Good afternoon,
I apologize for the long post, but I am hoping the details will help. In May 2012 (last year) our built in refrigerator and freezer stopped cooling. We have a home warranty so they sent out a tech and they replaced the compressor. After that everything worked fine. Other background info, I am not here to complain about the home warranty company as they are sending people out to try to fix it.
June 1, 2013 -- the fridge and freezer stopped working again. Called warranty company, they said they would send a tech out (same one as last year). This is what has happened since then...
June 5, 2013 -- The tech thought the problem was that Freon was getting stuck somewhere and not making it to the fridge to cool. He would have to send someone else that has a Freon license to check it out. Ok fine..wait...
June 6, 2013 -- Electricity at the house went out for a few hours. Went it came back on, the refrigerator and freezer started working again.
June 11, 2013 -- New tech from same company came to see fridge. At this time it WAS still cooling since the power outage. He thought the electrical controls may have become stuck and were reset when power came back. He left, did not do any work. It seemed fine bc everything was working.
June 12, 2013 -- Refrigerator and Freezer stopped cooling again. Called tech told him what happened, he said he would order the parts bc he thought it was an electrical problem. He would come back when parts arrived.
June 26, 2013 -- Tech came and changed the overload relay, the defrost timer, and cold control. He said it would take a few hours to start cooling again. It did not do anything.
June 27, 2013 -- Refrigerator and Freezer were not cooling after new parts. We called warranty company, they sent "Kitchen Aid Specialist" since the other tech could not fix it.
June 28, 2013 -- Visit #1 from the new company. He checked the Freon, said there was no Freon, so there must be a leak somewhere. He recharged the Freon and said he would obtain authorization to fix the leak. He believed that when the other company changed the compressor in May 2012, that he welded the copper pipes with aluminum which means there may be a leak somewhere. The Freon recharge would allow us to use the fridge and freezer again until he could come back after the July 4th holiday to do the work.
July 4, 2013 -- Refrigerator and freezer stopped working again. The Freon recharge from the first week worked for 6 days.
July 5, 2013 - -Visit #2 from new company. He recharged Freon again as the previous recharge of Freon was all gone. He said must be serious leak. He left.
July 7, 2013 -- Recharge worked for 1-2 days.
July 9, 2013 -- Visit #3. They pulled the fridge out, found leak quickly. A pipe from the compressor had ice on it and was melting. I have a picture of this, if that would help. They removed the ice, rewelded the pipe. They vacuumed out the Freon then recharged. He said to call him in three hours to let him know if it was cooling. I called him after 3 hours and told him it was NOT cooling. He said he would come again.
July 10, 2013 -- Visit #4. He came back and replaced the bimetal and evaporator fan. Fridge and freezer started working again.
July 16, 2013 -- Six days later refrigerator and freezer stopped cooling again. Called tech, he said he would come next day.
July 17, 2013 -- Visit #5. He checked the bimetal and fan, said both were fine. He played with the air flow in one of the drawers (it is a knob that said "cold" and "colder" -- when he showed it to me, it was just a knob that allowed air from freezer to flow into fridge.) He said that may have been a problem bc it was closed. Also, recharged the Freon. He said Freon levels were slightly down. Fridge and freezer started cooling again. He also obtained approval to change the cold control. I know this has already been changed, but he said maybe it was not a good part. Fridge and freezer were cold again.
Since then, the freezer has been cold. The temp is 0 degrees. But over the last 24 hours the fridge temp has started to drop from 37 to now 50. I read through these blogs and tried the air flow test. I put my hand up in the upper left corner and the cold air is faint when the freezer door is closed, but it gets stronger when I open freezer door. There is food in both fridge and freezer, but all vents are not blocked.
I am not an expert by any means. I know nothing about this stuff. I have just been keeping notes of what has been done and then I started reading your blog. Please let me know if you have any ideas. I appreciate it very much.
I apologize for the long post, but I am hoping the details will help. In May 2012 (last year) our built in refrigerator and freezer stopped cooling. We have a home warranty so they sent out a tech and they replaced the compressor. After that everything worked fine. Other background info, I am not here to complain about the home warranty company as they are sending people out to try to fix it.
June 1, 2013 -- the fridge and freezer stopped working again. Called warranty company, they said they would send a tech out (same one as last year). This is what has happened since then...
June 5, 2013 -- The tech thought the problem was that Freon was getting stuck somewhere and not making it to the fridge to cool. He would have to send someone else that has a Freon license to check it out. Ok fine..wait...
June 6, 2013 -- Electricity at the house went out for a few hours. Went it came back on, the refrigerator and freezer started working again.
June 11, 2013 -- New tech from same company came to see fridge. At this time it WAS still cooling since the power outage. He thought the electrical controls may have become stuck and were reset when power came back. He left, did not do any work. It seemed fine bc everything was working.
June 12, 2013 -- Refrigerator and Freezer stopped cooling again. Called tech told him what happened, he said he would order the parts bc he thought it was an electrical problem. He would come back when parts arrived.
June 26, 2013 -- Tech came and changed the overload relay, the defrost timer, and cold control. He said it would take a few hours to start cooling again. It did not do anything.
June 27, 2013 -- Refrigerator and Freezer were not cooling after new parts. We called warranty company, they sent "Kitchen Aid Specialist" since the other tech could not fix it.
June 28, 2013 -- Visit #1 from the new company. He checked the Freon, said there was no Freon, so there must be a leak somewhere. He recharged the Freon and said he would obtain authorization to fix the leak. He believed that when the other company changed the compressor in May 2012, that he welded the copper pipes with aluminum which means there may be a leak somewhere. The Freon recharge would allow us to use the fridge and freezer again until he could come back after the July 4th holiday to do the work.
July 4, 2013 -- Refrigerator and freezer stopped working again. The Freon recharge from the first week worked for 6 days.
July 5, 2013 - -Visit #2 from new company. He recharged Freon again as the previous recharge of Freon was all gone. He said must be serious leak. He left.
July 7, 2013 -- Recharge worked for 1-2 days.
July 9, 2013 -- Visit #3. They pulled the fridge out, found leak quickly. A pipe from the compressor had ice on it and was melting. I have a picture of this, if that would help. They removed the ice, rewelded the pipe. They vacuumed out the Freon then recharged. He said to call him in three hours to let him know if it was cooling. I called him after 3 hours and told him it was NOT cooling. He said he would come again.
July 10, 2013 -- Visit #4. He came back and replaced the bimetal and evaporator fan. Fridge and freezer started working again.
July 16, 2013 -- Six days later refrigerator and freezer stopped cooling again. Called tech, he said he would come next day.
July 17, 2013 -- Visit #5. He checked the bimetal and fan, said both were fine. He played with the air flow in one of the drawers (it is a knob that said "cold" and "colder" -- when he showed it to me, it was just a knob that allowed air from freezer to flow into fridge.) He said that may have been a problem bc it was closed. Also, recharged the Freon. He said Freon levels were slightly down. Fridge and freezer started cooling again. He also obtained approval to change the cold control. I know this has already been changed, but he said maybe it was not a good part. Fridge and freezer were cold again.
Since then, the freezer has been cold. The temp is 0 degrees. But over the last 24 hours the fridge temp has started to drop from 37 to now 50. I read through these blogs and tried the air flow test. I put my hand up in the upper left corner and the cold air is faint when the freezer door is closed, but it gets stronger when I open freezer door. There is food in both fridge and freezer, but all vents are not blocked.
I am not an expert by any means. I know nothing about this stuff. I have just been keeping notes of what has been done and then I started reading your blog. Please let me know if you have any ideas. I appreciate it very much.