# fridge problems



## ebavle (Dec 5, 2009)

I have a small beer fridgethat has served me well for many years, only occasionally requireing defrosting. In the past, I've shut the temp control off, waited overnight, cleaned up the ice the next day , reset the temp , and restocked and continued on with no problem. This morning I reset the control, I could hear the compressor running but it has not started to cool and it's been 6 hours. We have a house full of people coming over for new years! Some one please help


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

If you filled it full of warm beer, it could take for ever to cool.

Feel the connection where the lines go on the compressor, are is one warmer?

If the compressor is running it should be cooling unless it has lost it charge.

Are the external coils pretty clean/free of dust?

BG


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## Stedman (Jun 4, 2006)

Due to the nature of refrigerant if the unit had ice on the evaporator and you turned off the compressor to thaw it out then chances are what has happened is that all of the refrigerant settled in its liquid state on the low pressure side of the circuit. On an older compressor that's a very difficult obstacle to overcome and is often times the cause of compressor valve failure. If the suction side is full of liquid then its slugging the compressor to the point that its unable to generate the superheat necessary to keep the compressor cool and will usually end up causing one or more of the valves in the compressor to essentially warp out of shape so it doesn't do its job anymore. The best and safest bet is for you to unplug the unit as soon as possible and prop the door open until the ambient temperature of the coil and the compressor are equal and then plug it back in. If after a half hour you cant tell that the evaporator coil is dramatically colder than it was with the unit off then your compressor is probably ruined. 
Without proper equipment and training theres no way for me to guide you through testing the system to see if the charge has been lost of if the compressor's valves are bad and regardless of the problem the cost to have a professional check the unit out for you will outweigh the benefits of just replacing the refrigerator. It has been and will continue to be very rare for me to ever suggest replacing a piece of equipment on a site intended to assist people interested in DIY projects but considering the circumstances here if it isn't cold by now it really is the best action to take.
I am going to take this opportunity to possibly save someone else the trouble in the future by recommending that if a coldplate type refrigerator/freezer needs to be thawed leave the unit running and apply hot water until the ice is gone. Even this method will cause extra strain on the compressor but its typically safer for the compressor than shutting it off long enough for all of the liquid to migrate to the evaporator so it has to start up under a load it really wasn't intended to handle even when it was new. 
I apologize if any of this post doesn't make sense or displays horrible grammar but it is new years eve afterall so i'm sure you can imagine why i'd have trouble explaining things tonight


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## richiemoe (Mar 22, 2010)

Maybe a fan stopped working.


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