Help! My freezer went out!

So I noticed a huge puddle of water coming from my fridge and discovered it was from the ice having melted in the icemaker (side-by-side fridge). Everything had already defrosted by the time I noticed it. The motor is running, the lights are on in both sides and so far the fridge side seems to be cooling, though not as cold as normal. I have a thermometer in there now and it is at 45 degrees. The freezer side is just not cooling right. Fortunately I have a big freezer and was able to salvage what I could to it.

Any appliance savvy people out there? I'm wondering if it will hurt to keep the fridge side running till we can get someone out tomorrow (hopefully). Also wondering if anyone knows of anything easy that we can check. And lastly, any good appliance repair people we can use or ones to stay away from. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

Chuck's Refrigeration Heating & Air Conditioning
Smithfield, NC 27577-9133
(919) 989-6865

Chuck is awesome and will make a special run if one is in need. I don't know anything of use to help with your other questions.

Good luck,
Sherry

 

Oh that is one funny episode! Mine isn't dancing across the floor though, just not working! Thanks, I needed the laugh about now.

 

Thanks! I'm hoping it can wait till morning so we don't have to pay those crazy after hours fees on top of everything else. Of course we let our home warranty go this year. :banghead:

 

Same thing happened to us in June with our side by side - it was only 7 yrs old. DH who about 15 yrs ago did appliance repair didn't want to mess with it saying that it was probably the compressor. He said to get a rapairperson to look at it (who would likely have the parts and not have to go back and forth to Lowes) would charge upwards of 85.00 just to look at it - so we decided to bite the bullet and bought a new fridge - which has a freezer on the bottom, which I totally love BTW. (the old one was a GE - not top of the line - but had ice and H2O through the door - it was always noisy from day one, so wasn't all sad about it, just inconvenient timing and ruined over a hundred dollars worth of food.)

Sorry yours is on the blink - refrigerators from when I was a kid lasted for 30 yrs or more - sadly, these days, everything is disposable - pcs, microwaves, and refrigerators just to name a few. They simply don't build anything to last, nor do they want to - companies make more money that way. :?

 

Call him tonight and leave a message so he'll get to you right away tomorrow. He's a heck of a guy and very funny.

Sherry

 

I don't live too far from you and I have a freezer and a fridge in the garage that you are more than welcome to use.

 

Thanks Michelle! That is so sweet of you! I'm trying to get in touch with my neighbor to see if she has any room in her fridge. I also have a cooler and some frozen ice blocks in my big freezer that will help. My husband is on the phone right now with the guy Sherry recommended, so we'll see what he says. If we need you I'll give you a call. Thanks again!

 

Wow, Sherry. Thanks for the recommendation of Chuck! What a nice guy! He actually tried to help my dh fix the fridge over the phone for free, but unfortunately it turned out to be more than just an easy fix. It turns out to be most likely the circuit board or the compressor, so he is going to come by tomorrow and test it. He said he should be able to fix it tomorrow though.

Thanks again, Michelle, for your offer, but I think we'll be okay. My neighbor has some room in her fridge and I'll use our cooler for the rest.

 

I agree with this one he is the best!

 

Try to see if there is a lot of dust buildup on the coils on the back side of the Refridgerator. (If it is an old unit). If there is not any coils on the back try to remove the plastic trim out under the doors and shine a flashlight up under the unit to see if it is dirty or there is a lot of build up of dust , if so try to clean with a vacuum hose or ext pole. There may just be a lot of build up and that may help, but it sounds like it may be more serious if the evaporator coil or compressor is going. Sorry to hear of your dilemma. Hope that its only a minor issue. but try to clean up where the coils are exposed as they do get dirty and the ref. will need to work harder to cool.

 

Thanks so much. When my husband was on the phone with Chuck that was the first thing he had him do. He took off the back and vacuumed all back there and in the front. Then Chuck talked him through resetting the electronics, but that did not help. The compressor was not coming on. So I guess we get to put some money into it now. I thought GE was a good brand and this was a top of the line fridge, but it is only 6 years old and I expected it to last longer. Oh well, like zookeeper said, nothing is built to last long anymore.

