My refrigerator and freezer is not working too well. it stopped getting cold and then i transferred the food to the refrigerator in the garage and unplugged the kitchen. about a week later i plugged it in and it was fine for 2 weeks until the same problem. i unplugged it for a couple of hours and plugged back in.it was good again for 2 weeks until now. when it is not cold it seems to always run and makes a buzzing noise about every 2 minutes and lasts for about 10 seconds

yes the cold weather can effect the proper operation of the fridge they make a garge kit for these unit that can be baugh separatly and installed to help this problem

Hi,

Many times a freezer and/or refrigerator do not work right because of a dirty condenser coil...there are also many other things that can go wrong.

If you are hearing a clicking or buzzing then check out the last two tips.

If your refrigerator is running but warm, then...

Check out these tips that I wrote about that... it is a great place to start trouble shooting your unit...and something that you can do rather then calling a repair person to do a simple thing for you...

Refrigerator Condenser Coil Cleaning Refrigerator Repair

Refrigerator Troubleshooting Refrigerator Compressor

Refrigerator Compressor Start Capacitor and Start Relay

Refrigerator or Freezer not Cooling or Getting Cold

heatman101

It could be a problem depending on how cold your garage gets in the winter. Most refrigerators depend on the compressor turning on to cool the freezer section and that cold air is used to cool the refrigerator section. If your the temperature in your garage gets in the 30-40 degree range in the winter. The compressor may not turn on sufficiently since the refrigerator is typically around the 35-40 degree range. This will cause the freezer to warm up to the fridge temperature and your freezer items will defrost.

He is correct. The temp in the refrig controls how often and for how long the refrig runs. Lets say the temp in your garage is 34 degrees, and you have your refrig set to 36 degrees: The refrig will never run, the fresh foods section will cool to 34, and the freezer will warm to 34. Even if the temp is 45 in the garage and you set the fresh foods to be 33, the refrig will not need to run long enough and often enough to keep the freezer temp cold enough. You will most likely need to have the ambient room temp at least 55 degrees to get satisfactory refrigerator performance. Insulating the refrig will not help. (by the way, outdoor beverage vending machines use an internal heater in cold weather to prevent liquid beverages inside from freezing,..... so using that info, you could put a low wattage heater in your refrig to make your refrig run enough to make the freezer section work. The %&#* with that, just move it into the house!)

Good day,
Yes, the cold weather is the cause.
Your machine is cycled off and on by the thermostat located in the fresh food compartment. When the fresh food compartment is satisfied, it will shut off the entire machine.
Any temperature below 55 degrees will reduce running time until the freezer will not function, or at best poorly.
Engineers designed domestic refrigerators to balance properly between 70 and 95 degrees. It should be in your user manual.

Thank you for using FixYa

Good day,
Yes. Domestic appliances will not work properly below approx 55 degrees.
The freezer suffers most simply because the machine runs rarely at 55 degrees and degrades as the temp goes lower.
They are designed to balance properly when in an environment where people live. Ideally 70 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
The machine is not broken.
Moving it inside, is the only solution.

Thank for using Fixya

jeskjw

If it is below freezing in your garage the freezer will not work.
No freezer except one Frigidaire freezer will work in the extreme cold.
This one has a button to switch it to a refrigerator in the winter and a freezer in the summer.

depending on the temp it could
if the ambient temp get below 32
you freezer wont come on and actually begin to get warm (insulation factor)
but the refer will seem cold because of the low ambiant temp is the temp inside
we go in the refer alot more than the freezer

Top mount refrigerator installed in a garage and the food in the freezer is defrosting when
the temperature in the garage goes below 55 degrees fahrenheit.
On top mount refrigerators you cycle the compressor and fan/fans from the food
compartment temperature. When the room temperature gets colder than 55 F, you have
long off times waiting for the food compartment to warm enough to trip the cold control.
This long off time is allowing the freezer temperature to get high enough that food can start
to defrost.
There is a kit for refrigerators installed in applications where the temperature can go as low
as 34 F and still maintain good freezer temperatures. The kit part number is 5303918301
and it contains a heater that mounts in the control box and an instruction sheet advising
how to install the heater.
Kit 5303918301 contains:
Part # 5303950194 Instruction sheet
Part # 241532101 Heater

Unless specifically made for use in a garage most units won't work properly. The owners manual should say what the temp range for proper operation is (usually 55F is the low range). This is because the refrigerator section doesn't need to be "cooling" to maintain 37F if the temps on the outside are below 55F. These things are made to work in a 70F room and will not work properly if under 55F. Stupid thing thinks it's cold enough so it will never turn on, the refer section will stay cold/cool due to outside temps but since the compressor never runs the freezer will just be the same temp as the refer section (at best). Sorry, but in order for a freezer or refrigerator to work in an unheated space it must have the temp control device controling the freezer section NOT the fresh food section. In other words, that model will not work in a garage unless the temps are above 55F always.