This is a recurring problem that appears regularly in this newsgroup.
My 30 year old Moffat fridge acted up again. The fridge compartment
won't get cold enough and the milk curdles. The veggies yellow
faster. I don't eat the usual packaged foods so there's no problem of
any spoiling.

For years the solution was to switch off the fridge and leave both the
fridge door and the freezer compartment door open overnight to let it
defrost fully. This time it didn't work and it was very obvious that
there was still a chunk of ice behind the freezer compartment wall
that didn't quite thaw even after 24 hours (room temp 66 deg F).
This "fix" after defrosting but acting up again had been happening
more frequently and between shorter intervals of late. I didn't want
this remove the food and defrost routine again.

After 30 years service and I was willing to risk messing with it to
get a permanent fix. At worst I will buy a new fridge.

The design philosophy of any consumer product is simplicity, easy to
assemble and easy to disassemble and service. A good look at the
freezer compartment suggested that the floor panel was snucked under
the front bezel and held in flat by two plastic corner studs. I
couldn't push in or remove the 1/4 inch studs but in the process
pushed inwards the side panels. That's it. I pushed in the side
panel far enough for the floor panel to pop up over the stud (repeat
for the other side.) There were ventillation holes large enough to
slip in two fingers to pull up the bottom panel and slide it out from
under the front bezel. Another tug and the panel came off the back
end too. The back panel was held in place by four screws and it comes
off easily.

Sure enough. The bottom run of coils behind the back panel was solid
ice. This took another four hours to defrost fully. I took the
opportunity to clean up the fridge, (wet) sand off the rust at the
panel line where the ice blockage was and seal that with a smear of
white silicone. I had thought of spray painting that but decided
silicone was more effective and actually cheaper and faster drying.

After reassembly the fridge works great.

On Dec 10, 1:05 pm, PaPaPeng wrote:
This is a recurring problem that appears regularly in this newsgroup.
My 30 year old Moffat fridge acted up again. The fridge compartment
won't get cold enough and the milk curdles. The veggies yellow
faster. I don't eat the usual packaged foods so there's no problem of
any spoiling.

For years the solution was to switch off the fridge and leave both the
fridge door and the freezer compartment door open overnight to let it
defrost fully. This time it didn't work and it was very obvious that
there was still a chunk of ice behind the freezer compartment wall
that didn't quite thaw even after 24 hours (room temp 66 deg F).
This "fix" after defrosting but acting up again had been happening
more frequently and between shorter intervals of late. I didn't want
this remove the food and defrost routine again.

After 30 years service and I was willing to risk messing with it to
get a permanent fix. At worst I will buy a new fridge.

The design philosophy of any consumer product is simplicity, easy to
assemble and easy to disassemble and service. A good look at the
freezer compartment suggested that the floor panel was snucked under
the front bezel and held in flat by two plastic corner studs. I
couldn't push in or remove the 1/4 inch studs but in the process
pushed inwards the side panels. That's it. I pushed in the side
panel far enough for the floor panel to pop up over the stud (repeat
for the other side.) There were ventillation holes large enough to
slip in two fingers to pull up the bottom panel and slide it out from
under the front bezel. Another tug and the panel came off the back
end too. The back panel was held in place by four screws and it comes
off easily.

Sure enough. The bottom run of coils behind the back panel was solid
ice. This took another four hours to defrost fully. I took the
opportunity to clean up the fridge, (wet) sand off the rust at the
panel line where the ice blockage was and seal that with a smear of
white silicone. I had thought of spray painting that but decided
silicone was more effective and actually cheaper and faster drying.

After reassembly the fridge works great.

A new frige might pay for itself in reduced electrical costs in only 4
years and you wont have the headache, where else can you get 25% on
your money and have less of a headache.

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:27:07 -0500, Meat Plow
wrote:

After reassembly the fridge works great.

It's a bit low on freon and the ice will build up again.


How does that work out? Low on freon means low on heat transfer fluid
(freon). That is less heat is drawn out of the freezer compartment.
The compartment and therefore the fridge doesn't get cold enough
within a resonable time, the compressor runs longer than normal.

Anyway ice buildup is due to condensation from moist air and has
nothing to do with freon or freezer temperature (as long as it is
below freezing point.) I think the ice buildup in my fridge was due
to having the door slightly ajar. Sometimes the milk jug or a box
abuts the door. Other times a floppy bag of food slumps against the
door pushing it slightly ajar.

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:29:13 -0500, Meat Plow
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:13:17 +0000, PaPaPeng wrote:

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:27:07 -0500, Meat Plow
wrote:

After reassembly the fridge works great.

It's a bit low on freon and the ice will build up again.


How does that work out? Low on freon means low on heat transfer fluid
(freon). That is less heat is drawn out of the freezer compartment.
The compartment and therefore the fridge doesn't get cold enough
within a resonable time, the compressor runs longer than normal.

Anyway ice buildup is due to condensation from moist air and has
nothing to do with freon or freezer temperature (as long as it is
below freezing point.) I think the ice buildup in my fridge was due
to having the door slightly ajar. Sometimes the milk jug or a box
abuts the door. Other times a floppy bag of food slumps against the
door pushing it slightly ajar.

