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Hi, I have an older Amana side by side refridgerator I use in my garage. A few months ago we had about an 8 hour power outage and after that I noticed the freezer side would not get as cold as before. It ranges from 26 to 40 degrees but the fridge side stayed right where it should be temp wise. I never took the time to really look into it yet but I know the evaporator fan in the freezer was working. Now just the other day I came out and noticed everything had thawed and neither side was working. I could tell the evaporator fan was no longer running but the compressor is. I unplugged it for a few days and today I took the back panel of the freezer off and there is no ice on the coils which I wasn't expecting there to be anyway since it had been unplugged also the evaporator fan isn't working and there are no signs of water from it being unplugged. I pulled it out and took the bottom panel off and the condenser fan isn't working either but the compressor definitely is. I vacuumed out any dust or dirt that I could but still nothing. Should the coils around the evaporator fan get cold when it is plugged in and running? They are not. Could I just need to replace both fans or should I just take it to the dump? It seems strange that both fans aren't running but the compressor seems OK. Thanks.
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Here are your parts Parts for SXD22S2W - AppliancePartsPros.comSee the attachment for the tech sheet. The SXD22S@ on page 12 is probably the same as your unit. [COLOR="Blue"]It ranges from 26 to 40 degrees but the fridge side stayed right where it should be temp wise. I never took the time to really look into it yet but I know the evaporator fan in the freezer was working. Now just the other day I came out and noticed everything had thawed and neither side was working.[/COLOR] I find the above confusing. If the freezer was hitting 40 degrees the food would have melted. All cooling comes from the freezer os I would have thought that large temperature variations in the freezer would have also affected the fresh food side. The usual temperature for a freezer should be between 0 and 5 degrees F. [COLOR="Blue"]I pulled it out and took the bottom panel off and the condenser fan isn't working either but the compressor definitely is.[/COLOR] The compressor and the condenser fan are wired in parallel so when one of them is on the other should also be on. You can check the fan by measuring the voltage across it. If it has 120 volts and does not turn it is bad. [COLOR="Blue"]Should the coils around the evaporator fan get cold when it is plugged in and running?[/COLOR] Yes as long as the compressor is running. You can usually hear it but also should be able to feel it vibrating. [COLOR="Blue"]Could I just need to replace both fans[/COLOR] No. [COLOR="Blue"] or should I just take it to the dump?[/COLOR] Unfortunately it does sound like the unit is toast. When the compressor is on the evaporator coils should get cold. If not it is a sealed system problem and an expensive repair. Note: that on this unit the evaporator fan actually gets power through the defrost thermostat and defrost heater. So the coils have to be around freezing (defrost thermostat closed) before the evaporator fan will come on. |
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Thanks for the response. It just seems strange to me that the coils would quit getting cold and the evaporator fan would stop at the same time. It was working and just within a few hours they both stopped at the same time. Everything in the freezer was staying frozen like meat except for like ice cream. The temp was usually about 26 but it would creep up to the upper 30's for short periods the fridge side would always be around 40. Could it be a main board problem?
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[COLOR="Blue"]The temp was usually about 26 but it would creep up to the upper 30's for short periods the fridge side would always be around 40.[/COLOR]
Looks like it had a problem for quite awhile.
26 is way too warm for a freezer.
It should be 0 to 5 degrees F.
Also the evaporator fan will not run if the defrost thermostat opens.
Look at it's specs in the tech sheet.
[COLOR="Blue"]Could it be a main board problem?[/COLOR]
No.
If the compressor is running then the coils should get cold. |
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Thank you again for your reply. I know the fridge is probably toast but do you have any idea why the coils don't get cold with the compressor running? The freezer always kept at about zero or below until I had that 8 hour power outage. That's when all the problems started. Thanks
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[COLOR="Blue"]do you have any idea why the coils don't get cold with the compressor running?[/COLOR]
The most common cause is that the unit is very low or out of freon.
But there are also other causes. |
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Thanks. That's what I was thinking. Just screwing around I saw online where you can make it go into defrost by opening and closing the door 4 times in 8 seconds. I did it and sure enough the compressor shut off. Do the coils get warm when it goes into defrost? Just wandering because they didn't. I unplugged the fridge after that but now the compressor won't come on at all now. Just clicks every few minutes. I think I officially killed it now.
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[COLOR="Blue"]Do the coils get warm when it goes into defrost?[/COLOR]
The defrost heater is supposed to come on if the unit is working correctly.
In your case it would not come on because the defrost thermostat will be open (it opens just above freezing) and this kills power to the heater. |
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