 

Oh Dear , You have now learned what I tell ALL my customers.... Friends don't let friends buy GE Appliances. GE has been manafacturing a lot of their appliances in Mexico for about 10+ yrs now and the Quality level of General Electric has gone south (with the jobs) As an appliance installer/service person, I see it Every Day!!!!(Literally) GE Appliances are junk!!!! There have been many recalls regarding appliances made by GE for a number of issues and it's too bad that they have dropped so much in the Quality Dept. Back in the day when GE was manafacturing in the U.S. they had a great reputation. But that was then and this is now. (Hint-If buying a New Appliance, buy Whirlpool)

As for putting money into any GE Branded Appliance, Save your money and just get another refridgerator. It is NOT worth putting any money into a 6 yr old Ref that is not cooling. A good operating Refridgerator should at least go ten -fifteen yrs. I went to a customers home in Raleigh on Monday and she had a "top of the line " GE Monogram Dishwasher 4 yrs old , stainless steel, really pretty looking but mechanically it was a piece of SH** . She made the wise choice and bought a new Kitchen Aid(Made by Whirlpool) and she should be all set for at least 10 yrs on her dishwasher.

 

Our GE Fridge died last summer when we were on vacation. What a mess when we got home, with water on the floor for a week. We were going to buy a new one anyway since we just re-did our kitchen when we got back from vacation, I guess we waited a week to long. Good luck...

Ours was about 6 years old.

 

This past summer our fairly new (5 years old) refrigerator went out. For some strange reason I actually did purchase the extended warranty on it (rarely do I give in and buy it). They sent out a repairman. He determined it was the compressor. We had 7 months left on our extended warranty. He order the compressor and returned about 5 days later to install it. I had to sign a paper stating that we had a new compressor installed on that day. The paper stated that the compressor would have been over 600.00 if we had to pay for it and then add the labor to that figure. My extended warranty was 36.00 at the time I purchased the refrigerator.

 

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I had no idea they had "gone south" so to speak. When was growing up, GE was always the brand to get. Too bad they had to try to cut corners and ended up cutting their quality as well. We will see what is wrong and how much to fix it. Depending on the cost we will decide if it is worth fixing. The only reason I hesitate to replace it is that we are getting ready to put our house on the market and buy another one. I would hate to buy one color and then find out our new house has appliances of another color. If we can get it fixed reasonably now, then we can replace it after we move. Only with a Whirlpool this time!

By the way, what other brands are actually made by GE so I can avoid them (like you said Kitchen Aid is made by Whirlpool). Thanks!!!

 

GE is also manufacturing Appliances Under the Hotpoint name brand. They used to make appliances for Kenmore for a short period of time but most Kenmore branded appliances are actually manufactured by Whirlpool. Whirlpool is manufacturing appliances Under the Whirlpool name as well as the Estate Brand "These Estate appliances are cheaper in price but they are made by Whirlpool" They also bought out Maytag about 4-5 yrs ago and they still build under the Maytag Brand name but it is actually Whirlpool and they bought out the Kitchen Aid name from Hobart years ago and now manufacture under the Kitchen Aid name. May be cheaper to find a good used Refridgerator on line as opposed to buying new if your going to sell your house.

 

Thanks so much! You've been very helpful!!

 

Glad you called Chuck. He is old school....still believes in customer service. He and his sons can fix anything electrical in no time. It may be cheaper to have him fix it rather than buy a new one. I've had my side by side for around 15 years and the only problem I have ever had was when the ice maker stopped working. Called Chuck, he replaced something and we were back in service.

Good luck,
Sherry

 

When we bought this place, GE appliances were what they were going to install, DH, having worked in the field for years told them to keep their DW and Stove, but because of finances at the time (moving/closing costs/new furniture/ and a higher mortgage) he decided to let the fridge slide by. We bought top of the line Whirlpool dishwasher/stove/and of course I had to have the duet washer and dryer8) That GE fridge was my least favorite fridge ever, but it was new and didn't look bad - the new Whirlpool one looks even better though.

You did say that you were going to put your house on the market - if it will be pricey to fix that GE, I'd opt to go with a new one - there might be someone interested in your home that has experienced or heard negative things about GE products as well. . .sure a fridge wouldn't likely be the sole cause of someone not being interested in a home, but if they do a list of pros and cons, it might tip the scales. If you can fix it cheaply, than it's a no-brainer, keep it.

Stinks when you want to sell a home and end up having to put money into it to do so, but that seems to be the trend. New appliances do add to a homes' value though.

Good luck with it!