Like everyone, the thought of having to purchase a new fridge scares the heck out of me.
A couple weeks ago, we noticed ice building up on the ice maker, when we have never had a water line even connected to it. Condensation is building up on this supposedly frost free model.
Yesterday, we noticed that the fridge was a bit warm, and the milk was spoiled (even with a sell by date still a week away). We also noticed strawberries getting moldy a day after we bought them.
DH emptied the freezer, and opened up the back panel and said he found a huge chunk of ice blocking the small entrance to the fridge. He ran a hair dryer on it, and melted it enough to remove two almost softball sized chunks.
The fridge was cooler this AM, but I worry that this will happen again. If the freezer is still getting cold, does that mean the fridge can be saved? Or will we randomly lose food again.
DH is a fairly handy guy, and doesn’t want to spend what we don’t have. But should I be planning on a new fridge instead of a vacation next year?
The folks at CC have a wealth of knowledge - maybe someone else has run across this before?
The #1 thing you need to do before doing ANYTHING is fully defrost your refrigerator/freezer. Should be done once a year anyways. This will fix the vast majority of all problems.
Trust me, try this first before calling anyone out or getting a new appliance. Your problem sounds exactly like the type that can be solved with a periodic defrost.
Clean the coils. You can get a long thin appliance coil brush at the hardware store. Some compressed air can help as well. I had one that was warm. Cleaned it and it’s like Antarctica. Good luck.
We had this problem with a 4-5 year old Samsung. Happened every couple of months, then every few weeks. Apparently it is a very common problem with some of their models and we found a Youtube where it was suggested to wrap a piece of copper wire around the heating tube and down into the drain. Worked for a few months and then it would start up again. We nursed it along and finally threw in the towel and got rid of it a few months ago.
This Whirlpool side by side model is only 6.5 years old. DH cleans the coils every three months, at the same time that he changes the cartridge on the water filter in the kitchen sink.
Just sympathy–had 1st problem ever with our 14yo fridge 2 days ago. Icemaker stopped working. Fortunately Google had several suggestions and the first thing I tried (changing the water filter–because I don’t do that as often as I should since the filters are so expensive) solved the problem. Hope Google has your solution, too!
I had this problem in my French Door, under warranty. Not the ice maker, but the cooling unit behind the pullout freezer drawer. In addition to the visible ice buildup, I heard a knocking sound (started small, eventually quite loud ) One guy came out, suggested maybe the door had been left ajar, leading to warm air condensing, then freezing. The noise was the fan blades hitting the ice. Made it sound like a sort of one-off issue. He did the hair dryer melt. A month or so later, it seemed warmer, then just stopped cooling. (Luckily, D was away and I could put everything in her fridge and freezer.)
This second guy was the right repairman and found a thermostat or some regulator problem. (So, the first guy had only cleared the symptoms.) Replaced it and good to go. You may also want to be sure your door seals are in good shape, that they close the doors tightly.
(I still get an occasional rattling sound, will have the guy back soon, since the warranty expires in Jan. Some makes/models do have commonly flaws online reviews will mention repeatedly. But think about looking at the thermostat and seals.)
Love the Fixya site.
ps. Despite our CC friends who are fans of big expensive fridges, you don’t need to spend a vacation chunk o’ change on a refrigerator.
Adding one last thing: every time I replace some appliance, our electric bill goes down. That’s nice.
We are still using our 20 year old washer and dryer and 15 year old refrigerator. We are not looking forward to them dying. While I understand the newer appliances are more efficient, they don’t seem to last long enough to make up for the cost of replacing them more frequently.
I’ve used both websites mentioned to great success.
Don’t just use a hairdryer though. Turn off the frig and let it fully defrost. Get rid of all the ice.
I had to do this twice which probably helped me keep the frig for another year or so before we finally bought a new one.