On Apr 10, 10:08*pm, Geoff wrote:
klem kedidelhopper wrote in news:dd664d3b-
:

The refrigerator section is running at about 46 degrees and the
freezer is at 42. We cleaned all the dust out of the back and there
doesn't seem to be any improvement. I am an electronics technician
however I don't know too much about refrigerators. All the food is
spoiling and I' hope that someone can please point me in the right
direction to troubleshoot this thing. We had a GE for 22 years and
against my better judgment had to get rid of it because my wife didn't
like the rust on the bottom. Now we're stuck with this non functioning
pos. Thanks for any assistance. Lenny

Could be failure of defrost system, even if compressor is running. You can
check by removing the cover in the back of the freezer section, if that is
how you get to the freezer coill thingies, the aluminium bits.

This causes the ice that is there to slow the flow of air from the fans to
the fridge compartments. Next step is to find out why, if this is
happening.

My Maytag uses an electronic "Adaptive Defrost Controller". This PC
board is located in the upper right of the refridgerator compartment
and ceased working a couple of years ago with the exact symptoms
described by the OP. I had a tech come in and replace it [$150] but
kept the old one to see what had happened. It turned out that the bulk
filter cap [22uF 50V electrolytic] had gone high ESR, so I replaced it
with a new high ripple cap and put the board away. A week or so ago I
heard a buzzing like a chattering relay from the 'fridge and went a
pressed on the panel in the freezer that covers the evaporator and
felt frost on the coil so I guessed that the replacement board cap was
failing. I went on line to find the instruction on how to access that
board in my model and took it out and to the bench. Indeed tha same
cap was high ESR, so I replaced it and then reinstalled the board into
the 'fridge. Total time from start to finish of the removal, repair
and re-installation was about 30 minutes. Problem seems to be
resolved. So, if you have the same board [it seems to be used across
many brands], you should not need to spend $43 for a new one, just
replace the 22u cap with a better quality one.
Neil S.