Help! - diagnosing a refridgerator problem

[OpalFrost98GT]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
There could be frost that you are not seeing. If the defrost heater is not working, the coils are covered in ice and are not working correctly. The defrost heater is most likely behind a removable panel inside the rear of the freezer. If the timer is bad it could be stuck in defrost mode and the heater in the freezer is staying on. It could also be stuck in the normal mode, not allowing the the heater to come on and causing ice to form on the coils. The defrost heater itself may also be bad.
Ornery is also correct about the port. It is usually located low in the refrigerator section.

This is exactly what happened to mine. A guy came out and used a torch to melt the accumulated ice off of the coils. Been fine since. The coils are inside in the lower rear portion of the freezer section...SideXSide.

 

[JC]

Originally posted by: Roger

The problem with recharging the refrigerant (If indeed that is the problem) is that older fridges use R-12, not R-22. R-12 has been out of production and is expensive when you can find it.

Incorrect sir,all household refrigeration systems contain R22.
Only older vehicles contain R12.
Why ?
R12 is more efficient at cooling a space rapidly than keeping it cool over a period of time.
R22 is more efficient at keeping a space cool than it is cooling it quickly.

Hmmm......I've been installing appliances for 5 years now, and I was a mechanic for 15 years before that, and I believe the majority of home refrigerators used R-12 before being replaced with R-134a.

Link

True, home AC systems typically use/used R-22 (mine does) and older cars used R-12, newer cars use R-134a.

edit: I checked with our service department, and indeed R-12, not R-22 was used before R-134a in home refrigerators. Apparently commercial refrigerators use R-22.


JC

 

[JC]

So, how's the fridginator working now?