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Hi, I have an 8-year old Electrolux Frigidaire top freezer refrigerator, Model: NFTR18X4LWA. Recently, both the freezer and the fridge are not cold enough. There is cold air blowing in both compartments, but freezer only gets to around 32F degree. Door sealing is fine. I cleaned the dirt around condenser coil and compressor/fan at the back bottom, did not help. Compressor lightly hot (ok to touch by hand), compressor fan is running, but condenser coil is cool: I feel that’s the problem. The pipe connecting the compressor and condenser coil is hot close to the compressor side, but then quickly cools down before it gets to the 1st loop of condenser coil. The pipe (going into the freezer) besides the compressor is cold but not frozen. Will I have to replace the compressor and/or condenser coil? Can I assume the evaporator coil/fan etc in the freezer are good? We can feel cold air blowing (just not getting below 30F degree). Thanks!
Hi @coolerst , Usually the condenser fan only runs when the condenser coils are too hot. It is thermostatically controlled and only runs when necessary. Is the compressor running continually trying to drive the temps down or does it stop occasionally as if it thinks that the set temps have been reached and then starts up again a short while later? If it does stop when the set temp has not been reached, it may be a temp control thermostat problem, part #21 shelves diagram Can you hear the evaporator fan running in the freezer compartment? It will stop if a door is opened and start again when the door is shut. It should be running as long as the compressor is running. Are the evaporator coils icy cold to the touch? Here’s the wiring diagram which may help as it also shows the sealed system high and low pressures. If the evaporator is not getting cold then there may be a problem with the compressor, a blockage in the sealed system or a lack of refrigerant due to a leak. Depending on your location you may need a licensed repairer to check the high/low pressures in the sealed system due to the environmental regulations regarding the handling of refrigerant gases. Testing the pressures will help to determine what and where the problem is.
I hate to be the bearer or bad news, but from the symptoms you’ve described… it sounds like you’ve most likely lost most of your refrigerant. Or, there is a failure internally on that hermetically sealed compressor. Now here’s why I say this… your compressor is running but isn’t getting very hot, and the hot gas line from the compressor to the condenser coil starts warm near the compressor and then cools before hitting the condenser. Right? Alot of the heat generated inside a refrigerant system compressor is from compression. Pulling low pressure vapor from the suction side, compressing it into a hi pressure vapor into the hot gas line. That is then cooled by the condenser coil and fan into a hi pressure liquid, which is sent to the metering device (in something like this, I expect it to be a capillary tube.. very small diameter tube of a very specific length decided by engineers). That turns it from hi pressure liquid to low pressure liquid, and when that enters the evap coil, it boils off into low pressure vapor, absorbing heat. And it starts again. I’m likely to think refrigerant loss is the culprit, as you ARE getting some cooling. Which tells me that some refrigerant is being moved, which rules out an outright compressor failure. Though there could be issues with the internal valves, allowing blowback. Though that is VERY uncommon in my experience. So im thinking most likely it is refrigerant loss causing this. What is the temp of the suction line going into the compressor? Is it cool? Or warm like the other side? If it is warm as well I would think compressor might actually need replacing. You’ve already confirmed that fans are working, and coils are cleaned. The symptoms you describe tell me the problem isn’t the defrost system, as if it were running when it shouldn’t, your compressor and condenser would be VERY hot, or if defrost termination didn’t happen, compressor wouldn’t run at all. So this means you need to check refrigerant levels (or, if not properly trained to, get a technician to do.it for you. Without throwing gauges on it at this point its very hard to narrow down further. Need to see suction and liquid pressures to check compressor operation reliably. Also, did you see any traces of oil? This would help narrow the leak. I can’t say evap or condenser coil are good without leak checking them.
