Ice on Evaporator Coil

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

Initially noticed trouble with items in the freezer not freezing. Freezer would not get below 20F, and refrigerator maintained 40F but at a high setting. Removed the back panel to find a block of ice around where the tube entered the freezer. Defrosted the ice and plugged the refrigerator back in overnight. In the morning I found similar temperatures but there was ice build up on the liquid line and the bottom tube of the coil. I’ve manually defrosted the refrigerator multiple times (most recently it went unplugged for 48 hours) and get the same results.

I have not tried troubleshooting the defrost timer, which is a suggested step on many forums that I’ve read, however I doubt this is the issue considering I’ve defrosted the unit manually a few times. The ice will start forming within minutes of plugging in the refrigerator. Also, other forums I’ve read point to non-uniform ice/frost formation to be a larger issue than the defrost timer.

The condenser coils were extremely dirty when I first noticed the issues. They are now clean, but I’m wondering if that did any damage. The compressor does seem to run more noisy than it should. Also worth noting, the condenser does not put out much heat when I have been testing the unit recently.

I’ve considered calling a tech to review, but if the most likely solution is replacing the compressor or any other costly fix, I would just buy a new unit.

Any help is appreciated.

2

It does sound like a sealed system problem.

If it was a defrost problem the following would be the symptoms.
You defrost the evaporator coils.
When you plug the unit in, it will run continuously unil the set point temperatures are reached.
Note that it may stop for half an hour or so if it goes into a defrost cycle.
The freezer will get down to 0 to 5 degrees F and then the compressor will start to cycle.
Then as ice/frost builds up on the evaporator coils to the point where the evaporator/freezer fan cannot pull air through the coils the freezer temperature will begin to rise.
This usually takes at least a couple days.

It does not sound like your unit does this.

Below is a link that may help you diagnose the problem. Take a look at the example pictures about half way down the page.
http://www.applianceaid.com/refrigerator-not-cold-enough.php

3

Thanks. It’s very similar to Example Picture One, except it’s the bottom tube on my unit, but in the example picture it looks like the top is where the circuit enters the freezer, mine just happens to be on the bottom. Pretty sure my issue is the compressor not running at 100%.