First, the coils have been cleaned within the last couple weeks.
I noticed that the refrigerator section seems warmer than usual. I have not measured it with a thermometer but comparison with a second refrigerator, indicates it is not cooling as it used to. The top freezer compartment is fine, so I am assuming it is not refrigerant leak or compressor problems. The only other symptom is condensation in a small section of the top of the refrigerator compartiment, rear right as you face the machine. The condensation is enough that it drips down and pools in the floor of the refrigerator. What I assume is an unrelated problem is that of the two lights inside, one has shorted out, and sometimes you have smack the lighting housing to get the other light to work. Any ideas at what is going on. Is it something I can do myself, or should I call in the repair guy.
My suggestion is to empty it, and unplug it for a day or two. I’m guessing the evap coils are iced up (they are probably located right in the section above the condesation in the fridge (and below the frost in the freezer, you didn’t say it, but I’m guessing those spots are right above and below each other).
If that fixes the problem, it’s most likely a problem with your defroster. Hopefully it’s just a timer that needs to be replaced.
Two more things, assuming this is the case (evap coils icing up)
1)The fridge is going to warm up the rest of the way and you’re going to lose the freezer soon as well, so you’re going to want to deal with this problem sooner rather then later
2)When you unplug it, the ice is going to melt back to water and drip down to the condensation pan…There is a pan under the fridge the collects the water that condenses on the coils, during normal opertaion this water drips down to a pan located near the compresor. The heat from the compresor will evaporate that water before it’s an issue. But since you will be draining more water then usual and the compressor won’t be running, you’ll want to find that pan and keep an eye on it. This way if it starts getting to full you can empty it (or use a shop wet/dry vac to suck the water out of it. Even if it doesn’t over flow, you should still see if you can empty it before plugging it back in.
I was writing a reply about the lights, but then I realized you said it was only one bulb. While it could be a related problem, I would start by replacing the bulb. If the bulb is in the fridge in such a way that the filiment is vertical, and if when the filiment broke (ie burned out) it broke in such a way that it’s still haging from the top part of where it’s mounted, tapping it may cuase it to touch the bottom part, thus temporarily lighting back up. I’d start be replacing it, if the new one doesn’t work, then we can deal with that problem separtely.
I had this problem with my fridge when I moved into my new apartment. You said there was a lot of frost built up in the back, which sounds exactly like what happened with me. In the back of my freezer, there’s a fan that blows cold air from the freezer into the fridge, thereby cooling it. You said that the freezer is cooling normally, but the fridge is the warm part – I’m willing to bet that that fan has caked over with ice and isn’t circulating the cold air down into the fridge like it should.
The fix for my fridge was to remove all of the food (ETA: all of the food from the freezer portion), take off the bottom interior panel of the freezer, and then remove the fan cover. From there, it was an easy fix to knock the ice off of the fan blades. After putting everything back together, the whole thing worked perfectly. YMMV.
If it is a frost-free refrigerator, the problem may be that the heating elements that would normally keep the coils frost free are not working. The heating elements, if they are on the fritz, may be connected to the lights not working. Temporary fix: Empty the refrigerator, unplug it and let it completely defrost. Be sure to empty the drip pan. You can plug it back in then and use it normally until it needs defrosted again. A build-up of ice in any refrigerator has a negative impact on its ability to keep the compartment cold.
Obviously the cold air is not getting to the non frozen area. The fan must come on to circulate, and the holes must be unblocked, to work. Look for those two items. A burned out fan or iced up air channel, will leave you with your situation. The fan is normally required to get the freezer properly cold too, so I’m betting on a blocked air channel. A blocked air channel can occur if you push food up against it, it’s not just an ice condition. You should also make sure the door is sealed all the way around or the air leak, can keep the fridge from cooling.
When my fridge went bad, it was the drain hole in the back of the freezer being clogged up. This froze the water that couldn’t drain and clogged up the opening from the freezer to the fridge, keeping the fridge part warm. With a little work by our maintenance man, some hot water and a coat hanger, things were fixed in an hour. Unplugging the fridge would have been just as good or better.
Or nuke it form orbit, the only way to be sure!
I’d check what Jake sez. Typically there’s a hose that funnels collected water from the freezer to an evaporation pan at the bottom of the fridge. My parent’s fridge, for some inexplicable reason, has a u-bend incorporated into this feature. If/when the u-bend gets clogged, it leads to water dripping out the fridge compartment.
Last year the same thing happened to me and it was the thermostat. They fixed it (I’d just decided to renew my home warranty a week before - paid for itself!) and it ran until last weekend, where I think the same thing happened. Symptoms were the same, at any rate. My new fridge arrives Tuesday - if the old one can be fixed I’ll use it in the garage I’m building. Life is too short to lose everything in your freezer more than once. (Also getting a chest freezer once I get the garage.)
