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I have a black and decker mini fridge with a separate freezer compartment. Model is BCRDK32B. Recently the bottom stopped being cold. Not much is inside, besides some water bottles and drinks. It feel more being barely cool. Freezer is cold on top and seems normal. There are some frost that I noticed more then normal. I did try to completely turn off the unit and let it defrost over night and start it back up, but still the same. There’s no fan from what I can tell. I was planning on replacing the thermostat but not sure if that would address the problem considering that it’s cooling the top. I did happen to adjust the thermostat prior to noticing it stopped working, but I think that was about 1-2 weeks prior. Diagram from the back
Hi @r3d3nvy, What is the actual temperature in the freezer compartment? Looking at the schematic you posted, there is no evaporator fan in the unit so there may be two ways that the compartments are being cooled. i). If there are vents inside of each compartment (usually at the back), this means that there is an evaporator unit in the freezer compartment at the back behind a panel and cooling the refrigerator compartment relies on the cold air from the freezer compartment “falling down” into the refrigerator compartment, via a chute between the two compartments, to cool it down. Cold air falls, hot air rises. ii). If there are no vents in either compartment then the sealed system refrigerant pipes are routed through the walls of the cabinet and the compartments are being cooled that way The preset freezer and refrigerator temperatures in most domestic refrigerators is -18°C (0°F) and 4°C (38°F) Is the compressor running continually trying to drive down the temperature or does it stop occasionally for a while and then restart ? If it stops and starts, it may be a faulty thermostat, stopping the compressor because it thinks that the correct temperature has been reached. When the temperature rises again, (doors being opened and cool air being lost etc) the compressor is restarted. The thermostat’s temperature range may have shifted so that it cuts off sooner than it should. If the compressor is running continually, it may be a sealed system problem i.e. lack of refrigerant, faulty compressor etc. Is the compressor getting too hot to touch?
For a refer, the freezer is the part where the cooling coils are. The frig part gets cold via a port between the freezer and the frig. There should be a fan in that port that would be run based on a thermistor sensor in the frig. If it has an auto defrost and it is freezing up, the ice may be blocking the port. The problem then might be a bad seal or the door is slightly ajar. My sister had that issue with her freezer door and it was difficult to see. A drawer inside was holding it very slightly open. The tech also missed that. But then if you totally defrosted it, then the frig should have gotten cold for a time.
