[billybarty]

Hey, I have a Hotpoint refrigerator (CTX18GASVRWH) and the air in the freezer is right around 25 degrees. We just moved into our house and the fridge came with it. I cleaned under the fridge and in back by the fan and it was really nasty so I hoped that would help. It seemed to for a while, but the lowest the temp got was 18 or so. So then, I took the cover off the back of inside the freezer and there was frost covering the coils from the top to about half way down. I defrosted the frost that I could see (with a lightbulb and fan ~15 min), and put everything back. Now, a few days later, the air in the freezer is at 20-25 and I'm not sure if I should be calling a service person, doing something else myself (I'm fairly handy) or looking for a new fridge.

Thanks for any help,
Jon

[woodchuck]

That doesn't sound like a lot of frost if it only took 15 minutes with a light bulb to melt it all. If frost never forms on the lower half then it has a freon leak and you will need a qualified tech. to find the leak and recharge the system.

[billybarty]

Thanks for the fast reply. I assume that I would be able to see all of the frost by taking off the back cover of the freezer? I just wanted to make sure I shouldn't leave it off and open for longer if its possible I missed some.

Also, a good portion of the 'spikes' (i don't know what to call them) on the lowest line of the coil were pretty bent almost all flat against the coil would that do anything?

I'm sure it depends on how long it takes to fix, but whats a reasonable price range for having that fixed?

Thanks

[woodchuck]

All evaporator should be visible with the cover off.
You might want to leave it off to watch the frost pattern.
The amount of bent fins you describe wouldn't have much effect although you can straighten them if you like.
Hard to give an estimate. Depends on location etc. You may can get an estimate on the phone. 500 + or - a couple of hundred.

[allen9258]

general electric refrig not freezing in the freezer top section and lower section not cool at all do i need to recharge the system?

[woodchuck]

Check to see if the condenser fan at the back bottom of fridge is running.
Is the compressor motor near that fan running.
Are the coils warm ,cold or hot.

Is the evaporator fan in the freezer running. It blows cold air into the fridge side through a damper in the wall between the freezer and fridge. Make sure the damper is open.

Below the evaporator fan is the evaporator coils. Remove the back cover in the freezer to observe the frost pattern. stopped up? clear? ice in one spot . frost everywhere.

[alexander]

have a hopoint refrige 15 years old.top cool but the botton not cooling
we change the defrost control.

[woodchuck]

The fridge gets its cold air from the freezer through a vent between the freezer and fridge. There is a flap you adjust with the fridge temp. control. Make sure it's open.

If the evaporator coils behind the back panel of the freezer are icing up because of auto defrost failure that will stop the circulation of cold air and eventually affect the freezer too.

check defrost timer, defrost heater, defrost thermostat Refrigerator Repair Guide: How To Fix a Refrigerator - ACME HOW TO.com

In most of the new units they now have the adaptive defrost control. It senses when to defrost based on how many times and for how long the door is opened. It's more energy efficient but there does seem to be lots of problems with the board. If the heater and thermostat are ok it’ll be the control.