Another Freezer Good/Refrigerator bad problem.
Whirlpool ED25TEXHW02
This morning I noticed things didn't seem cool enough on the refrigerator side. I let it run for a couple of hours to see if it would improve, but the temp stayed in the upper 40's.
After reading posts on this site, I went about doing the checks.
First, I checked the diffuser. There was some cool air coming from it, but it was relatively low volume and didn't seem like it would be able to get the FF temp to the right level.
I reached into the diffuser from the freezer side and could feel that the diffuser was open, so I moved on.
The evaporator fan was on and was blowing very cold air up to the port for the diffuser.
I looked at the coils and they appeared to be covered with a uniform thin (~1mm) layer of ice (looked like ice, not frost to me).
I advanced the defrost timer and the defrost heater came on (and burned my finger when I touched it.....dumb, I know). I subsequently heard the sizzling sounds.
I waited and it went back into normal operating mode.
I checked the condenser coils and found them quite dirty, so I cleaned them. The fan next to the coils was operating fine.
I checked the return air vent (called the Louver-Cab in the parts diagram #4
Replacement parts for WHIRLPOOL ED25TEXHW02 | AppliancePartsPros.com ) and it wasn't blocked ,but it might've been overnight, before my wife and I removed our lunches to take to work. What does this vent do? I assume it sends air back into the freezer section, but I don't see where it goes to on the freezer side.
After doing all of the checks (opening and closing the door many times) , the fridge temp was in the low 60's and was not going down.
I wanted to get the temp back to a safe level for the FF side, so I popped out the diffuser and left a big opening for the cold air to enter. The temp slowly, but steadily went down over several hours. Right now, the FF side is ~37 and the freezer is at 7. Both are still moving down, but very slowly.
Overnight, I plan to put the diffuser back in and see what the levels look like in the morning, but I wanted to see if anything stands out to one of the professionals here that I might be missing.
I seems to me like it could either a diffuser problem, or a combo of dirty condenser coils and a potentially blocked return air vent.
On top of this problem, my A/C stopped cooling yesterday, so the ambient temp in the house has gone from low 80s in the morning, to a high of 93 in the late afternoon, to 86 at around midnight. A/C guy found it was 6 lbs low on refrigerant, but couldn't find a leak anywhere after looking very thoroughly. He charged it back up and left, but it still ain't right. He replaced my evap. coil 1.5 months ago b/c of a rusted through pan, so I suspect it is related, but can't prove it.....but I digress.
Thanks for you help.
Jeff
Update: It looks like the simplest solution was the right one. All is well after cleaning the condenser coils.
