My frost-free refrigerator is accumulating frost in the freezer and the and things are melting. the fridge below is too warm. the vents that circulate cold air to the fridge are clooged with ice.

All questions need full 'make model (what it is)' please.

Do you have a freezer at the top and a fridge below it? That box is just a cold air vent from the freezer. There is often a circulating fan in there, but it could be elsewhere.

The issue with a warm fridge and a cold freezer is that the defrost for the freezer has failed and the evaporator is a solid lump of ice and not passing chilled air, OR, the vent is boked with ice. The is a defrost timer and a heater element at the rear of the freezer back panel.

If the refrigerator freezer is cold but the refrigerator is warm, the defrost thermostat might be defective. Several times a day the defrost heater turns on for a few minutes to melt away any frost that may have accumulated on the evaporator coils.Mar 3, 2015

GE refrigerator gsh22sgress Freezer is cold but fridge is not

Hi,

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heatman101

5 reasons for fridge and/or freezer getting warm: 1- the evaporator coils are icing up and won?t let air circulate. 2- the evaporator fan is not working to circulate air. 3- there is no refrigerant in the system. 4- no power to fridge or compressor. 5- the condenser coils have no air circulation check under the fridge behind the vent. if it is too dusty or the fan isn?t working, it is not getting enough airflow to cool down. replace fan and/or vacuum out the dust. if there is no power to the fridge, the light will be off. if the compressor is not running, there is a defrost timer that cuts the power temporarily to the compressor to melt ice on the coils. it?s located under the fridge behind the bottom vent. If the timer is off and the compressor is not going, the compressor or the main board is bad and needs replacing. there is also a temperature sensor on the evaporator coils that tells the defrost coil to turn on and when to turn off. if the defrost timer is on but the coil is not heating up, replace the sensor. if it still won?t heat up, it?s the timer or the coil. the easiest way to tell if there is no refrigerant- the freezer wall is warm and the compressor is loud. if there is no refrigerant, it may be more cost effective to replace the fridge. if you feel no air coming from the freezer vent, the fan needs replacing. If you feel air moving in the freezer but not the fridge, the channel from freezer to fridge is blocked. if the freezer has air and the rear freezer wall has frost on it, the evaporator coils are iced up and need defrosting. causes: 1. low refrigerant 2. no fan 3. too much humid air in fridge/freezer due to door open or bad door seals 4. the condensate drain tube is clogged if the seal around the door is ripped or not completely sealing, or there is condensation at the bottom or the walls of the fridge, replace the seal(s). no air, no fan. Replace if the refrigerant is low, it just needs a top off. but you need to be certified by the epa to move refrigerant, so get a professional. defrost solutions: unplug the fridge. remove the wall of the freezer that is frosted/icing up. use a hair dryer to melt the ice. do not get too close. you will see a drain under the evaporator coil. make sure it is not blocked. the water should run freely to a condensate pan under the fridge that evaporates the condensation with the hot line from the compressor. once the coil is free of ice, frost, and water, replace the panel and repair any of the problems that caused the icing up. plug the fridge in and turn it on. If it frosts up within a week, there is still an issue that not been taken care of.

5 reasons for fridge and/or freezer getting warm: 1- the evaporator coils are icing up and won?t let air circulate. 2- the evaporator fan is not working to circulate air. 3- there is no refrigerant in the system. 4- no power to fridge or compressor. 5- the condenser coils have no air circulation check under the fridge behind the vent. if it is too dusty or the fan isn?t working, it is not getting enough airflow to cool down. replace fan and/or vacuum out the dust. if there is no power to the fridge, the light will be off. if the compressor is not running, there is a defrost timer that cuts the power temporarily to the compressor to melt ice on the coils. it?s located under the fridge behind the bottom vent. If the timer is off and the compressor is not going, the compressor or the main board is bad and needs replacing. there is also a temperature sensor on the evaporator coils that tells the defrost coil to turn on and when to turn off. if the defrost timer is on but the coil is not heating up, replace the sensor. if it still won?t heat up, it?s the timer or the coil. the easiest way to tell if there is no refrigerant- the freezer wall is warm and the compressor is loud. if there is no refrigerant, it may be more cost effective to replace the fridge. if you feel no air coming from the freezer vent, the fan needs replacing. If you feel air moving in the freezer but not the fridge, the channel from freezer to fridge is blocked. if the freezer has air and the rear freezer wall has frost on it, the evaporator coils are iced up and need defrosting. causes: 1. low refrigerant 2. no fan 3. too much humid air in fridge/freezer due to door open or bad door seals 4. the condensate drain tube is clogged if the seal around the door is ripped or not completely sealing, or there is condensation at the bottom or the walls of the fridge, replace the seal(s). no air, no fan. Replace if the refrigerant is low, it just needs a top off. but you need to be certified by the epa to move refrigerant, so get a professional. defrost solutions: unplug the fridge. remove the wall of the freezer that is frosted/icing up. use a hair dryer to melt the ice. do not get too close. you will see a drain under the evaporator coil. make sure it is not blocked. the water should run freely to a condensate pan under the fridge that evaporates the condensation with the hot line from the compressor. once the coil is free of ice, frost, and water, replace the panel and repair any of the problems that caused the icing up. plug the fridge in and turn it on. If it frosts up within a week, there is still an issue that not been taken care of.

