refrig/freezer

[Capt Ratty]

Just noticed the other day that the refrigerator was freezing everything. Simple, turn it down. But no. Now the freezer compartment won't do its job.
This unit is original to the boat (1968 ). Is it time for another, or is it repairable.
The refrig section is maintaining 40 degrees, as is the freezer.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Thats sounds like a relay or thermostat for the circulating fan is stuck on. The fan sucks some of the cold air from the freezer for the fridge section. Mine is just the opposite... Freezer gets below zero, but the fridge is about 50! ws

 

[REBrueckner]

As long as you are getting good cold somewhere, likely the problem is repairable.

Was any work done on it recently? If you had the system refilled with refrigeratant recently then they did not put in the correct amount. Anything radically different with ambient temperatures? ducting? Is the seasl on the freezer ok? (if a piece fell off it may run and run and run causing too much cooling in the fridge portion....

It's worth getting a tech down if you can't find the problem.

 

[Capt Ratty]

Rob-

Nothing has been done to the fridg since I have owned the boat (13 months).
It worked fine last summer, but now the temp in the galley can go as low as 35 degrees. Would that affect the operation?

 

[MikeP]

I learned that fridges don't usually work at all if the ambient temp is 40 or below. I ran into this issue when we put a fridge in the garage in NY. In the winter it quit. I thought something was wrong but a fridge tech who came out told me that was normal for "home" fridges and this complaint occurred frequently for units placed in unheated areas. When the weather warmed up, the fridge worked fine.

 

[krush]

couple things:

1) if the door was ever left open for a long time OR water was spilt in it, the thing will freeze up and continue to freeze more and more. The only way to "fix" this is to turn it off and leave both doors open for a few days to let all the ice in the coils melt.

2) The defrost timer may have taken a shit or the heating coil may have crapped out. It's usually the defrost timer. I've replaced SEVERAL of them in fridges that were deemed "junk". They are all still working.


I think I may have misread your description of the problem thoguh. There isn't much to go wrong on a fridge as they are very simple. If the compressor runs and makes cold, the rest is easy to fix.

 

[Capt Ratty]

Thanks guys. I will probably wait till summer to see if it recooperates. No use getting excited over it now.

 

[mike41tc]

MikeP, Thanks. Your reply helped me with my frig. I'm living on my boat in the Detroit area the frig. usually works fine, but sometimes I notice things in the freeze are starting to thaw, everything in the frig stays cold though. I figured out that the problem only happens when it's really cold outside and that causes it to get to cold inside the cabinet that the frig. is in. I may have to start blowing some heat in thru a cabinet door.
Mike41tc

 

[REBrueckner]

My experience is the same as Mike P's...hence my question about ambient temp changes....