Dose anyone know what it means when your refrigerator starts to freeze up?

Question

My refrigerator is starting to freeze up and everything in it is freezing like the milk and other foods. What is the problem? I have already lowered the temp. settings and it is still freezing?

Answer 1

HERE'S THE ANSWER:

All of the suggestions given regarding cleaning under and around the motor and fan and the the cooling coils would be accurate if the fridge was NOT cooling. Those issues cause the fridge to be unable to cool. The idea about the door seals is a good one but that issue would not have happened all at once.

You have two issues that may be compounding one another... the refrigerator froze up in the first place... and it won't un-freeze now.

The refrigerator is made to cool, not freeze... but the difference beween ideal cold and freezing is only 8-10 degrees farenheit.
The first thing you need to know before you go "trying" solutions like replacing parts is what caused the thermostatic control to go beyond it's setting in the first place. This may have been something as simple as someone not shutting the door all the way.

To diagnose: Take everything, and I DO mean everything out of the fridge and freezer. You can place it in picnic coolers if need be while you work on the rest. Un-plug the fridge and pull it out from the wall. While you have it out it is always a good idea to clean under and around the coils and so on. Also empty and clean the freezer discharge tray. This is the plastic pan on the floor that catches the water when the unit self-defrosts. Check the hose that leads into this pan. Is it clogged with dust? Is there a gruesome booger like substance growing on or in it? (Slime mould) Any clog in this line will stop the self defrost from working and will cause a full fridge freeze-up. Allow the entire fridge to defrost COMPLETELY. Why? Because now that it HAS frozen it does not have a working thermostat. This is the second problem...

You have reset the temp settings... but the dial you are setting, which is an adjustable thermostat, doesn't work right now because it is frozen solid. If any moisture at all is inside of it, that moisture has locked it in place because it is now ice or frost. Note: You may have broken it when you turned it if it was frozen.

Once all ice is gone, pour a little warm water into the floor of the freezer. This should run right out the hose onto the floor. If not... wait until it does. Now the discharge line is thawed.

Turn the thermostats to OFF. Plug the fridge. It should stay OFF. Un-plug. Hit the thermostats (one in the fridge, one in the freezer, with a hair dryer for just a mnute. Let cool. Plug in. It should stay OFF. (If not you have broken the thermostat by forcing when frozen) ) Then set to the NORMAL setting (usually highlighted on the dial) You should hear a distinct click and it should kick on. Then turn the freezer on the same way. .

Let them run for a few hours to get to temp. You'll want to use the time to go get a refrigerator thermometer from the local hardware or kitchen store. Actually any wall thermometer will do. Place in the fridge on the middle shelf. You will want a temp of right around 41 degrees for normal cooling. If it doesn't get that cool after four hours, adjust to the next colder setting.

If after all this the unit works OK it was probably that someone leftthe door open, someone accidentally turned the thermostat all the way to coldest, something was blocking the defrost vent in the freezer, something was blocking the vents inside the fridge, or the defrost line was clogged.

Answer 2

There is a fan that moves the air from the freezer compartment into the fresh food box. This fan is thermostatically controlled. On some set ups there are also adjustable baffles or damper that limit the recirculation of air. Look for both of these adjustments. Like someone has already said, If the big door gasket is leaking, it will allow moist room air into the box. This moist air sticks to the freezing coils and thus frost accumulates way more than it is supposed to. You can get a replacement gasket and install it yourself. Just give it a good inspection. Do you see parts of it missing? What has likely happened is that toward the bottom, a sticky liquid has stuck to the door gasket, which is often magnetic anyway. Then when the door is jerked open the gasket tears.

Answer 3

Try cleaning under the refrigerator, and also the back. It could be that the unit is blocked by dust and dirt, which would cause it to freeze up. You may have to regulate the settings some afterward to see what is best for you. I clean about once every six months, and use a long snow brush,, and a vacuum.

Answer 4

You have an older fridge,right?Pull the fridge away from the wall and clean out underneath and behind it,BUT,more likely your seal around the door has gone bad,call a used appliance dealer and ask them if they have a door seal for the make and model of your fridge,it should be a lot cheaper then buying a new/used fridge and changing the seal is very easy.If you don't take care of this ASAP, you will be replacing your fridge,cause it's overworking itself right now and that could burn out the compresser.

Answer 5

chances are your door seals are no longer working and the fridge has to work overtime to keep cool, resulting in the freezing up. It happened to us once.
Have your seals replaced.. it's not very expensive. The problem will be gone immediately and lots of money saved on wasted, frozen food.

Answer 6

If you have not altered the temperature control then the thermostat is faulty.

Don't cook frozen food

Answer 7

Your cold control is not shutting off - Replace it. Its not too
complicated if you are handy or have a friend that is handy.

Answer 8

lower it more unless you want to buy a new one