Appliance Repair Company: Refrigerator Not Defrosting?

appliances at home A common indication of the defrost problem in a fridge is uniform and complete frosted evaporator coil. You may also notice frost on the panel that covers the cooling or evaporator coil. During normal cooling cycle of the fridge, the moisture present in the air freezes and gets stuck to the cooling coils. Your home appliance has to undergo a defrost cycle to melt the build-up of ice in the cooling coils. If there is a problem in this process, the ice on the cooling coils will not melt. This will stop the airflow inside the household appliance and may even stop the cooling completely. If you face this problem, it is best to get help from refrigerator service technician. The refrigerator technician will visit your house and troubleshoot the problem with your machine. Trying to solve the problem yourself without getting help from a professional refrigerator repairman can be dangerous. Also, refrigerator repair may require you to use some special tools which are expensive. So, it is best to approach a professional for all your freezer repair and service requirements.

Some Common Causes of this Problem

Faulty Defrost Timer

In frost-free refrigerators, there is an automatic defrost system that controls the defrost and cooling cycle. Some of the components of this system include a defrost heater and a defrost timer. The defrost timer will switch between the defrost and cooling mode. If the defrost system malfunctions, the machine will only have one mode – cooling mode. This will cause excess build-up of frost on the cooling coils which reduces the airflow inside the residential appliance. At times, the machine may stop at defrost mode which will melt all the ice on the coil. However, the machine will not cool efficiently because there is a problem with the cooling cycle.

Faulty Defrost Heater

The main job of the heater is to melt the frost that develops over the cooling coil. When the heater malfunctions, the frost does not melt. This will lead to excessive frost accumulation on evaporator coil.

When the coil is blocked, the airflow inside the refrigerator will reduce.
So when either the defrost heater or defrost timer is faulty, the machine will not understand when to defrost and when to cool.
freezer food
Faulty Thermostat

If your frost-free refrigerator does not defrost automatically, the defrost thermostat may be the culprit. To prevent frost formation on the coils, the defrost heater will turn on several times during the day. This will melt the frost on the coil. The defrost thermostat that is connected to the defrost heater senses the temperature of the coils. When the coils become cold, it sends a signal to the heater to turn on. If the defrost thermostat is defective, it will not send any signal to the heater which will cause frost build-up on the coils. This will reduce the airflow and damage the machine.