. It's been fairly warm in SW PA, but finances don't permit us to buy a new HVAC system (and I won't finance a new system unless the furnace goes in the Fall and it is an absolute necessity). We are getting by using fans and open windows upstairs windows overnight.
Now here is my Refridgerator issue, since the house has been consistently in the low to mid 80s temperature wise, our almost 10 years old Maytag has been freezing everything. I have the fridge settings down to 2 (on a 1-10 scale) and we have to keep everything forward to prevent a hard freeze. There is NO leakage on the floor, but there is an frost build up on the rear interior. This is how the previous one went bad.
My question is, does the outside room temp affect how a fridge runs? And if so, if no AC repair (but I have to purchase a new refeidgerator) will the room temp warmth affect (read shorten the life span) of a new unit. OR am I just experiencing a run of bad luck?
I'm at work, so I probably can't respond with a "thanks" til later this evening, but please know I appreciate any guidance a fellow FReeper can give.
The spelling?
jk
Ah, I’ve seen this situation many times. Open the door and take out the “d”. There shouldn’t be a “d” in refrigerators.
Well, for one thing, there’s no d in refrigerator.
google the issue..but sounds as though there needs to be attention paid to the defrost drain.
Nicely done!
Too much cooling might mean thermostat. Is the compressor running all the time?
Could be excess humidity not allowing heat transfer and evaporation for the frost-free operation.
One thing that might help is get a refrigerator coil brush and pull off the bottom grill and brush/vacuum the buildup. UNPLUG the refrigerator first. There is likely a fan that blows air over the coil/grille and also directs over the frost-free evaporation pan.
Also look and feel if you have good air flow in the freezer section. Not blocking the flow with piled up TV dinners, etc. You can feel it. If it is hard to see the internal lights you might have too much in the freezer section. The freezer section usually siphons off air for the refrigerator section, too. So blocked freezer circulation could cause more air into the refrigerator section.
Hope this helps. All this you can do yourself before calling a repairman.
Unless you get a “Frigidaire” :-)
(At least, that's how our repair guy put it.)
I would call a refrgerator repair place and ask them—it may just be the thermostat since otherwise it seems to be working fine. If they think it could be that, I’d ask for an estimate, then put the fridge on a timer (like it would be off during the night, and during the day if everyone is at work or school) until I had the money to fix it.
It may be something else tho. I know little about them except what I picked up when ours broke.
Warm, moist air in the house will promote frost and ice buildup on the outside condenser as well as frost buildup in the freezer. It will make your refrigerator work harder and the compressor to be on more often.
Hotter ambient air makes the unit work harder. Here are a couple of things to do that MAY help:
1) Clean the heat exchanger from all lint / dust. This is normally done with a hand / shop vac and a dust brush.
2) Sometimes a small auxiliary fan can help move heat away from the unit. I have put a small fan on top of the unit to pull the warm air away from the unit
Not a Frig. expert but have worked on a few.
The older ones I have worked on use a fan located behind a panel in the back of the freezer to blow the cool air from the freezer coil(top) down into the frig. compartment.
Obviously if everything is freezing in the frig, the fan is working. I would defrost the Freezer portion to eliminate all the frost that has accumulated. I would also check the door seal to both the frig and the freezer. If your freezer is constantly building up with frost you either have someone opening the door or the seal is leaking. If they are bad replace them.
If things continue to be to cold in the frig. I would suspect a temperature sensor.
Take everything out of the fridge and use an ice chest for a few days. Turn off the fridge and let it defrost. Turn it back on and all should be fine for a while.
Don’t know the answer but,
http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=window%20air%20conditioner&typeahead=window%20&stores=3563,2145,2252,2641,2497
and,
http://www.yellowpages.com/bethlehem-pa/used-appliances?bb_ne=40.95377521385322,-77.47798982063699&bb_sw=39.72071714743663,-80.52394929329324
Can’t say anything about the fridge, but I would suggest replacing your HVAC system. I had the same situation and was limping along with my 15 year old central air having its leaking freon topped off several times a season. Eventually the leak became a hemorrhage and the cost of replacing the leaking coil and filling it with a now scarce older type freon was almost equal to replacing the A/C unit. I opted to replace the whole system as to me it made no sense to put a new A/C unit on a soon to be replaced 15 year old heating plant. At 23 years you are on borrowed time with your HVAC. A new system will save you a lot of money with heating and cooling ... I saw almost a 30% drop in my heating and cooling costs. Check with your local utility company and you may find significant rebates or even financing options. You may even find some tax credits. Good luck
Is it a side by side? Top freezer? Door gaskets torn? Frost on rear panel in freezer section?
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