5 reasons for fridge and/or freezer getting warm: 1- the evaporator coils are icing up and won?t let air circulate. 2- the evaporator fan is not working to circulate air. 3- there is no refrigerant in the system. 4- no power to fridge or compressor. 5- the condenser coils have no air circulation check under the fridge behind the vent. if it is too dusty or the fan isn?t working, it is not getting enough airflow to cool down. replace fan and/or vacuum out the dust. if there is no power to the fridge, the light will be off. if the compressor is not running, there is a defrost timer that cuts the power temporarily to the compressor to melt ice on the coils. it?s located under the fridge behind the bottom vent. If the timer is off and the compressor is not going, the compressor or the main board is bad and needs replacing. there is also a temperature sensor on the evaporator coils that tells the defrost coil to turn on and when to turn off. if the defrost timer is on but the coil is not heating up, replace the sensor. if it still won?t heat up, it?s the timer or the coil. the easiest way to tell if there is no refrigerant- the freezer wall is warm and the compressor is loud. if there is no refrigerant, it may be more cost effective to replace the fridge. if you feel no air coming from the freezer vent, the fan needs replacing. If you feel air moving in the freezer but not the fridge, the channel from freezer to fridge is blocked. if the freezer has air and the rear freezer wall has frost on it, the evaporator coils are iced up and need defrosting. causes: 1. low refrigerant 2. no fan 3. too much humid air in fridge/freezer due to door open or bad door seals 4. the condensate drain tube is clogged if the seal around the door is ripped or not completely sealing, or there is condensation at the bottom or the walls of the fridge, replace the seal(s). no air, no fan. Replace if the refrigerant is low, it just needs a top off. but you need to be certified by the epa to move refrigerant, so get a professional. defrost solutions: unplug the fridge. remove the wall of the freezer that is frosted/icing up. use a hair dryer to melt the ice. do not get too close. you will see a drain under the evaporator coil. make sure it is not blocked. the water should run freely to a condensate pan under the fridge that evaporates the condensation with the hot line from the compressor. once the coil is free of ice, frost, and water, replace the panel and repair any of the problems that caused the icing up. plug the fridge in and turn it on. If it frosts up within a week, there is still an issue that not been taken care of.

Hi: There is an off chance your freezer is so full of food you blocked the vents. Otherwise your defrost heater or timer is bad. I tried to find the model online but you left out the first three digits. That is the source code (who built it for kenmore) It's frigidaire but I don't remember the code( I tried 256). Anyway, The defrost heater will be below the evaporator coils in the freezer. Look for access. Or get the schematics from sears.com or let me know the source code and model number again. If you don't have any back up refrigeration, take a hair dryer to the back of the freezer compartment and melt the frost that accumulated back there. This will buy you one to two weeks before it frosts up again. The freezer is supposed to be frost free; since it dosn't work the frost is blocking the airways to the fresh food compartment. That is why it's warm. I hope this helps, Jeff

Hi: Is your freezer so full it's blocking the vents? If so unblock the vents. If not put your food in a cooler, frozen and fresh. Unplug your refrigerator. Take a hair dryer to the back of the freezer to melt frost accumulated behind the panel. I know it's supposed to be frost free. You have a problem with the defrost heater or the timer. The frost is blocking the vents. Most likely it is the later, but if you see no frost it could be the circulating fan. The location of these will be in your parts list. Kenmore still gives these with their products. If you don't have it go to sears.com and use parts direct. They will have a diagram. I hope this helps, Jeff By the way, If you are not handy just do the hair dryer thing and it will work for a weed or two until the frost plugs it up again.

This could be your heater has malfuncutioned and what is happening is that when you turn it on the freezer is trying to get cold and frost and the heater is staying on and letting things melt very fast and causing a water problem

In a frost-free refrigerator/freezer the frost that would normally accumulate on the inside wall of the freezer is removed by heaters imbedded in the freezer's walls. Periodically these heaters are turn on to melt the frost which then exits the freezer as liquid water through a drain in bottom. This water accumulated in a pan underneath the refrigerator and is supposed to be removed by evaporation. If the flow of melted frost from the freezer is greater than the evaporation rate in the pan then the pan will overflow and you will get a pool of water on your floor. A bad seal on the freezer door will allow more frost to form inside. Also if you leave the freezer door open a lot you will accumulate more frost. The evaporation rate in the pan can be affected by the ventilation around it. If the vents on the bottom of your refrigerator are clogged with dust it will decrease the evaporate rate in the pan. In addition, many refrigerators have a fan the pulls air around the pan. If this fan has stopped working the evaporation rate in the pan will also decrease.

Either the evap fan has a problem, or the defrost system has failed. You should never see frost in the freezer section as the defrost sensor should sense that the coils need to be defrosted before that much frost accumulates.

Unplugging to clean out helped because the frost got a chance to melt away.

If you find the evap motor is running, then the things to check are the defrost sensor, the defrost timer, and the defrost heater.

Reply back if you would like more info.