As the title says, unit isabout15 years old. All of a sudden overthe past week it’s just not keeping stuff cold enough. First noticed that frozen food was a little soft. Now fresh food area isn’t really cold either. Ive been good about keeping the coils clean, so I know that’s not the problem.
Any thoughts on whether it’s worth a service call or should I just replace it?
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Replies
Sometimes the starter goes out. It's on the compressor. Pretty cheap to fix. If you notice clicking on and off, that is probably it. What it does is energize the start winding in the compressor until the compressor runs. When it fails the compressor does not start and the overtemp kicks it off, then when it cools, the compressor tries to start again. TYhis is an endless cycle, unless the starter works like it is supposed to. Replacement ones are available at appliance repair supply stores.
I'm assuming it's not the starter as it cools, just not very well
First thing to do is to make sure the fan is running inside the unit. If the fan fails (and this is often the first part to go) then the evaporator coil inside will completely ice up and nothing will be very cold, even though the compressor is running continuously. It's a PITA to replace, but the fan inside the unit is something you can replace yourself if you're reasonably "mechanical".
And maybe even before you check that, check to make sure that the thermostat didn't simply get bumped and turned way "down" to the warmest "cold" setting. This happens fairly often and people don't think to check before calling the service guy.
I'll check the coils, thanks
Any idea on what a new compressor costs if that's what it needs?
It's unlikely to be the compressor. Compressors are designed to last 30 years or more (though, alas, I'm sure the Chinese can build something that lasts only 15). More likely to be a fan (either inside or underneath) or something (ice, dust bunnies, real bunnies) blocking the airflow somewhere. Or the thermostat/temp sensor. It's also possible that a defrost heater is stuck "on".
We have a lower quality side by side about as old as yours and it's been a struggle to get it working correctly.
By coils are you saying the exterior warm condenser coils on the back or the cold ones on the inside normally hidden from view? The interior coils are probably the most likely thing if you haven't looked at them since they ice up quickly if the coil warming function isn't working correctly. After each cooling cycle the coils are warmed slightly with a heating element to melt any frozen condensate.
With an interior pannel taken off so the coils are exposed you can see how cold they get when the unit cycles on - (beats me how cold is cold enough but it should be frozen cold at least!
Definitely check the interior fan for proper operation. Air flow to cool the fridge goes from freezer to fridge with a gate of some kind to limit air flow when it's cold enough and there's a return path somewhere in the fridge (sometimes just a little door like a miniture doggie door) going back into the freezer. Since both sides of your unit aren't cooling it's probably not this.
Also take the fridge out and look for a somewhat hidden fan blowing on a condenser (or secondary condenser) near the compresser that may or may not be there - on the fridge we have a mouse had made a big nest in this area blocking airflow over the condenser so it was only cooling about half what it should - thus causing it to run almost continuously and since it didn't cycle off the coil warming heating element couldn't switch on so the coil turned into a block of ice and performance continued to go down hill.
There is also a temp sensor that goes to the control board - if it's gone crazy the control board may think it's working properly. If the temp sensor is working well maybe the control board isn't working. Maybe you have an electrical partial connection somewhere in this circuit due to slight corrosion between wire, crimp on connectors or what it's connected to and only a partial voltage is making through.
Changing a comprressor isn't that easy - it involves soldering it on, applying a vacuum to the cooling tubes to eliminate moisture and having the equiment to recharge with coolant and check the pressures in the system. I'll bet it's not the compressor, but who knows.
Nothing is as easy as it should be. Current unit fits snugly left to right. 15 years ago when I bought it I had to shave a bit off the cabinet above to have it fit. Now units that width are at least an inch taller.
A few minutes with a Sawzall will solve that problem!
Replace it for Free
The energy savings in replacing a 15+ year old fridge is so large that it will actually pay for itself in a while. Here is the calculator http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=refrig.calculator Factor in the cost of an uncertain repair and it starts to look pretty good.
Unless you have a high cost counter depth or something like that which will take longer to pay for itself this is a no brainer if you can spend the cash up front. Don't even wait for yours to break, just shop around a replace it.
In New York, they run a incentive program 1-2x per year where tehy offer an additional $350 off a fridge that is efficient enough.