We noticed that our fridge was not cooling as it used to and that we were having to turn the dial up to keep things colder until we finally reached 9. The freezer also started freezing less and less until it finally just stopped freezing at all.
I unplugged the fridge and opened the back panel and cleaned what I could off the coil. The fan was working at that time when you plugged in the fridge. My husband helped me tip the fridge slightly so I could clean what I could from the coil from the front side which is nearly impossible.
The fridge has been unplugged for a couple of weeks as we were busy with the family, etc.
I took the panel off the back of the freezer today to see if the fan in the freezer was working and it was not moving at all. I also did not feel any air movement underneath the fridge as we did before so I removed the back panel again to see if the fan on the coil was moving and it is not either now.
We do have lights on in the fridge so I know we have power.
I am unsure what to do next. Does anyone have any idea what is possibly happening with my fridge? Currently we are storing our cold items in a relatives fridge which is really inconvenient.
Current Problem.
You may be in a defrost cycle. During defrost the compressor, the condenser (compressor) fan and the evaporator fan all shut off.
Rotate the cam on the defrost timer (Item 257 in Section 5) to see if it will come alive.
There is usually a hole in the cover so you can turn the cam with a screw driver.
Note: That it only turns in one direction.
Old Problem.
If I understand yiour post you removed the cover from the evaporator coils in the freezer and cleaned them.
Were they heavily iced/frosted over?
If yes then you may have a defrost problem.
If there was just frost in one area you may be low on freon.
FYI: Never chip ice off the evaporator coils they are fairly delicate and if you put a hole in them it will cost you a new fridge.
Sorry if I was unclear in my initial post but I did not remove the back of the freezer until yesterday. The “coils” I cleaned off were underneath the fridge and covered in dirt, etc. It was a round unit with a fan on it. I hope that helps.
I should have removed the back of the freezer to see the status of the evaporator coils before shutting everything down initially but I didn’t know to check it until later. So, I don’t know if it was heavily iced back there or not.
I will check on your suggestion of being in defrost mode and report back on the status of fan operation.
ETA: I was in defrost mode as you say. I turned the defrost timer and the fan for the condenser came on however the evaporator fan did not. I gave the evaporator fan a flick with my finger and nothing happened. There was a sound in the freezer as if something was trying to come alive. It made a clicking type sound and then ceased.
[COLOR=“Blue”]I don’t have any burning smell so I am not sure if that was meant for me or not.[/COLOR]
Sorry about that but I currently have another person with the same symptoms but they also had a burning smell. Since this may be a safety hazard I guess it is on my mind.
Also, I currently have the fridge plugged in to see if the evaporator coils get frosty. Is that what I should be doing even with the fan not working? Just want to be sure I am following along correctly.
No use putting dollars into the unit if it is something too expensive to repair like a bad compressor or low freon. If they get frosty you know that the sealed system is OK.
If the frost is only where the freon enters the coils then you are probably low on freon.
If the frost looks good then we may still have a defrost problem but that should not cost an arm and a leg to repair.
We ordered the motor and it arrived today and is installed. My fingers are crossed that it takes care of our cooling issues. I can’t wait to move my food back into my fridge!
