I have a Whirlpool refrigerator with a top freezer. The evaporator fan in the freezer (which pushes cold air into the fridge) has quit working. I live in a very rural area, so it is going to be a few days before a repairman can get here. I had explained to him that when I took the back panel off in the freezer, the coils were icing up. He mentioned that I may have lost my defrost heater also. My question is: if my defrost heater isn’t working, would it be better for me to just unplug the fridge until it is repaired? I don’t want to screw up my fridge even more, and I don’t have a whole lot of stuff in it? Curious to know your thoughts.
Have the coils iced over is going to make the fridge run continuously. Which isn’t going to help it last longer, but probably isn’t going to cause any serious damage.
Thank you for that.
I was an AC guy, not so much fridges and freezers, but if the compressor is continuing to run, with no load on it, it could be damaged by slugging liquid refrigerant.
If it were mine, I’d unplug it.
I used to fix appliances. You could unplug it, or you could turn it off, take off the back panel, and defrost the ice with a hair dryer.
Put it back together and turn it on. Sometimes ice will block the fan blades from turning. Or it could be icing up because the fan is not running.
How old is the fridge?
It’s 17 years old.
Thank you .
Defrosting can be a time-consuming ($$$) and messy operation for a repairman, but it needs to be done so repairs can be made. Best to have it free and clear beforehand if possible.
I will. Thank you.