Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - Refrigerator Repair Help needed
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beevo
10-31-09, 04:40 PM
I have a Hotpoint side-by-side refrigerator bought around 1995 doing great but now started leaking water from the freezer side and now is not cooling. Can someone tell me if this is possibly something I can fix myself or do I need to bring in the big dogs?
Froggyone
10-31-09, 09:10 PM
If the freezer is cold then the problem may only be a broken door seal. A broken seal will allow warm moist air to enter the freezer and condensed moisture to leave.
Look for cracks and moldy areas on the seal. Both are signs that the seal has failed.
You can replace the seal yourself.
If the freezer is not cold, more investigation is needed.
ribbit
Look for cracks and moldy areas on the seal. Both are signs that the seal has failed.
You can replace the seal yourself.
If the freezer is not cold, more investigation is needed.
ribbit
Claw Hammer
11-01-09, 09:18 PM
I'm not a doctor and if you read some of my posts, you will read where I tell the story of where a guy call a doctor on the phone and says Doc I am sick, what is wrong with me?
Unless you can answer questions and unless 100 other people have the same problem, there is no way for the doctor to know what is wrong with you.
Side by sides are a pain in the butt to work on.
My first guess is that you need to look at the condition of the compressor. It is one of the only moving parts inside of the refrigerator. There is no Freon Thief that comes in the middle of the night that steals your refrigerant, so we can rule out a leak, unless you recently dropped your refrigerator off the porch or something.
There are switches and controls that controls how cold the inside of the freezer and refrigerator gets, but then again, I am here and you are there. For all I know the fan motor could be junk inside of the freezer.
If you can afford $100 to fix your refrigerator then I would call a repairman. If you have money or credit where you can go to Lowes, you can buy a new one and have them haul your old one away.
I highly doubt if there is any user serviceable parts inside of your refrigerator.
I also doubt if it is a bad seal. Most times the fridge will just run longer when it has a leak and in time the compressor will go bad and it will stop keeping stuff cold inside and you will know that there is a problem when your ice cream looks like your milk and is not froze.
Most times once the damage is done to the compressor, it is cheaper to buy a new fridge then the fix the old one.
Unless you can answer questions and unless 100 other people have the same problem, there is no way for the doctor to know what is wrong with you.
Side by sides are a pain in the butt to work on.
My first guess is that you need to look at the condition of the compressor. It is one of the only moving parts inside of the refrigerator. There is no Freon Thief that comes in the middle of the night that steals your refrigerant, so we can rule out a leak, unless you recently dropped your refrigerator off the porch or something.
There are switches and controls that controls how cold the inside of the freezer and refrigerator gets, but then again, I am here and you are there. For all I know the fan motor could be junk inside of the freezer.
If you can afford $100 to fix your refrigerator then I would call a repairman. If you have money or credit where you can go to Lowes, you can buy a new one and have them haul your old one away.
I highly doubt if there is any user serviceable parts inside of your refrigerator.
I also doubt if it is a bad seal. Most times the fridge will just run longer when it has a leak and in time the compressor will go bad and it will stop keeping stuff cold inside and you will know that there is a problem when your ice cream looks like your milk and is not froze.
Most times once the damage is done to the compressor, it is cheaper to buy a new fridge then the fix the old one.
greynold99
11-02-09, 01:29 PM
beevo,
Absolutely don't know a thing about side-by-sides but when my fridge with top freezer runs for too long especially in the humidity of the summer -- even though it says it's 'frostless', you really have to defrost it occasionally.
Apparently the ducts that route the cold freezer air into the refrigerator bottom get partially obstructed with ice and you start getting water leaking in the fridge and in the overflow collection pan in the bottom.
I'm supposing that a side-by-side probably uses the cold air on the freezer side to keep the refrigerator cold.
Worth a try and doesn't cost a thing to defrost.
Greynold99
Absolutely don't know a thing about side-by-sides but when my fridge with top freezer runs for too long especially in the humidity of the summer -- even though it says it's 'frostless', you really have to defrost it occasionally.
Apparently the ducts that route the cold freezer air into the refrigerator bottom get partially obstructed with ice and you start getting water leaking in the fridge and in the overflow collection pan in the bottom.
I'm supposing that a side-by-side probably uses the cold air on the freezer side to keep the refrigerator cold.
Worth a try and doesn't cost a thing to defrost.
Greynold99