Refrigerator Lives To Cool Another Day!

[randyh1]

Just repaired my 15 year old Fridgidaire side by side after thinking it was toast and dreading having to buy another one at a bad time (work furlough). I try and DIY as much of my stuff as possible but refrigeration hasn't been an area I've had to deal with before. Long story short I found lots of good information on the net about theory of operation of refrigerators and was able to save my fridge with a mere $15 part (defrost timer) and a few hours of my time figuring it out. Thought I would share a couple of links that were particularly useful.

http://www.appliance411.com/faq/defrostproblem.shtml

I highly recommend the You Tube Videos by Bill Newberry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Um3zPnAC0

Anyway, hope this helps someone else out with a frig that won't cool anymore.

[Theadyn]

Awesomeness!

Wish I had your luck.  Mine just went on the fritz this past weekend, and was working all weekend.  Which blows because it was brand new when I bought this house this past December.  I did my own investigating on the problems, and deduced I didn't have the talent nor the tools.  *sigh*   So, had to call a handyman to fix it.  Cost $211 in repairs, grrr...    He said these models are famous using a single motor for defrosting, a design flaw he's had to change out a lot, and replaced it with a double motored defrosting thing.  Anyways....   didn't have to replace the fridge, at least.

So... $211 later, and half of my frozen stash tossed :(       wish I were more DIY'r.   Someday...

[jba302]

Well done. I had an issue with ours dripping water like hell from the freezer. When the defrost cycle activates, none of the super thin aluminum in the catch drain is warm... so the condensation slowly freezes up the drain tube, then the whole freezer floor.... the down into the fridge. I bought some 12 gauge copper wire and wrapped it around the bottom of the defrost element and laid it around the condensation drain to keep it warn enough around the drain to fully drain out the water (found this fix on appliance ninja). Works like a champ, cost me less than 5 bucks.

[MoneyLifeandMore]

Glad you were able to figure it out. You might want to look into the energy consumption of your fridge though compared to the newer ones. I know the super old ones used a ton of electricity, but I don't know if 15 years old is considered super old or not.

[George_PA]

great job!! you should have put this post in the "Share your badassity" section since you have conquered the issue; anytime you can keep an old application going a few more years is a good day for you and your stash.