Freezer not working at all it defrosted all the contents. fridge working but not great. the filter light came on and wont reset, do not know if thats conected or not.

The frig has a defrost timer which activates an electric element which cyclially defrosts the evaporator in the freezer.If either the heating element or the defrost thermostat are faulty the freezer evaporator will freeze solid not allowing cold air circulation to the rest of the frig.
At a suiteable time empty fridge contents into insulated containers and turn fridge off at powerpoint and allow to fully defrost leaving doors open.The evaporator coil in frostfree is normally located behind the rear panel of the freezer.If you do not have defrost heater it will take 3-4 hrs for complete defrost.
After defrost turn fridge back on and make sure items to be returned to freezer are free from moisture and ice and keep freezer open for minimum of time as moisture will start building up onthe evapoator.
If the fridge works ok for a couple of days and the the original problem returns the problem is with defrost thermostat or defrost heater

Hi,

Check out these tips...they can help you figure out what is going wrong with your refrigerator and why it is not cooling

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heatman101

Hi,

Check out these tips...they can help you figure out whats going wrong with yourrefrigerator and why it is not cooling

Refrigerator not Cooling or Fridge not Cooling

How to Defrost Refrigerator Defrost Timer Problem

Water Running in refrigerator from Freezer

heatman101

Hi and welcome to FixYa. I am Kelly.

What your describing is a result of either an automatic defrosting problem or an Air Damper problem.

Here is what you can do to determine if it is a defrost issue or an Air Damper issue.

1. Unplug the unit
2. Empty the freezer section ONLY contents
3. Place a fan blowing into the freezer section for a little over 2 hours. NOTE: This will make a water mess so be prepared.
4. After the manual defrosting session with the fan re-load the freezer contents and plug the unit back in.
5. Check food section temps in about 4 hours.
NORMAL temps you have an automatic defrost problem
WARM temps you have an Air Damper Problem.

Either of the above will require further troubleshooting or service. At least you will know where to start or... what to tell a service person.

Thanks for using FixYa.

Kelly

try a new defrost timer. or new kit defros timer defrost terminator and heater. tfound the timer rotate, open the freezer. if you hear a noise like ICE BREAKING. your onli problem is the timer. really important after repair your fridge. allow at least 24 hr for defost the whole evap. REALLY IMPORTANT

If freezer is icing up, you might have a defrost problem. Frost free models have a heating element that is controlled by a timer to automatically defrost ice, defrost timer turns on defrost heating element every 12 hours to melt ice in freezer and allow good air flow.
You can test defrost element with an ohm meter(located inside freezer coils-will have two wires going to a plug connection), if OK replace defrost timer (located in various places depending on make and model

you have a defrost problem.when you open your freezer door and look at the back panel look and see if their is frost built up.if so that means you do have a defrost problem.you will need to pull panel off and defrost coils.then you can check your defrost thermostat which is round and has 2 wires that go to it.it sits at the top of coils.see if it seperated.if so that is your problem also check defrost heater see if any breaks in it.if those check out then could be defrost timer which is located in ref.side.it would help to know what brand it is.it sounds like a side by side ref,but dont know what brand.

the ice maker wont cycle untill the temp of the ice is around 10 degrees so if the freezer is at 15 or 20 due to some other malfunction then you will see the maker full of ice but it wont harvest and make another batch. so you could have a sensor bad, control malfunction, refrigeration issue, compressor, defrost system malfunction(you mentioned ice build up)

Defrost the unit for two days with the doors open...I know you're going to lose your contents. You may have ice on the coils internally. Next make sure you've cleaned the external coils under the unit. Leaving liquids open inside the unit or setting it colder than required will both cause issues like the ones you've got. Also, be sure all air vents inside the unit are unblocked and the door closes tightly all around.

im taking it that the cooler you refer to is actually a general fridge. if its not working, it is either your th/stat which has not reset or if not, assuming your fridge is an auto defrost, look behind the freezer and locate the timer. you should see a plastic knob plus/minus in the middle of the timer. turn the knob and listen if refrigerator comes on. if not call a tech.