nestork wrote:
I have a 12 cubic foot frost free fridge (Camco Model CRT1200VLT-1)
whose freezer isn't cold enough to keep meat frozen. This is one of
those GE apartment size fridges where you have to take out the freezer
floor to get to the evaporator, evaporator fan, defrost heater and
defrost thermostat.

I can feel a draft in the freezer compartment, so I know the
evaporator fan is running. On this fridge the defrost thermostat
diverts power from the cold control to the defrost heater, so if the
evaporator fan is running, then the cold control is calling for cold,
the evaporator fan and compressor are getting power and therefore the
fridge can't be stuck in defrost mode. The compressor sounds like
it's running when I use a mechanic's stethoscope on it and the line
between the compressor and the condesnor coil behind the fridge is
hot to the touch. Still the freezer compartment isn't getting cold
enough to freeze water or keep meat frozen.

I replaced the cold control, but that didn't do any good.

Until now, this fridge would make a loud knocking sound when the
compressor stopped, presumably due to a broken suspension spring
inside the compressor housing. Now, the compressor and evaporator
fan seem to run continuously 24/7 except for defrost cycles.

I'm coming to the conclusion that the refrigerant must have leaked out
of the sealed system on this fridge, and I need to buy a new fridge.

Is there anything I might be missing? Should I get an appliance
repair tech in to measure the pressure drop across the compressor to
see if that really is the problem, or have I covered all the bases
already and proving that it's a lack of refrigerant is just a waste
of money?

Have you tried defrosting it for a couple days, to make sure the freezer coils
aren't just 1 block of ice?