Lower freon = lower pressure = lower temp in the first few coils. That and
what is in place to defrost? If there is no automatic defrost, ice is
inevitable over a period of time.


The logical progression of your argument will mean that the less freon
there is the faster the first few coils will be cooled. Ergo minimum
freon is best. Thus a larger and more effective heat sink will
spread out the temperature gradient and can therefore take advantage
of this faster cooling. We should get a more efficient fridge.

I'll let others weigh in before I make my rebuttal.

PaPaPeng wrote:
On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:29:13 -0500, Meat Plow
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:13:17 +0000, PaPaPeng wrote:

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:27:07 -0500, Meat Plow
wrote:

After reassembly the fridge works great.
It's a bit low on freon and the ice will build up again.

How does that work out? Low on freon means low on heat transfer fluid
(freon). That is less heat is drawn out of the freezer compartment.
The compartment and therefore the fridge doesn't get cold enough
within a resonable time, the compressor runs longer than normal.

Anyway ice buildup is due to condensation from moist air and has
nothing to do with freon or freezer temperature (as long as it is
below freezing point.) I think the ice buildup in my fridge was due
to having the door slightly ajar. Sometimes the milk jug or a box
abuts the door. Other times a floppy bag of food slumps against the
door pushing it slightly ajar.
Lower freon = lower pressure = lower temp in the first few coils. That and
what is in place to defrost? If there is no automatic defrost, ice is
inevitable over a period of time.


The logical progression of your argument will mean that the less freon
there is the faster the first few coils will be cooled. Ergo minimum
freon is best. Thus a larger and more effective heat sink will
spread out the temperature gradient and can therefore take advantage
of this faster cooling. We should get a more efficient fridge.

I'll let others weigh in before I make my rebuttal.

Forget it. He's right. Low freon, low pressure, depressed temp at points
in evaporator, icing. Anybody familiar with refrigeration equip will
confirm this.

John

On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:35:56 GMT, John Barry
wrote:


Forget it. He's right. Low freon, low pressure, depressed temp at points
in evaporator, icing. Anybody familiar with refrigeration equip will
confirm this.

John


Two to one. OK. I am easy. I'll see if the fridge ices up again.
It paid itself off already (30 years) and I can do with a new one in
white. That almond decor looks so retro 70s. The compressor I can
modify for a silent compressor airbrush set up.

On Dec 11, 8:42 pm, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
And it will work great for a couple weeks. You have a defrost problem. That
is typically one of three parts that often break. With a 30 year old fridge,
it's relatively easy to figure out WHICH part, and then order and install
the replacement part.


Is the refridgerator in question supposed to be a "frost free"
model??? About a year ago I had the same problem with the fridge
compartment not staying cold enough. My fridge is a Sears Kenmore
"frost free" model. It turned out to be a burned out defroster heater
located behind the freezer compartment wall that caused the problem.
The coils were all froze up. If you still have your instructional
booklet that came with the fridge, there should be a schematic diagram
with parts list to show where the heater (probably two of them) are
located. It cost me about $50 to replace mine myself. Not sure if
this will help you or not but hopefully it might. Good luck!
Steve

On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:22:17 -0800 (PST), Steve
wrote:

On Dec 11, 8:42 pm, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
And it will work great for a couple weeks. You have a defrost problem. That
is typically one of three parts that often break. With a 30 year old fridge,
it's relatively easy to figure out WHICH part, and then order and install
the replacement part.


Is the refridgerator in question supposed to be a "frost free"
model??? About a year ago I had the same problem with the fridge
compartment not staying cold enough. My fridge is a Sears Kenmore
"frost free" model. It turned out to be a burned out defroster heater
located behind the freezer compartment wall that caused the problem.
The coils were all froze up. If you still have your instructional
booklet that came with the fridge, there should be a schematic diagram
with parts list to show where the heater (probably two of them) are
located. It cost me about $50 to replace mine myself. Not sure if
this will help you or not but hopefully it might. Good luck!
Steve


Thanks . Now this is a piece of information I can use. There is a
schematic at the back of the fridge. If the fridge acts up again I'll
pull the fridge out of its nook and look up that schematic. I am
pretty handy at repairing anything given the right information what to
look for. Now that I feel comfortable about taking apart the panels
the rest should be easy. I am usually reluctant to start on something
I am not sure of as I hate to break anything. Small plastic parts are
costly or impossible to replace.

On Dec 13, 10:06 pm, PaPaPeng wrote:
Thanks . Now this is a piece of information I can use. There is a
schematic at the back of thefridge. If thefridgeacts up again I'll
pull thefridgeout of its nook and look up that schematic. I am
pretty handy at repairing anything given the right information what to
look for. Now that I feel comfortable about taking apart the panels
the rest should be easy. I am usually reluctant to start on something
I am not sure of as I hate to break anything. Small plastic parts are
costly or impossible to replace.

As stated by someone earlier, it will work fine for a couple weeks
after manually defrosting and then slowly keep getting worse and
worse. The heaters (two on mine) looked like long narrow clear glass
tubular shaped parts with a spring or coil inside. I had one good one
which looked clear and clean and the bad one looked all clouded up
inside the tube. Another clue as to when your problem is starting
again is that the compressor will be running almost steady. Don't
mess with the temp controls inside the fridge compartment or it will
only make the problem worse. Good luck!
Steve