Side by side refrigerator/freezer which is getting ice build up on the back wall coils of the freezer which does not allow the freezer or refrigerator to cool.

Hello, would you happen to have the make and model number of your refrigerator? In a refrigerator the freezer side of the refrigerator is the only side that produces the cold. If your refrigerator side is not cool but your freezer side is one of the first things that you would check would be to open the freezer door and look along the rear wall of the freezer to see if you notice any frost or ice build up on the rear wall. If you did this is termed as a defrost issue and message me back that you do have this situation and I will instruct you how to diagnose this to correct this situation. If you had no ice/frost build up on the rear wall you would next assure that the evaporator fan is blowing air inside of your freezer. If you felt no air blowing inside of the freezer you would then remove the rear wall on the inside rear of the freezer by unscrewing the 1/4" screws. This would give you access to the evaporator coil and above the coil would be the evaporator fan motor. I will await your reply to your finds as to if there is any ice/ frost and if the evaporator fan is blowing air inside of the freezer before further diagnosing.
Thank you
Rick

use car de icer,DO NOT USE SHARP OBJECTS/STEAM.then dry out thoroughly...

The bdefrost heater behind the wall inside the freezer is bad if the ice you have is on the back wall of the freezer. Remove the back wall and deice the coils and replace heater. wr51x10101

First look at back wall of freezer toward the bottom and see if you have frost build up on the wall. If you do the problem is most likely the defrost heater and you will need to remove back wall of freezer, melt the ice from the coils and then change the heater at the bottom of the evap. coils.

Close, it is in the freezer.
It is your defrost drain. that ice was actually ice originally, just from your evaporator. the defrost heater comes on when the evap. gets frosty white, it melts, and then is supposed to go down your drain. if it is clogged, it will build up, and just freeze because it is around zero in there. my advice, take off the back wall of the freezer, look for the drain under the aluminum coils that is toward the back wall. get your moms hair dryer and go at it

my refrigerator goes into auto defrost every 60hrs for 45 minutes or till the bi metal(defrost thermostat) says it had enough....recently i had ice built up on the coil because my defrost thermostat was stuck open...


ice builds up because the moisture that comes from opening the door or food condenses on the cold coil...tempurature of the coil is below 32 degrees which will ice up the condensed moisture...

defrost is timed to remove this build up

Defrost system failure.

Defrost system: Freezer fan, Defrost timer, Heater, Thermostat. If any one of these are bad the coils in the freezer will get clogged with ice and not allow the cold air to circulate over to the ref. side.

Ice/frost build up on the back wall of the freezer is an indication of this problem. You can manually defrost with a hair dryer which will give you a couple of days before it starts iceing up again. Remember, the ice you see on the back wall is just the tip of the iceburg, there is a lot more on the coils behind that wall.

many times when a unit has a defrost problem the coils freeze up and do not allow the fresh food side to cool properly...check for a build up of ice on the inside back wall of the freezer compartment. if there is a build up of ice, you have a defrost problem. Also, check to make sure the evaporator fan in the freezer is blowing the air into the fresh food side.

if the freezer section is still working ok then check for ice build up inside freezer on the back wall, its possible that the unit is not defrosting and ice is building up on the cooling coils, the most common culprit is the def thermostat. easiest way for you to get it going again fast is to manually def the coil.

remove the 2 screws about half way down the back freezer wall. then using a blow dryer def the ice from the coil.

since this refrig has an electronic def control i would recomend calling a reputable service company to check it further for you..

The coil is the thermostat that controls the damper which allows more or less cold air into the fridge compartment and should be put back as you found it. Very important. The problem is that the freezer is not defrosting, hence the ice build-up on the back wall. Either the defrost timer is faulty or the defrost heater is blown. There are two thermostats behind the freezer panel, one in line with the fan and one in line with the heater and they will be clamped to the pipework. Both these thermostats should be closed when iced up. If the fan is not running, that could be faulty too or its thermostat.