On 8/12/2011 9:35 AM, Chip C wrote:
On Aug 10, 1:36 pm, wrote:
Frigidaire Refrigerator/Top-Mount Freezer, Model Number FRT21P5A.

I got a call from a tenant who is saying that some items in the refrigerator
are freezing up -- milk, vegetables, etc. Apparently, the freezer part is
working fine. However, she said if she turns the refrigerator temp setting
down (from "colder" toward "cold"), things in the fridge do not get cold
enough.

Weird coincidence, the fridge part of our bottom-freezer "dual temp"
Maytag has been getting too cold over the past week, too. While I was
coming up with an improbable, over-complicated explanation about
condensation and evaporative cooling, my wife took it apart and
figured it out.

On this model, the airflow from the freezer into the fridge is
moderated by a rectangular spring-loaded damper, way at the top back
of the compartment, which is moved by a plunger driven by a mechanical
thermostatic mechanism offset by the fridge's temp dial. This is all
hidden behind plastic bezels.

What had happened was the damper's spring had come unhooked and the
damper was hanging wide open, allowing freezer air to flow freely into
the fridge.

(On these models the freezer has its own temp dial, which controls the
actual compressor cycle; so no matter how we dialed the fridge the
compressor kept running and freezing both compartments. On a single-
dial appliance, turning down the dial will reduce compressor
operation, which is why your tenants can get it into a not-cold-enough
mode if they dial it down enough.)

My wife hooked it back up (without dropping it into the air channel,
as I would have) and hey presto, back to normal.

Chip C
Toronto

does she make house calls?