My fridge is too cold!?

Question

We just moved and my fridge is way too cold inside. Although the beer taste GREAT, our eggs are frozen. We've turned down the dial to the warmest setting. Any ideas what I could do? Would turning the fridge off for 5 or 10 hours help things? Maybe the freon got messed up in the move? We kept the fridge upright during our move as well.

Answer 1

Please listen to me. The advise the others are giving you is wrong. I am a school teacher. I teach heating and cooling at Vatterott College in Saint Louis.

One of two things is happening. Either the thermostat has gone bad, and is causing the compressor to run longer than it should, or you need to adjust the knob that says more or less cold in the refrigerator section. This control is usually marked "A,B,C" and the thermostat "1,2,3"

I am assuming a lot of people are going to read this so allow me to dispell a couple of myths. First of all putting more stuff in works but only until the more stuff gets cold. Pretty soon the refrigerator is overflowing and the problem is even worse.

You do not have to keep a refrigerator upright when you move it, providing you turn it upright for at least 24 hours before you plug it back in. The reason why is because a compressor is an electric motor connected to a pump which compresses the Freon, just like an air compressor at the gas station compresses air. The motor and the pump must be lubricated just like the motor in your car needs to be lubricated. Imagine what would happen if you took your car motor and turned it upside down, and the tried to run the motor. The same thing is true about a refrigerator. The compressor is full of oil down in the bottom of the compressor. It is the oil, not the freon that we must wait for.

So again my advice to you is to first check the control that says make the refrigerator compartment cooler knob first. Adjust that setting 1/2 way to start. From that point adjust it more or less to produce the desired results. You will have to wait 48 hours between adjustments to notice any difference. I would also suggest you buy a small refrigerator thermometer and hang it inside, so you can "see" what you are doing. For safety reasons you should not allow the refrigerator compartment to ever get above 40 degrees, without possible food spoilage.

If this does not work, the the thermostat has gone bad and is staying on to long, and will require replacement.

Answer 2

Yes turn it off and let it sit for about 12 hours. Even though you say you kept the fridge upright it could have tipped. You need all the freon to drain back into the compressor. You also may want to check the thermostat sensor to make sure that there is nothing blocking it (and making the thermostat call for more cooling).

Answer 3

Check your setting for the freezer too. Adjust both down to a more normal temperature and let unit settle itself out for 24 hours before you make any additional changes. I would not turn it off.

Answer 4

the emptier the fridge the colder it gets. just shove a whole bunch of things inside.