A week or so ago I notice my freezer wasn't keeping things frozen and kept getting warmer even when I turned it to the coldest setting. I pulled the fridge away from the wall to see if the radiator and compressor were clogged with dust but there wasn't much at all. Cleaned it anyway and set up a box fan to blow on the compressor and bottom of the radiator to cool it down more. Overnight the freezer got down to below zero F and the fridge section was around 35. Without the fan blowing on it now it seems to stay around 24 in the freezer and 45 in the fridge. The surface of the compressor is between 125 and 135 without the fan, the fan brings it down to around 85-95. It's drawing between 1.35 and 0.8 amps. The fridge sits between the end of a counter and a wall when it's pushed back into it's normal location so it's enclosed on 2 1/2 sides. It's about 8 years old, I wonder if I might need to mount a small fan to move air around a bit better behind it? Could it be getting low on R134? I don't see anyway to fill it.
Refrigerator getting warm
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There are at least 2 coils in your unit. I think you were referring to the condensing coil (near the compressor) as the "radiator". A shop blower, although messy, is the best way to clean it. The evap coil is inside the fridge and sometimes ices up, but it doesn't appear to be the problem.
There is a plate either on the refridge or compressor that states startup and running amp specs.
The symptoms you describe look to be a low refrigerant charge (leak) - a dirty condensing coil - or a failing compressor. There are no factory installed ports to check the charge or compressor pressure. So you can't hook up gauges to check pressure.
If the fan is working for you, keep using it. But there aren't any easy fixes.
I just blew out the coils in mine last weekend with compressed air. What a mess! Now I can feel the warm air blowing out from under it though. My fridge has a fan that blows across the coil. to strip heat away.
Does yours not have this fan? That fan is replaceable if it's not performing well but if your unit depends on natural convection than it sounds like it's dead.
Does yours not have this fan? That fan is replaceable if it's not performing well but if your unit depends on natural convection than it sounds like it's dead.
Pretty much across the board the consensus seems to be that the drive for more efficient refrigerators and the change to new refrigerants has led to shorter lifespans for refrigerators. I had a GE with the new state of the art scroll compressor previously that sure didn't last the expected life (less than 10 years). Knock on wood my replacement Maytag is still going. I lucked out when my GE died in that I had new model all picked out a few months before and the local dealer happened to have the slightly more expensive energy star model covered with dust in the back corner.
Hope it cures itself but I would start shopping.
Hope it cures itself but I would start shopping.
Yeah I don't have much hope of it getting better on it's own, and it's probably not worth getting it fixed. One place listed the compressor for over $500 and I paid around $600 for the whole unit 
http://www.partselect.com/ModelSect...03&Position=1&mfg=GE&Type=Refrigerator&Mark=3
http://www.partselect.com/ModelSect...03&Position=1&mfg=GE&Type=Refrigerator&Mark=3
Here is one thread, from 2014, about a refrigerator that wasn't performing well. I posted a possible solution, and the OP later confirmed that to be that case. It was heavy stuff pressing on a cover plate in front of the evaporator coil in the freezer section, preventing total defrost during the automatic cycle. You can interpret your symptoms to see if this matches what he found. It costs nothing, takes little time to investigate, and can save you some money for a new unit if an iced evaporator coil is the problem.
https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17838&highlight=freezer+defrost
https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17838&highlight=freezer+defrost
One of the most common causes of a fridge not cooling is a defrost relay sticking closed. Of course, this only applies to auto defrost units.
The defrost relay engages heating elements in the fridge that melt off frost. If it sticks on the heat it produces can't be removed fast enough by the refrigeration system and temps climb.
The defrost relay engages heating elements in the fridge that melt off frost. If it sticks on the heat it produces can't be removed fast enough by the refrigeration system and temps climb.
That's a interesting one, could definitely be the case. I seem to remember that my fridges has an unlabeled round hole near the controls that a tech could stick a screwdriver in and advance the defrost timer. Might be worth putting a power meter on the fridge and advancing the defrost timer to see if the power draw changes when the defrost kicks on.
On my two it was on the separator between the freezer and fridge section near the controls for unit. I guess is could be anywhere
On our fridge I can feel heat around the door gasket area when the defrost cycle is running.
There are some pretty good appliance repair forums out there. I'd suggest you put your model number in and try some keywords like "defrost timer", etc.
Edit: check this out: http://www.appliancepartspros.com/parts-for-ge-gtr12haxarww.html
There are some pretty good appliance repair forums out there. I'd suggest you put your model number in and try some keywords like "defrost timer", etc.
Edit: check this out: http://www.appliancepartspros.com/parts-for-ge-gtr12haxarww.html
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It's a smaller 12 CuFt unit so probably why it's running on the low side, between 96-162 watts. So probably not a stuck on heating unit.
I have a GE monitor top that was purchase used by my Grandfather in the 50s. I dated it to 1927 or 1928. It still works.
my timers have been under the fridge either in front or in back looks like a 2.5 inch round metal can about 1.5 to 2 inches thick and under that can a 4 wire plug i never found a relay but i think the switch was inside that clock unit. sometimes you can hear when it switches to defrost because it has a click with the compressor shutdown. if you throw on a amp probe it should be drawing between 4 and 7 amps with the compressor off. if you have a top freezer bottom fridge get into the freezer pull off the back panel and the should expose the evaporator coil with the heating element wrapped around it. if the unit is not defrosting you'll know it because the coil is incased in ice and will look like a big block of ice. if it is a iced up turn the clock until you hear the compressor shut down and get a few towels for the excess water that the evap pan can't handle
As I posted above I unplugged the unit and let it defrost, but no water came out of anything, nor was there any visible ice anywhere. I tried taking off the back cover inside the freezer, took out the 2 screws I could see, but couldn't get the cover to come out. The defrost timer on mine is underneath next to the compressor.
You really should take off that back freezer wall sometimes it will defrost and all the water settles to the bottom blocking air flow. I don't mean to make you do something for nothing but it would suck to go buy a new fridge for such a simple problem. It's happened to me. and also the tube that carries the water from the coil the the pan below gets clogged and blocks air flow. good luck.
Frank
Frank
I had a suspicion why it might have been called a "monitor top," and when I looked up images of them, I was not disappointed.
Lol. It would be fairly easy to clean the gunk off the heat exchanger. You'd be hard pressed to fit much more than your favorite liter bottle of vodka in its freezer though. But that isn't Always a negative. Frozen food hadn't been figured out yet.
I have a mid 1940's refridge by GE still running strong just have to replace the door seals every 10 years or so. It has out lasted 1/2 dozen newer ones over the years. Don't remember the age of this of a newer one but the little open frame fan motor went south on it thing got so hot that the foam insulation in the walls around coils started to melt ( puddle of it on floor under it, and of course that unmistakable odor of plastic burning). This happened about a week after a dehumidifier went up in smoke- wasn't a particularly good year ( mid 2000's) for me and appliances. Water pipes froze that year as well. Furnace ignition went south.
Nursed it as long as I could with the fan, compressor started making weird noises and the fridge would only get to about 15 degrees below room temp and the freezer maybe 25 below room temp. New one on order, until that arrives I'm using an old mini fridge.
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