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My GE Profile Refrigerator is suddenly only cooling on the Freezer side to 28 and on the Refrigerator side to 48. I turned it off overnight, and vacuumed the coils underneath the unit. The compressor gets hot, but not too hot to touch. I do not hear any clicking noise from the compressor. The fan in the back bottom seems to be working OK. I hear some type of air flow/fan blowing on the inside of the freezer. I have not touched any of the controls for years, except a few days ago I turned down the temp on the freezer side (I have since put it back all the way to coldest) — so not sure if I could have broken the thermostat or something similar when I changed the temperature. Any help would be very much appreciated. Enjoy the 4th and stay safe!
Hi @lklk , When it is running you should be able to feel the vibrations and maybe even hear the hum of the compressor motor. The compressor will run until the set temps in both compartments have been reached. It should only stop once those temps are reached and then most probably start up again soon after as usually there is only a small allowance for a rise in temp from the set temp to maintain it as close as possible to the set temp. This of course can also depend on how often and for how long the doors are opened during normal activity. The only other time it should stop is when it starts an auto defrost cycle. Auto defrost occurs once every 8-12 hours (depends on manufacturer) and the compressor and evaporator fan are turned off and the temp in the freezer is allowed to rise to 32 F to melt any ice build up on the evaporator unit which then drains to the evap pan under the fridge. The process is sped up by turning on the defrost heater as you don’t want the food to even begin to start to thaw. When the freezer temp reaches 32F the defrost thermostat signals the control board to turn off the heater and to restart the compressor and evap fan again to drive the temps back down to the set temps.The whole process usually takes 15-25 minutes and is repeated every 8-12 hours. If it stops and the set temp is not reached allow time for it to be the defrost cycle just in case. If the set temp is still not reached but the compressor stops and then restarts again shortly after it may be a faulty thermostat or sensor. If it continues to run and you never get to the set temp it may be a problem with the sealed system i.e. a lack of refrigerant perhaps. The high/low pressures in the sealed system would need to be tested to determine what and where the problem is. As I said the questions were to narrow down what may be happening. Oily residues - oil mixed in with the refrigerant to lubricate the compressor so if there is a leak in the sealed system the refrigerant would escape to the atmosphere unnoticed but the oil would show. Water overflow below fridge - if the defrost was not working ice builds up and can eventually ice up the evap fan, stopping it from dragging air across the freezing cold evap unit and blowing into the freezer and refrigerator cooling them down. By turning it off overnight most of the ice should have melted and if there was a lot it would have overflowed the evap pan and onto the floor unless the drain was blocked of course. Another thought. Try using a thermometer to measure the temps as it may be that the display is giving incorrect readings. Most probably not but it helps to eliminate the possibility ;-) Hopefully a start.
