Garage Fridge…warm Fridge, Freezer is just fine

[Tim]

My garage fridge….fridge side is kaput, warm. Freezer side is perfectly fine.

Troubleshooting tips?

 

[Brangus]

Check the little fan motor blades to see if they're moving. Found that to be an issue a couple times over the years.

 

[ronn47]

^^^ Also have you cleaned the coils?

 

[BigWaylon]

Any idea if it cools from the freezer side, or cools on its own? Most cool from the freezer side, but mine cools on its own.

If yours cools from the freezer side, there’s a fan like @Brangus mentioned. Could be frozen up…I’ve had that happen as well even on mine, so the cool air wasn’t being distributed anywhere.

 

[Amps 13]

You should be able to take the inside panel off and see if there is ice build up that has stopped the fan. If so just defrost and will be gtg. look Up how to take your type fridge apart on YouTube. This has happened to both my moms and my fridge 2 times each. Finally got a heating element and spliced it into the auto defrost lines to hopefully fix the ice buildup

 

[Tim]

Thanks all!

 

[Gator]

Had this happen on a new fridge 40 years ago ( I've told the story before ).

Switch for the light in the fridge was bad, when you closed the door the bulb never went out. Bulb made more heat than the cooling unit could overcome.

Unlikely to be your problem but for sure is the easiest to diagnose.

.

 

[RR]

What brand?

 

[Pack72]

You should be able to take the inside panel off and see if there is ice build up that has stopped the fan. If so just defrost and will be gtg. look Up how to take your type fridge apart on YouTube. This has happened to both my moms and my fridge 2 times each. Finally got a heating element and spliced it into the auto defrost lines to hopefully fix the ice buildup

There may be a small thermostat mounted on the cooling coils, which turns off the defrost heater once all the frost is melted. If it fails open the defrost heating coil will never come on and the coils will ice up again. I've had this happen twice over the years. If you just defrost, the refrigerator will work, but only until it ices up again. You can test the defrost thermostat by removing it and checking continuity when it's cold (switch should be closed) and warm (open).

 

[Jp8819]

As mentioned earlier check the fan but I have had one of the bottom freezer door models that will do the same thing when the wife puts to much in the freezer and blocks the air flow so you might check that. It causes it to freeze up and slowly gets worse till it wont cool on the refrig side and requires defrosting manually since the defrost circuit can’t over come it once it gets so bad.