Freezer works - then gets warm

[HeatherC]

I got a Amana ASD2624HEB Side By Side fridge from a girl at my work. She had indicated that she woke up and the fridge had gone out and everything melted but I could have it if I wanted to fix it. When I went to pick it up it was plugged in and working.  Figured she was nuts!   So we took it home and plugged it in and let it cool. Everything was fine and it even started making ice so I know it was at least 2 degrees in the freezer.  YAY!  Well this morning I woke up to water dripping down the freezer. I opened it up and the freezer was warm and the ice had melted.

Now when we got it working last night the dial was set at 6. Once it got to temp I turned it back to 4 which is the suggested setting. This morning when it was warm I wipped all the water out of it and turned the dial back to 6. It appeared to be cooling back down when I left this morning. Any ideas on what could be wrong with this thing?  Could the dial just need to be kept on 6?  Is there a thermostat?  Help!

Thanks!

[AJ]

I would guess it's going to be Your Defrost Control Board giving your problems or more likely the Thermostat that you are adjusting the dial on.

If you can catch it warmed up and not running I would give the thermostat knob a tap or two and see if the refrigerator kicks in and starts running. If it does that is a good sign that the thermostat is getting stuck in the open position and needs to be replaced.

[HeatherC]

Thank you for the reply.  I will give it a try when I get home from work.   My son just told me it is warm again.  It had started to cool this morning.

[HeatherC]

I'm home from work and the freezer and fridge are both warm.  I tapped by the knob but nothing kicked back on.  Would you still start with the thermostat?

[AJ]

Unless you have a ohm meter to check parts it's going to be a guessing game.

If when it does run everything cools down good, refrigerator around 38 Deg. F. and the freezer around 0-5 Deg. F. chances are everything with the sealed system such as the compressor and refrigerant is ok.

Seems to be something cycling the refrigerator off and then not turning it back on. This would lead me to believe it was the thermostat or something with the defrost system.

[HeatherC]

Thanks.  After banging around the thermostat when I turn the knobs to the off position and turn them back on I hear the it kick back on.  The fans are blowing air and the fridge seems to be cooling back down.  The door has a chill to it.   Guess we'll start with the thermostat and go from there.  Thanks!

[whirlpooltech]

Sounds like a bad thermostat to me. Looking at the link AJ posted for it they are cheap enough to try and the best part about ordering it from RepairClinic.com is you can return it for any reason for up to 365 days. If it don't fix it send it back, but I think it will solve the problem.

[HeatherC]

Plugged it back in after work and it ran for several hours and got cold again...both the freezer & fridge.    Just went to check it and it's not running again.  The fan is not running but the compressor is hot.  I assume since it was running for a while.  We are going to order the thermostat and start there.  Tried to pick one up at a local appliance store but they did not have any in stock.  Good thing I kept my old fridge until we got this one working.

[krazytech]

Thermostat

http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Thermostat/1126040?modelNumber=ASD2624HEB

[HeatherC]

Thought I would come back and give you an update.  I hate it when I'm searching threads and no one comes back to tell if it solved the probelm or not.   

We replaced the thermostat and defrost control board and everything is working great! 

Thanks for all the help!

[AJ]

Glad you got it repaired. 

Thanks for the update!