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I have a whirlpool refrigerator, model #ED5PHE. A couple of weeks ago we opened the refrigerator and it was fairly warm inside, the freezer was fairly warm too and everything was starting to defrost inside. Must have been this way for at least a few hours based on the temperature of the food. We let it sit empty for about a week and it would cool back down for awhile and then warm back up occasionally too.
Fast forward to about 4 days ago I looked at the coils on the bottom of the refrigerator and there was an excessive amount of dust buildup underneath in the coil area. I cleaned it all out along with the fan down below too. Turned the refrigerator back on after a thorough cleaning and after a couple of hours everything seemed to be good and the refrigerator side got down to 34 degrees (was still turned to highest setting or very close to from playing around with the settings when it originally stopped working) and the freezer side temped around 0 degrees. For the past 4 days I have temped both sides at least 0 times throughout the day at all different times and both sides have given me very similar readings of roughly 34 degrees for fridge and 0 degrees for freezer.
Was planning to start putting items back into the refrigerator today, but woke up around 3 or 4 am last night, shot temps in the fridge and the fridge side was approx 57 degrees and the freezer roughly 52 degrees. Went back to bed and after a couple hours more sleep temped again in the morning and everything was back to 34 and 0. Could these high temps by some strange chance simply be due to the refrigerator/freezer hitting its defrost cycle? Do these temps seem excessively warm (they sure do to me)? During the defrost cycle does the refrigerator/freezer even change temperatures that much? Any ideas, suggestions, or helpful advice anyone can offer based on the above limited information?
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read through and offer help. Have a great father's day and looking forward to hearing back from someone.
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Rank: Member
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If the unit is totally empty the defrost cycle will warm it up some but that seems excessive to me too. Cleaning the coils under/behind it is definitely a good practice for efficiency but they'd have to be incredibly clogged and ambient temps really high to cause any change in the interior temps. It's a simple unit so the whole cooling system is controlled by 2 parts, the ADC and the thermostat. Some things to check to rule out common issues. 1) Any ice/water on freezer floor? Frost on back panel? Probably not but worth a glance. 2) Fan in freezer running when compressor is running? You may have to depress door switch to power the fan. 3)When it gets warm is it doing anything? Any fan motors or compressor noise you can hear? 4) Both door switches working normally? Lights go off when pressed, moving in a smooth action? Quick guess is the Adaptive Defrost Control is malfunctioning and failing to bring it out of defrost and restart everything. The other option is the thermostat in the fresh food side isn't asking it to run. When it's cold does turning the thermostat do anything before you get to the off position? Both parts are on this diagram: Parts for Whirlpool ED5PHEXMB00: Control Parts - AppliancePartsPros.com #6 and #9. I'd go for the ADC in most cases like this. The ADC measures compressor run time and/or door openings to determine defrost timing. If it isn't working normally, you'll get weird temp swings and periods of seemingly normal operation.
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Rank: Member
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Joined: 6/18/2017(UTC)
Posts: 4
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Thank you for your quick reply yesterday PNWDrew. Your time and help is greatly appreciated. As I am indeed getting weird temp swings and periods of seemingly normal operation, I will take a look at those 2 parts, starting with the Adaptive Defrost Control.
Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the typical/average lifespan of refrigerator is, or is supposed to be, nowadays?
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Rank: Member
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Joined: 2/2/2017(UTC)
Posts: 422
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10 yrs would be a dang good lifespan for a new refrigerator but 6 - 7 years is pretty common. I'd say fix the older one unless it is very expensive or unfixable.
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