Hi all, my original post is below;

"I have a problem with my fridge, it is a side by side. The top half of both
sides are not cold, all the food in the top half of the freezer side is
thawed and only the stuff in the bottom half of the fridge side is cold.
Anyone know what could be causing this? Should I call someone in or just go
look for a new refrigerator? Thanks."

All that replied said it seems like a problem with the circulating fan. Last
night I starting pulling things a part and I found that all the parts in the
back behind the cover were covered in dust, I cleaned it out. Then I took
all the spoiled food from the freezer and threw it out, after doing that I
noticed a frost build-up on the metal plate that covers the coils, I removed
that cover and there was a lot of frost there, I manually defrosted the
freezer and that frost is forming back again. I put 3 bowls half full of
water in there and they are freezing fine.

Is it normal for the frost to form on those coils?
Could the excessive dust have caused this original problem?

I have left the cover off for now so I can watch it for a while.

As you guys can tell I am very inexperienced with fixing things but willing
to give it a shot.

Thanks!!

"Question" wrote in message
All that replied said it seems like a problem with the circulating fan.
Last night I starting pulling things a part and I found that all the parts
in the back behind the cover were covered in dust, I cleaned it out. Then
I took all the spoiled food from the freezer and threw it out, after doing
that I noticed a frost build-up on the metal plate that covers the coils,
I removed that cover and there was a lot of frost there, I manually
defrosted the freezer and that frost is forming back again. I put 3 bowls
half full of water in there and they are freezing fine.

Is it normal for the frost to form on those coils?
Could the excessive dust have caused this original problem?

Yes, some frost is normal. If the evaporator fan is not working properly,
or the defrost cycle is not working properly, the frost will build up and
you get the poor performance you've experienced.

The cleaning may, or may not, have fixed the problem. Is the fan working?

Sounds like the fan is working, I am very inexperienced with fridges as you
may have noticed. Thanks for the reply and for your thoughts