36 hours ago we noticed our fridge food was warm & fridge would not turn on...Back of fridge & coils were very dirty so we cleaned thoroughly. It's now spotless & started running right away. Fridge is maintaining temp of 55 F; Freezer is maintaining temp of 37F with both temp settings on mid-setting (5 on dial). There is frost on the back wall inside the freezer, when it is a frost-free model. It continues to make ice. Husband says:
"Unplugged and replugged power, few seconds later compressor tube builds visible frost. About 1 min later visible frost melts away. Sounds like compressor still running. I put voltmeter on output of "Overload" cut-off switch (using chassis as reference ground) attached to compressor relay and am measuring 120VAC, so electrical path to compressor seems to be okay. Tube on compress still cold/cool but not frosty."

Does it seem like the compressor is running correctly?
Is this a faulty defrost system?
Any ideas on diagnose & what parts to order would be great.

Thanks. It's not timer. Appears to be heater. Have heater & thermostat on order, since replacing both at same time seems like an easy preventative to reduce the chanes of the other going out at a later date.

Are you talking about a top-freezer, side-by-side, bottom-freezer? Also post a model number.

If this is a top freezer what you are describing is a bad sealed system problem. If this is the case defrosting may make it work better but you are only buying time.

If half of the coils have thick ice and the other has not ice, frost or anything the sealed system is bad. This could mean it is low on gas, capillary tube stopped up or the compressor is bad.


Now if you have thick ice on half of the coils and thin layer of frost on the other half the icemaker may be leaking on the coils or the door may have been left open.

Is the icemaker on the right or left?