Refrigerator Help....

Could be a couple of things or a combination of things. If the freezer isn't freezing you may have lost the refrigerant. Fridge keeps running - could be a poor seal on the door or a bad thermostat OR lack of refrigerant. I would go with the refrigerant thing. Your compressor seal may have dried out allowing the refrigerant to leak out.

You could always take the easy way out.

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It could be a number of things. The least of which would be low refrigerant. This is a sealed capillary system. If, it is low on refrigerant then you have more problems then just adding more refrigerant. Poor performance is generally caused by a dirty condensor. There is a coil in the back that has a condensor fan on it. The fan motor could be not working. It is a simple repair or the condensor has accumulated dust and debris from time. I would move the refrigerator from the wall and check for dust accumulation or a bad condensor fan motor. Again, check door seals but most important check for dust accumulation.

Tornado is spot on, also look at the evaporator fan. Clearing dust fron condenser is free, fan motors are available on line at low cost.

Well, I guess you told me.

I was speaking from experience, had a similar problem a few years ago with an older model. Thanks for the education.

Ron,

My Maytag did the same thing and after they checked out the whole system it was found to be the PC board which was found in the light cover to have failed, the board was replaced and we have had no problems since.

Hope this helps

Neil

Possible causes are:

Thermostat set warm

Freezer fan motor not running

Evaporator iced up

Freezer door gaskets not sealing

Defective automatic defrost control

Excessive freezer compartment load

Hey there Ron,

mrswamy may be on to something.

My 9 year old GE side by side had the exact same symptoms last year.

Gave the underside and back a thorough cleaning but still didn't work.

Called the repairman out. First thing he did was checked the fan inside the freezer compartment. Fan was not running.

$125.00 later the fridge was running great and has been since.

Don't know if your Maytag has an internal freezer compartment fan but might be something to look into.

Good Luck!

I have had two different brands with the same symptoms , both traced to fan in freezer compartment not functioning. This was when the power around here was unreliable, and usually after a brownout-type event; the freezer would start to defrost, and water would block the vents or the fan itself, then re-freeze when power came back up, as best I could determine. After they upgraded our powerlines, there has been no repeat.

I removed freezer contents, found a plate or a cover in the center rear (may differ with brands and models), removed it (power OFF!) to access the fan; cleaned and re-installed everything, and was back in business. Lots cheaper than a house call by the service man - and faster, too!

We had what sounds like the same problem. The defrost setup was not working which allowed the evaporator coils to ice up. Check the back of the freezer compartment for frost buildup. If you find some probably the defroster is on the fritz.

10:1 says its stuck in defrost, it's actually a common problem. I highly doubt you're low on charge. You can feel around inside the box, if you find actual warm spots its in defrost. Depending on the unit you have its just a control change that takes a few minutes. I'd call a few repair companies and ask if they carry defrost parts for your machine on their trucks (rather than order them). The guy will be there for less than 15 minutes.

Never set the control to Max, that will ice up your freezer coils, which will then have to be defrosted before the fridge will run right again.

The brown out may have taken out your defrost timer, and the unit froze up a few days later. Find the timer and check it out, it has a very small motor in it, and should hum.

If you can easily remove the inside panels of the freezer, you can examine the coils and the defrost coil, which likes to fail, too. You can test the coil with a meter, or rotate the timer until it comes on, it will glow if it is the spiral coil type.

If you get brown outs, get a special surge suppressor for fridges. They have a timer that delays the fridge coming right back on. They are not cheap, but do a good job.

The other posts are all good, give your fridge a good cleaning and gasket check. The gasket should hold a piece of paper all the way around when the door is closed.

Ron: Have it checked out by a reputable appliance repair shop. If you're lucky it will just be a restriction in the high pressure liquid line,i.e. plugged cap tube or TX valve. Even less expensive, low refrigerant charge. At the oppposite end of the expense spectrum would be a failing compressor. It's not a DIY job.