Fridge/Freezer repair?

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  • phylodog

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    The freezer in our garage fridge quit working. Fortunately my wife caught it in time to save most of the contents. The contents of the refrigerator seem to still be as cold as they should be but considering it's near freezing in the garage it's hard to tell for sure, we brought the stuff that needs to be refrigerated inside just to be safe. It's a model with the freezer on top if that makes any difference, just curious if there's anything to try before pitching it and buying another one? We got this one free several years ago and a new one isn't that much money but I figure if it can be saved with minimal effort I'll give it a shot.
     

    Fargo

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    In a state of acute Pork-i-docis
    The freezer in our garage fridge quit working. Fortunately my wife caught it in time to save most of the contents. The contents of the refrigerator seem to still be as cold as they should be but considering it's near freezing in the garage it's hard to tell for sure, we brought the stuff that needs to be refrigerated inside just to be safe. It's a model with the freezer on top if that makes any difference, just curious if there's anything to try before pitching it and buying another one? We got this one free several years ago and a new one isn't that much money but I figure if it can be saved with minimal effort I'll give it a shot.

    Unless you have a model that is designed for use in the garage, most will shut down when it gets this cold because the refrigerator temp sensor never tells the compressor to kick on. I would let it warm up and i bet it will start working fine again.
     

    phylodog

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    Hmmmm, hadn't considered that. I don't have any way to heat the garage unfortunately. Everything from the freezer is in a cooler with the lid open on the back patio lol. Thanks for that info!
     

    red_zr24x4

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    Make sure its clean under and behind it. If the coils / motor get to dirt they tend to shut down also. just something to think about
     

    Fargo

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    Hmmmm, hadn't considered that. I don't have any way to heat the garage unfortunately. Everything from the freezer is in a cooler with the lid open on the back patio lol. Thanks for that info!
    Some people run a cord to a small incandescent lightbulb in the fridge compartment to warm it up enough to tell the compressor to kick on. I have never tried it and so I'm not recommending it, but I have heard of it being done. Depending on how cold your garage is though, the oil in the compressor might have thickened enough that the compressor can't kick on.

    My garage is currently 14°, and I have emptied everything out of my garage fridge that I don't want frozen. Most garages stay warmer than mine though because mine is in an uninsulated steel building attached to the house by a breezeway.
     

    Anonymous

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    ^^ Beat me to it.

    Same thing just happened to us. I read that you can put an incandescent bulb on the fridge side (don’t remember the preferred wattage), to warm up the sensor. This forces the compressor to run. Seems like a pain to run an extension cord into the fridge, so I haven’t tried it.
     

    Rookie

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    Check and make sure the coils aren't iced over. If they are, they need thawed out before your fridge will work.
     

    phylodog

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    For some reason I continuously hide my IR thermometer from myself so I can't check temps in the garage. I'll probably open the garage doors tomorrow when the temps get up near or above freezing and see if it'll start working again.
     

    Rookie

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    We had a fridge freezer combo that every year (almost to the day) the freezer would quit working. The coils behind the freezer would ice over and the defrost coil would need replacing.
     

    nascarfantoo

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    Unless you have a model that is designed for use in the garage, most will shut down when it gets this cold because the refrigerator temp sensor never tells the compressor to kick on. I would let it warm up and i bet it will start working fine again.

    We have one in our garage that does this most years (all depends of weather). Garage seldom gets below 35F but somewhere around there it shuts down. So far it has come back to life every spring. (25+ year old Kenmore). As long as my beer doesn't freeze I'm okay. More concerned if the chest freezer totally quits. That's where the elk, deer and boar is kept.
     

    phylodog

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    We have one in our garage that does this most years (all depends of weather). Garage seldom gets below 35F but somewhere around there it shuts down. So far it has come back to life every spring. (25+ year old Kenmore). As long as my beer doesn't freeze I'm okay. More concerned if the chest freezer totally quits. That's where the elk, deer and boar is kept.

    I hear ya there. I had a few lbs of the venison sausage I made which had thawed out before we got to it. Fortunately the $100 worth of ground ribeye burger patties were still frozen.
     

    Cameramonkey

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    Hmmmm, hadn't considered that. I don't have any way to heat the garage unfortunately. Everything from the freezer is in a cooler with the lid open on the back patio lol. Thanks for that info!


    Hmmm... If you hear any weird noises in your back yard, disregard... its the wind... yeah, thats it...

    Unrelated... how deep did you stash that venison? Asking for a friend. :):
     

    Fargo

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    I hear ya there. I had a few lbs of the venison sausage I made which had thawed out before we got to it. Fortunately the $100 worth of ground ribeye burger patties were still frozen.
    Contrary to what used to be taught, there is nothing unsafe about refreezing things that have been thawed as long as they have been kept under 40° During the thawing process and have not exceeded their thawed shelf life. The supermarkets do it as a matter of practice.
     

    DoggyDaddy

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    Unless you have a model that is designed for use in the garage, most will shut down when it gets this cold because the refrigerator temp sensor never tells the compressor to kick on. I would let it warm up and i bet it will start working fine again.
    ^^^^This.^^^^ I've noticed the ice cream out in our garage freezer is "soft", although oddly enough, stuff in the refrigerator part was starting to freeze.
     

    Cameramonkey

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    ^^^^This.^^^^ I've noticed the ice cream out in our garage freezer is "soft", although oddly enough, stuff in the refrigerator part was starting to freeze.

    Because most freezers dont have thermostats. If its cool enough the fridge doesnt need to run, the freezer wont either. Basically it turns on and pumps ice cold air into the freezer. That air migrates down into the fridge to cool it.

    So you can have conditions where its time for the freezer to run, but it wont because the outside air is good enough for the fridge to be happy. Only choice is to adjust the fridge cooler during the winter and pray.
     
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