Calling all refrigerator experts

[tcesni]

So this morning I realized that my 3 1/2 year old Kenmore refrigerator and freezer was not working properly as the internal temps were steadily rising and the ice cream was just cream. After taking the meat (venison) to my neighbors who had room and packing two coolers with food and ice I unplugged the appliance. No reason to use electricity for nothing! After 30 minutes I decided to plug it back in and of course it is now working flawlessly. Anyone want to give an opinion as to what is going on?

[Beallright]

If I was to guess I am guessing the defrost timer is bad. monitor you coils in the freezer for Ice build up, if you see Ice build up its either the timer or the defrost coils, usually it just the timer 20.00$ part

[wildturkey]

Was it sealed this morning, maybe door or lid not closed properly?

[RangerAce]

Make sure your condenser is not caked up with lint and dust bunnies.

[Walkabout7781]

Sometimes frost, ice or food will block the cold air going from the freezer compartment to the refrigerator portion of the machine, or stop the fan that blows it. Could be the fan is jammed or TU. In all refrigerators, the cold starts at the freezer section and drifts or blows into the main box. It's very possible that either door was slightly ajar overnight. Adjusting the feet so the doors close from gravity is a real good thing to do. Sometimes the feet settle into the flooring, especially linoleum and vinyl tile, causing a bad tilt. Neighbor came over and asked for something to shim his with a few weeks ago.

[JER-1 BIG BASS]

If I was to guess I am guessing the defrost timer is bad. monitor you coils in the freezer for Ice build up, if you see Ice build up its either the timer or the defrost coils, usually it just the timer 20.00$ part

usally this just a defrost timer, easy fix. Do it yourself

[donpilot]

Inside coils frozen. It will happen again In a couple days. Most likely defrost timer. DO Not use Anything to chip the ice away, even your fingers. Hair dryer only. Timer may be behind the panel where the controls and light are located. Small module with 4 wires to it. If you want to test it, respond back here and I will help you. Very simple test if can locate it.

[tcesni]

The saga continues. Move the fridge back into it's place and of course it stopped working again. Really all I want on this miserable day is a cold beer. So I unplugged the fridge and took off the access panel in front to look at the coils below. A good population of dust bunnies, maybe a few dust cows. Cleaned them off and plugged back in. We shall see.

Thanks for all the suggestions/advice.

[mactlman]

dog or cat hair plugging up condenser?

[Ratltrap]

I had a thermostat control go out on mine a few years ago, it was like a $20.00 fix for the parts from my local source. There could also be a loose connection somewhere due to the fact that you moved it and it stopped working. Clean the coils, check to make sure the fan motors are turning.

[fishnfool38]

If it has ice on the coils inside, it will be defrost timer, element or most of the time defrost thermostat. To test timer advance into defrost by turning slowly until the compressor shuts off. If the ice melts it is the timer. If the ice doesn't melt at this point then you have a bad defrost element or defrost thermostat. You can ohm the element out if no continuity with resistance it's bad. If it test good replace the defrost thermostat.
If ice does melt then leave in defrost mode the timer should advance back into run/cooling mode after ice melts or after some time like 10-15 minutes if it doesn't replace the timer.

[billnorman1]

Cleaning the coils and assuring the external fan, if so equipped is easiest, but a bad timer, cheap and easy to replace might eliminate most failure percentages.

[larryhyco]

If I was to guess I am guessing the defrost timer is bad. monitor you coils in the freezer for Ice build up, if you see Ice build up its either the timer or the defrost coils, usually it just the timer 20.00$ part

I agree with this

[Bub]

I've had this same problem with my "beer fridge" in the garage for a few years, I just pick a time about once a month when it's about empty anyway and unplug it with the doors propped open. About 4 hours later I plug it back in and it runs fine for another few weeks. There is usually a puddle of water running out from under the fridge when it thaws.

[bschwoep]

Next time it does it, pull off the back panel inside the fridge and/or freezer to expose the evaporator coils (YouTube has videos on how to do it). If they are iced up you likely have a defrost issue. The fun part is then trying to fix it. Could be the timer as mentioned, it some other failed part. Could also be a clogged drain causing ice to form. Google your model to find the most common issues. Be prepared to read a lot, so many issues with today’s fridges.

[FES313]

A few months back I had a similar problem on my 2 year old fridge. It was freezing up on the inside coils. I replaced the timer and then replaced the thermostat with no avail. Only after digging really deep into google about my problem, I found a video of a pro repairman saying this problem could be caused by being out of level. I grabbed the plumb stick and sure enough it was out and once I leveled it the problem went away. Because it happened later rather than sooner, I can only assume the house settled a little throwing the fridge out.

[tcesni]

Lots of good suggestions, I will try to find time to trouble shoot today while working. Of course I am supposed to leave tomorrow morning for 9 days in Ontario. You can imagine how popular I am with the missus right now.

[pabassin]

This sounds similar to my my experience. Few months ago the temps started to rise on a GE Cafe. It would sound like the unit was running and producing cold air but the internal temps kept rising. Even though you can hear it producing cold air, this unit only has one internal fan/blower that sends the cold air both into the freezer and up through the channels into the upper Refrig portion. That fan went bad and would work intermittently. When the fridge would run you can open the freezer and look at the fan and see if it is spinning to move the cool air throughout. We were able to unlock it by putting a skewer in through the vent holes to get the blades spinning but the fan ultimately needed to be replaced.
Hope you figure out whats wrong.

[sawguy]

Had you had any thunderstorms (lightning strikes) prior to problem?

[tcesni]

This sounds similar to my my experience. Few months ago the temps started to rise on a GE Cafe. It would sound like the unit was running and producing cold air but the internal temps kept rising. Even though you can hear it producing cold air, this unit only has one internal fan/blower that sends the cold air both into the freezer and up through the channels into the upper Refrig portion. That fan went bad and would work intermittently. When the fridge would run you can open the freezer and look at the fan and see if it is spinning to move the cool air throughout. We were able to unlock it by putting a skewer in through the vent holes to get the blades spinning but the fan ultimately needed to be replaced.
Hope you figure out whats wrong.

I am 90% certain that this is my problem. To answer another poster, we did have several extremely short power outages prior to this happening and by extremely short I mean a blink of the lights.