A 60's Kelvanator with a top freezer but has a coil in the lower refrigerator compartment which is icing up with the Tstat set at minimum. Freezer and refrigerator compartments both running about 43F. Freezer doesn't freeze and refrigerator is too cold! Can you help? JS
Normally in most situations if you are getting ice forming on the coils, and I mean ice, not frost, on either coil, be it freezer or fridge chances are you have a refrigerant problem. A good indication of this would be to expose the coils and see if the ice is localized, or more so concentrated in one portion of the coils, i.e. upper right corner, etc. Going further into the problem, the two things that would cause this is (1) a restriction in the line, (2) low pressure in the lines which is because of a leak or weak compressor. To really diagnose this problem accurately you need a set of refrigerant gauges and tap into the low side line of the sealed system.
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SOURCE: Whirlpool refrigerator Model # ETIRHMXKT
can be worn gaskets...clogged pipes or coolant leakage.
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SOURCE: Freezer works, frig does not. Also ice build up in freezer coil
I just worked on a FF801W which is supposed to be very similar. The defrost heater in mine was of the glass tube type and located under the evaporator. There was a bimetal thermostat clipped to the top of the evaporator and a thermal fuse (sealed in a clear plastic tube) nearby. The connections were behind a little plastic cover (2 screws) in the back wall just above the evaporator.
Mine was iced up like yours and I had to defrost it with a hair dryer. All the defrosting parts in the freezer compartment turned out to work so I now suspect the defrost timer (down by the compressor). I've marked it and I'm waiting to see if it's turning.
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This 60's refrigerator has no defrost timer or arrangement. At two points in its life the refrigerant was adjusted and I am not sure the quantity is correct anymore. Couldn't excess refrigerant carry over into the coil in the refrigerator and cause it to ice up? I repeat, freezer and refrigerator are running same temp 41-42F Tstat is set at minimum.
I think we're getting there. I have engineered and tested automotive systems a while back. My freezer compartment doesn't freeze T=41-42F. In the refrigerator compartment below is a coil or plate which is ice and frost covered at the upper left corner just below the freezer compartment. Probably 20% frosted over. The refrigerator temp is also 41-42F with the Tstat set at the minimum to run the compressor. What high side and low side pressures should I look for with F-12, I assume.
JS
For an R-12 System, and assuming you have R-12 guages, I would tap into the low side (the bigger of the two lines coming out of the compressor), I use bullet piercing valve, pt# bpv-31, and looking at the outside numbers, your pressure while the compressor running should be around 6-10 on the blue side. If when tapped in low side the pressure shoots up high then you've got a restriction, if it plummets in the green to 20 or below, you've got a bad leak, if in the green around 10, you can get away with adding freon. (414-A)
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