Hello,

I bought my Amana DRB1901CW new in 2003 so it's been used for 12 years. It's a bottom freezer with condenser coils underneath. The cold control is in the freezer. The fresh food section just has a damper control and I don't believe there's a thermistor.

The fridge temp is inconsistent this year - often fine in the 30-40 F range but sometimes 60-70 F before regulating, turning food bad quickly. The freezer always maintains a proper temp between 5-30 F.

I performed some basic checks and found the following:[LIST=1]

Damper is unblocked, damper control and belt are intact, evaporator fan above coils behind freezer back wall is functioning. Cold air flows from freezer to fridge when fan is running.

Condenser coils were VERY dirty, packed with dirt/lint.

Cold control in freezer is functioning and turns condenser and fans on/off as expected. Multimeter test gave normal readings.

Evaporator coils are NOT frozen over/icy. They had a light layer of snow/were basically clean when checked.

Door gaskets are intact.

Condenser and fans appear to operate fine when they run. I hear no clicking noises or obvious indication of a start-up issue.[/LIST]I don't know what else to check. The only thing I've actually done is clean the condenser coils and I'm not sure if this is enough to make the unit work properly again. The fridge and freezer are empty as I tossed all my food this week. The fridge was 50 F when I woke up today (maybe just after a defrost cycle?) and five hours later it was 32 (damper setting on max open) so it's still fluctuating.

I'm at a loss and would appreciate ANY suggestions before I resort to buying a new unit. Thank you!

Jen

Edited to add: Referenced temps are AIR readings. Tested with an infrared thermometer today, fridge contents measured 0-10 F colder than the surrounding air.

For anyone else having the same problem - I fixed my issue by replacing the cold control. I ordered the part from APP on a Thursday and got it on Friday. It took <10 minutes to replace it and the fridge has worked great since. It was well worth the $65 gamble to avoid buying a new fridge.

I read in another post that someone's fridge would sometimes kick on when they tapped the cold control knob, and the APP expert suggested replacing the cold control. I thumped my knob and sure enough, the fridge started, so I went with this repair and it was the right guess.

Best of luck,
Jen
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FOR REFERENCE

Steps to replace cold control in Amana DRB1901CW Bottom Freezer Fridge (control in freezer):

-Unplug fridge or shut off circuit breaker.
-Remove clear plastic grille covering cold control and light bulb. (Push in tabs & pull down.)
-Remove cold control knob by pulling down until it comes off spoke.
-Pull cold control unit down from housing. (I used a flathead screwdriver to push in tabs.)
-Note where the three wire connections are attached, then gently slide them off. (I used needle-nose pliers.)
-Remove old part from plastic housing and replace with new part.
-Slide three dangling wire connections onto new part.
-Align knob and reconnect to spoke.
-Pop cold control unit back in, then plastic grille.