Refrigerator internal coils freezes

If the ice buildup was by the pipe just going into the evaporator in the freezer compartment and the suction line going into the compressor is warm to the touch and not cold and/or sweating you are low on freon.

If the entire evaporator was buried in ice, the ice covering is also serving as an insulator and preventing internal temps from going down any further. There is a problem with the self defrosting mechanism which is designed to prevent the ice buildup. Could be either the defrost timer, defrost thermostat or the defrost heating element. Hope that it is just the heater element. If you have an electronic module for the rest you are in for unpleasant surprise to replace the unit. Proprietary parts mucho expensive plus labor.

Until you fix it, just let the unit manually defrost (U can use a hair dryer to speed it up) and turn it back on again. It will work fine till the ice builds back up. Keep opening and closing of freezer compartment to minimum to minimize moisture laden air that enters compartment.

The freezer should go down to about zero degrees. If your unit is constantly running it is because the internal temp has not activated the thermostat to turn off the compressor. Lower than normal refrigerant levels could account for this. Also to be checked out is the evaporator coil not being frozen over with a block of ice - the latter is caused by an inoperable self defroster - this causes the freezer to not cool properly and raise all internal temps.

If not a self defrosting unit, defrost the unit and restart unit. It will cool properly until the evaporator freezes up again. How fast it freezes up depends on how often the freezer door is opened and how much moist warm air enters the freezer compartment.

If your unit is frost free, then you have a defrost circuit failure, which is made up of the defrost heater, defrost thermostat and defrost timer. The defrost heater and defrost thermostat are located in the freezer compartment next to the evaporator coil and can be checked with an ohmmeter (anything except an open is good). The defrost timer is usually located in the free food side or in the compressor compartment.

Suggest you go to the www.searspartsdirect.com website and insert the model number off the equipment id tag on your unit and find the parts.

When an icemaker slows production, the problem is not the icemaker at all but the temps in the freezer warming up because of an airflow problem either in the freezer compartment evaporator coils or underneath the unit that being the condenser coils. (Fan not working or lint blockage)
Airflow problems in the freezer compartment are caused by the fan or the automatic defrost system not functioning properly so yu end up with an ice block / lots of frost in the freezer compartment on the back wall of the compartment.

Check for ice or large amounts of frost in the freezer compartment. If you note ice / excessive frost, unplug the unit, empty the freezer compartment and do a manual defrost by directing an external fan into the compartment for just over 2 hours. This will ensure the evaporator coils and the freezer compartment drain have thawed. While the manual defrost is in progress remove the rear fiberboard cover from the compressor access and check / clean the condensor coils and fan area.
After 2 hours clean up the excess water.. reassemble the rear cover and return the unit to NORMAL service. It should start making lots of ice in 4 to 6 hours. Here is the kicker... if there is an auomatic defrosting problem your icemaker will after 2 - 3 days again slow ice producion and ice will build up in the evaporator area. You will have to keep repeating the manual defrosting process every 3 to 4 days until the automatic defrost system is repaired.

There are 3 main components of the Automatic defrost system:
1. Defrost control
2. Defrost heater
3. Defrost thermostat or depending on type thermistor

Most of the time the problem is either the defrost control or the heater that fails and the unit stops defrosting.

Your parts can be found here:
http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/part-model/LG-Parts/Refrigerator-Parts/Model-LSC26905TT/3204/0165000

Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly

Hi,



If your refrigerator is not cooling but your freezer is still working then you most likely have a problem with Ice buildup. Sometimes the ice will start to form inside the refrigerator on the bottom of the freezer compartment, even though the refrigerator section is not staying cool.

1. Empty out the freezer section so that you can remove the bottom panel that covers the evaporator coils. Side by side refrigerators often have the access panel in the back of the freezer.
2. Use a hair dryer or fan to speed up the melting of the ice. Towels will be needed to soak up the water. A wet/dry shop vac and a hair dryer work the best. Melt with one and collect the water with the other.
3. Take the couple of screws that hold the defrost coil loose and remove the heater. With an Ohm meter check the resistance of the coil. If the coil is bad you will get either and open or shorted circuit. If you get a good consistent resistance then it is okay.
4. If your heater coil is good and the fan/blower is working then you probably need to replace the defrost timer or advanced defrost control board, whichever is in your unit.

Take care....

Hi
If the refrigerator is in defrosting mode, the freezer compartment temperature will be less cold than usual. Wait 20 minutes, and you should be able to feel cold air blowing in the bottom of the compartment. If you have frost on the freezer coil, you probably have a defrost problem. Your freezer should go into a defrost cycle about twice a day. When this happens the compressor and fans shut off and a defrost heater in the freezer coil will turn on heating away the ice. This usually last 10 - 20 minutes. If the defrost coil doesn't defrost it will become a solid block of ice and this will in turn block the air from blowing into your refrigerator compartment. There are several things that can go wrong with the defrost cycle such as the defrost timer, defrost heater, or the defrost termination thermostat.

Let us know if you have something more to know else accept the suggestion.
Thank You for contacting Fixya.com

I ll tell you whats going to happen . the clean coils will helt it to freeze up sooner . that part is good / but the ice problem is a defrost problem caused by the heater or defrost control failure . so keep on working your not done yet .. .you will find the heater and defrost terminater inside the fack of freezer .. mm

It sounds like the condenser coil might be freezing up. This happened to me on my bottom freezer. The cooling part of your fridge is only in the back of the freezer compartment. The cold air from the freezer blows up through a vent in the back to the fridge and comes out at the top. If the coils do not defrost (which is what happened with mine) the air flow is blocked by the ice and can't get to the fridge compartment. Your freezer will still be cold but your fridge won't. If you pull the plug on it and time things right you can defrost the coils but this will only postpone the problem. Both will work for awhile again until the coils ice up again. You can also pull out the freezer drawere and try to defrost the coil with a blow dryer. You have to disconnect the icemaker and pull out the back panel behind the freezer to get to it though.

PLEASE DISREGUARD GUEST FIXYA SOLUTION,FREEZER PROBLEM PROCEDURE IF NOT DEGITAL,FIRST CHECK IF ICE ON BACK FREEZER WALL. STEPS-FIND DEFROST TIMER,BOTTOM FRONT ,BOTTOM BACK, INSIDE FRIG.ON CONSOLE,LISTEN TO SEE IF FAN IS RUNNING IF SO TURN THE DEFROST TIMER CLOCKWISE TILL YOU HEAR A CLICK SEE IF FAN TURNED OFF IF SO YOUR FREEZER IS IN DEFROST,FREEZER WILL COME OUT OF DEFROST IN 20-30 MINUTES IF IT DOES AND THE FAN COMES ON YOU HAVE ELIMINATED DEFROST TIMER&FAN,NEXT REMOVE BACK PANEL TO FREEZER IF THERE IS ICE FORMING REMOVE BOTH LEADS TO HEAT AND CHECK WITH VOLT METER ON OMES,IF YOU GET ANY READING THE HEATER IS GOOD,IF NO READING REPLACE HEATER AND CLIPON TEMINATOR,IF HEATER IS GOOD DEFROST COILS WITH HAIR DRYER TOP TO BOTTOM AND THIS WILL ALSO CLEAR THE DRAIN,IF EVERYTHING CHECK OUT GOOD DEFROST TIMER ,FAN ,HEATER, DRAIN, YOU NEED ONLY TO REPLACE THE LITTLE ROUND CLIP ON TERMANATOR,LET ME KNOW-MIKE

smoke smell coming from fridge, open back cover and a smokey cloud came out of the compressor what's going on with fridge?