"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
...
Marc wrote:
Hi,
In the past two years we had two episodes where my 2001 side-by-side
Kenmore fridge-freezer worked fine, but the fridge warmed up. Both
times were fixed by a hair dryer heating the cold air vent (blows
cold air into the fridge and what I think is a return vent (on the
lower side of the fridge) in the fridge. Can you tell me the most
common causes and what I can do to prevent another reoccurrence?

Thanks, Marc

Water is freezing and preventing air flow through part of the system;
blocking off the frig. I understand it can be three things. Something is
physically blocking some of the air flow (like insulation out of place).
It
can also be a bad Freon charge, or it may be an air leak letting in too
much
air and the moisture with it or (bonus suggestions) a defrost cycle timer
not working. I am sure there are a few other reasons as well.

Said to say I believe the Freon level problem is most common.


Actually (depending on model) in side-by-side units it could be the damper
that's sticking closed . On some models there is a damper that is
automatically opened and closed to regulate the temp in the fridge section.
Also a symptom of a low Freon charge would be a warmer (although still cold)
freezer with possibly acceptable temperatures in the refrigerator.The
defrost timer is a possibility as that would cause the evaporator to freeze
up and restrict airflow to the refrigerator but a more common problem is the
bimetal device that functions as a defrost terminator fails and even though
the defrost timer energizes it will not allow the defrost heaters to come
on.



Henry


--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math





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