The other day I went to remove a boxed food item from the freezer floor and it was stuck. Once I removed it I discovered the floor of the freezer was melted with the exposed condenser coils (?) showing. The freezer seems to work fine but I wonder if this could cause a fire hazard? I covered it with foil and do not put anything on top of it anymore. I am just really curious as to how this happened because our landlord said it was our problem even though it’s her appliance. The refrigerator is 22 years old. Thanks for any help on this matter.
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[COLOR=“DarkRed”]with the exposed condenser coils (?) showing.[/COLOR]
They are actually the evaporator coils.
The condenser coils are under the unit by the compressor.
[COLOR=“DarkRed”]The freezer seems to work fine but I wonder if this could cause a fire hazard?[/COLOR]
I would say that it is a fire hazard.
When the unit goes into a defrost cycle the defrost heater does get hot.
Take a look at Section 1 in the parts and you will see that the coils should have a cover with foil on it to keep the defrost heat in this area.
There is also freezer bottom that should be on top of this cover.
It is also a health problem as a lot of defrost heat is getting into the freezer section.
Probably melting some of the food and then it re-freezes which is not a good thing.
If you get sick eating frozen food she is liable.
If the place burns down due to this she has no insurance because leaving a unit like this would be considered negligence.
Someone either broke the covers trying to get them out of the unit or was just to lazy to put them back after working on it.
Thanks..of course she then asks me what I put in it to melt it and then again I repeated what happened. I am willing to own up to any damage I may have done but this is not me! I did take a flashlight and it appears that the foil and the styrofoam lining is still intact and it burned right through them before melting the cover. I just figure since she knows we are going to start looking to move into a smaller place soon then this would just be a way to keep the security deposit. I figured after 3 years and $26,600 in paid rent while being good tenants this wasn’t going to be an issue. Thank you.
It could be that the defrost thermostat is shot.
The way it works is that the defrost timer (Item 23 in Section 10) starts a defrost cycle every 6 or so hours. The defrost cycle last for about half an hour.
But if the ice melts off the coils before the cycle is over the defrost thermostat (Item 35 in Section 10) shuts the heater (Item 32 in Section 10) off. It is supposed to open just above freezing.
If it does not open or sticks closed then it could cause the problem you see.