Westinghouse WSE6100WF Evap coils frosting up.

This is what is suggested by the user manual troubleshooting section:



Digital. It depends on the temperature sensors to provide the temperature reading. If the sensor area is obstructed it may give a wrong temp reading thus delaying the defrosting.

There is a heating coil in those for defrosting purposes. You need to check and see if there is a defrost timer and see if it is stuck. Since you did not post the make and model number, that is as far as I can advise

New side by side layout is fridge side by side upper 2/3, with lower 1/3 pull out freezer
Normally in modern frost free systems only the freezer has the evap, and the fridge thermostat operates a duct, allowing freezer air to blow into the fridge.
The compressor runs until the freezer is satified, the thermostat powering the compressor is only connected to the freezer. If the fridge requires cooling but not the freezer, there's plenty of freezer air to circulate into the fridge after the compressor has turned off. Eventually the cmpressor will start again when the freezer temp gets too high.

On twin evap models, the fridge fan motor cuts out when the fridge gets to it's setpoint, so no air circulation through the fridge evap, though liquid refrigerant flows through it to the freezer evap. Likewise, if the fridge needs cooling but not the freezer, then the compressor will start but the freezer fan motor will not run.

Old school cyclic defrost systems had the thermostat in the fridge, and the freezer kept running until the fridge coil was low enough to make the fridge cabinet down to temp.


Refrigerator Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Yeah... maybe...

Freezer THERMOSTAT.

When it is WARM it should be conducting electricity (closed).

(generic answer. because I am not a pro... and all my Samsung's are Flat Screens... which are REALLY pretty easy to repair...)
((I like'em... but all their capacitors are made of gum wrappers)).

First... Always... always photograph everything you are removing.

Be careful of the evap fins... they need to be straight... and the flimsey PLASTC clips holding the entire unit in place become more brittle/breakable at freezing temperatures.

For my old Amana... they simply ARE NOT available!!

RE Pictures:
Keep in mind if you cannot put/stuff it all back in... you will have to hire it out... or buy a whole new one and pretend it was NOT just a $14 thermostat (ouch).

FANS**
The problem you will have trouble shooting this... is MOST ALL modern units are wired to STOP fans from running when the doors are opened... and I suspect you don't want to (or can't) be in there with the door closed...

My suggestion... Get a big roll of tape for your freezer door "light" switch... TAPE IT in the SHUT POSITION.

A little delay... FANs should start.

Remove your inspection panels and look directly at all your fans.
Logically that's got to be... the fan right in the middle of your freezer coil.

All typical FREEZER issues I have found...
the refrigerator FUNCTION is a secondary cooling function of the freezer element. If the refrigerator is working... Your FREEZER element MUST be working. Your trouble MUST be a FAN issue ONLY in the freezer area: 1). FREEZER Thermostat
or
2). an ERRANT wire blocking rotation, loose-hub, disconnected power wire or defective fan motor... OR... more difficult... there is a temperature sensor THERMSTAT... usually nickel sized...One of TWO living in the freezer... On my old Amana... it shows but on my newer "Sears" ... no show... but I know it is in there... It is definitely not the chubby <second> one clipped to your evaporator is your defrost thermostat (warm = open)... IT IS WORKING fine... or your refrigerator would not.

Leave it alone for now**

Still failing... Back to the FANS:

Spin them by hand... If they (it) turns freely... with your lights of (door closed... You might want to plug it a "SPARE" FREEZER thermostat... you <should have> bought in advance
because... attempting to short across the thermostat terminal... with the lights off... in confined area... could prove highly problematic... if not (you know).

If you are daring...
TEMPORARILY short that FREEZER thermostat... Still no fans...

**Beats me!

Be safe and happy hunting...

Oh yeah..

the real FIRST STEP in ALL refrigerator/Frzr troubles...
ALWAYS THOUROUGHLY DEFROST EVERYTHING FIRST... Totally!

Take pictures... lots... and don't forget to tuck that back panel into the drip tray... like it was before you started.

What happens in that 72 hours is the evaporator coil get's so much frost built up on it that the fan in the evap. freezer fan has no where to circulate the cold air (where the cold is produced). Basically you have a restriction between freez/fridg. sections you have defrost problem> It is one of three things d heater,d t stat, or your d timer.I need the model # to tell you what my sugestions would be and where to start.

The fan should run when the compressor runs.

That is a sign of the system being low on freon. There is a leak somewhere.

If after cleaning your condenser coils at the back or bottom, checking your cold control dial, checking your door gaskets for leaks using the dollar bill technique and looking for some resistence when pulling it out, checking for any obstructions, etc. nothing works, then you will need to have it service - most common problem is defrost timer - If your defrost doesn't cycle on, your evap coils will frost over excessively and you will not get sufficient cooling - you can usually rule this out by turning off your fridge and manually defrosting them with a blowdryer until they are frost free and running your fridge again for a few hours to 24 hours and check the temps again (during this time I'd set the dial to coldest) and monitor regularly, if your temps are getting colder and colder (fridge below 40F and freezer below 0F, then your problem is a faulty defrost timer - or one of its related components. (Remember to set your dial to what it was)

If not - then next common thing is door gaskets and finally a sealed system leak, maybe a tiny one and very slow progressing one,a lthough I would be inclined to think this is not it at this point, but if you get it serviced the first thing they should check is evap fan for proper operation, defrost timer, door seals and then compressor.

I hope this helps.

Hello Scott, remove the food from the freezer side and remove the rear freezer panel. You will see a coil and it should be completely frosted over. If not then you have a sealed system issue. If it is froze solid in frost where you cannot even see the coil, then you have a defrost issue. You should have a little frost on all the coil, the defrost is what clears the frost so the evap fan motor can circulate the air thru out the unit. If frost is good, push the light door switch to start the fan. If it isn't running check for 120 volts. If it has voltage, but not running, replace the motor. Hope this helps.

Control board has gone bad....

What happens is the defrost is controlled electronically from a circuit board, when this goes bad, the freezer quits defrosting, and freezes the fans that circulate air through the fridge side of things.

To check this, unplug the entire fridge, leave the freezer open, wait for it to defrost a bit, if this causes the fridge to start cooling again when you plug it back in, then its the defrost. You should also see ice crystals on the back of the freezer just under the icemaker.

http://forums.partselect.com/refrigerator-freezer-repair/rerifgerator-side-not-below-54-degrees-6699.html