fridge problem

We have a second fridge in the garage. It's about 7 years old and losing its ability to keep things cool. Over the past several weeks we have had to adjust the settings colder and colder, until we have them maxed out as cold as the dial goes. Within the past week even that is not enough, and it just isn't keeping things cool. It's both the freezer and the fridge, so I'm pretty sure it's not the door seal. I went in and cleaned the dust and gunk off the -I think they're called compresser coils - to see if I got lucky, but that didn't make a difference.

Any experience out there to suggest if this is worth calling in a repairman, or if we're better off just buying a new one? The fridge is decent quality, not top of the line, but certainly not lower end either.

thanks

 

I just read something that said you really shouldn't keep your fridge in the garage....it gets too hot in there in the summer and it makes the fridge work harder and less efficient. Something to think about. Don't know if that's the problem that caused yours to not cool things down, but it might have something to do with it.

 

You, Doberman, have a freon leak! Ran into the same thing with a brand new freezer. You have only one choice - replace it. Sorry - but fixing a freon leak is way more expensive than buying new. Besides, at 7 years - you're due.

 

Refrigerators should last longer than 7 years, we've had ours for 9 and it's still working great, no problems at all.

 

Lordy, my parents had an Amana that worked great for 24 years. They tried to give it away but no one wanted it because it looked goofy

 

Blow out or vacuum the coils underneath the refrigerator. There's a chance they've gotten covered with dust especially in the garage.

As for a refrig in the garage. No problems. I've had one out there for over ten years, through all kinds of weather.

 

We had similar symptoms on our GE Profile side-by-side. Tried cleaning the dust off the coils - no luck, kept getting warmer. Looked at the seals - they were good. I called AVS (24 hr service). They came within a few hours on a Sunday afternoon (no extra charge). The tech came to the door asked what kind of refrigerator it was. He stated "it's probably 5 years old" (he was right). He went back to his car, rummaged around for a box. I asked him how he knew it was that part, he replies "it's always is this part on the GE's". He replaced the heater on the evaporator (yes, a heater in the freezer - it keeps the coil from icing up - it was full of ice and frost). We paid $250 - it has worked for 2 yrs now - I've got three more years to go.

Same story (different part) on our Kenmore washer. This time I asked which washer and refrig lasts longest - his reply was that they all fail in 5-7 years due to failure of a small part.

In each case, I googled on the brand and model # with words like repair or parts or the symptoms and found that these parts are available on the internet for $15-$50. You just have to have them in stock and know a bit about replacing them.

-Jim