Freezer on side by side fridge not getting as cold as it should

[SAWYER]

It is still cold but not good enough, some stuff is not froze solid. Any suggestions on what to check?

 

[highland145]

Freon leak? My chest freezer did that. Stuff on the bottom was 99% frozen which isn't goof enough. No more chest type freezers for me.

 

[Raizinman]

How old is the fridge?
What brand is the fridge?
Has it ever been serviced?

 

[NutBucket]

Have you checked the door is sealing properly?

 

[SAWYER]

It is probably 5+ years and is a Hot Pointe, never serviced

 

[Binky]

The freezer should be about zero degrees F. Does the freezer have controls that are separate from the fridge side?

 

[SAWYER]

I have a temp control for each side

 

[boomerang]

Well, crank the freezer side as cold as it will go and check it in 24 hours.

How full is the freezer? It's easier for the freezer to maintain temperature when it has a lot of stuff in it versus a little bit of stuff. Also, is the refrigerator in the house? In other words, in air-conditioned space or is it sitting in a garage in the middle of a heat wave? It still should be able to maintain temperature but a combination of little in it and in a hot environment could be the cause.

The other thing you can do is clean the coils. They are usually accessible from the bottom behind a removable grill or they could be on the back of the fridge although I'm not certain if they're made that way anymore. Give them a good vacuuming or at the very least brush them off. Dirty coils combined with one or both of the situations above could be the cause of your problem.

But, they don't make appliances like they used to. A friend spent about $3,500 for a new fridge and the salesman told her it would last 7 or 8 years.

 

[marvdmartian]

While Boomerang's point about having a full freezer maintain frozen temps is correct, on a side by side, don't overfill it, or you won't get good airflow, and will quickly kill it. Especially inexpensive units. When I worked for a year, for Navy housing, in Guam, we had Magic Chef side by side units in the houses. Come payday, the Navy wives would go to the commisary, and buy so much food that they'd overstuff their freezers. Next thing you know, we're doing a reefer swap out, because they've fried the unit. Had one that was so overstuffed, you couldn't tell there was a lit bulb in the freezer!

 

[mindless1]

Door seal, freon leak, compressor wear, coils dirty, thermostat shot.

 

[highland145]

^^
Just get a new one....

 

[mizzou]

My brand new sidebyside had a warped door, could only be fixed by a factory replacement.