Tom Ells
Premium Member
- Model Number
- GB2FHDXWQ02
- Brand
- Whirlpool
- Age
- More than 10 years
Hi, I hope that someone here might be able to help me. I'm going to list everything that has happened recently with my fridge, which means I might include info that is not relevant. If that is the case I apologize, but I'd rather give you too much info than skip somethng that might be important
A couple of days ago the refrigerator in my bottom freezer Whirlpool refer started to warm up. The freezer however appeared to stay cold. I put a simple refer thermometer into both the fridge and the freezer; fridge temp was 50+ while the freezer was below xero.
I came to this forum and did a search on the symptoms. I first checked the coils; they were somewhat dirty so I thoroughly cleaned them. Then I looked at the large fan that cools the coils. It was running nicely. I could also hear the compressor running. Since I already had the fridge out of it's spot I removed the lower back of the unit and vacuumed everything out. It was already pretty clean but I figured I'd do it anyway. Then I waited ~6-8 hours to see what happened. Unfortunately none of this work fixed the problem. The top was still warm, and the bottom was cold.
Next I removed the door to the freezer as well as all the racks and baskets and pulled off the back panel to check the evaporator. When I did this I first unplugged the refer, so by the time I got the panel off about an hour had gone by. The evaporator was ice/frost free and damp, but there was a large piece of solid ice in the upper right that surrounded some copper pipes and some wires. I slowly melted/removed the ice with a heart gun and an ice pick, carefully avoiding the pipes and wires.
Once the entire back area appeared ice free, I plugged the unit back in and watched the evaporator fan. It turned on immediately and seemd to work perfectly. I then unplugged the unit and let it sit for another 8 hours to make sure any internal ice build up that I could not see would have time to melt. I also removed the ice maker, which had never been hooked up.
At this point I plugged the unit in and periodically checked the temps in both the fridge and freezer. Things cooled very quickly, much faster than I expected. Within a few hours the freezer temp was below freezing and the fridge was below 50. By ~6 hours the freezer temp was below zero, and the fridge was at 35, and I thought that everything was fixed.
However, being a bit of a pessimist I did not load everything in again, but instead watched and continued to check the temps. Sure enough, a few hours later the fridge temp was back to 40, even though the freezer remained cold. It was now late at night so I went to bed. In the morning the fridge temp was ~55. Interestingly the freezer temp was no longer at or below zero, but had risen to ~15. I could hear the big fan running, as well as the compressor. No idea about whether the evaporator fan was working.
I unplugged the unit and let it sit for 45 minutes before plugging back in, hoping that might reset the control board. No luck. The fridge stayed warm and the freezer stayed cold, but only ~10 degrees.
One other possibly unrelated fact. Occasionally (maybe once/twice a day) there will be a fairly loud popping sound from the unit, it sounds a bit like a piece of ice had just been dropped inside the fridge. But nothing there that can be seen.
That get us to the present. From what I have researched, it appears that the most likely problem is that the condenser fan is not working or the airflow passage from the freexer to the fridge is clogged. Fan failure could be because the fan itself is bad, a temp sensor that activates the fan is bad, or the motherboard has failed. I doubt that the passage is clogged since the warming of the fridge, after it seemed to be working, happened so quickly. But here my ignorance might well have me making unwarranted assumptions about how long it takes that passage to ice up. Because the unit did initally get cold after the full defrost it appears the compressor is working and there is plenty of refrigerant, but again I might be making false assumptions.
So what is my next step? Do I pull the panel in the freezer again and check to see if the evap fan is working? Is there a temp sensor for the fan that I can check?
My wife and I have really liked this fridge until now, and a replacement (she has to have it in white) is close to $2k. I have no problem replacing bad parts if I am able to determine what is bad.
Any help will be greatly appreciated! And any questions are welcome.
A couple of days ago the refrigerator in my bottom freezer Whirlpool refer started to warm up. The freezer however appeared to stay cold. I put a simple refer thermometer into both the fridge and the freezer; fridge temp was 50+ while the freezer was below xero.
I came to this forum and did a search on the symptoms. I first checked the coils; they were somewhat dirty so I thoroughly cleaned them. Then I looked at the large fan that cools the coils. It was running nicely. I could also hear the compressor running. Since I already had the fridge out of it's spot I removed the lower back of the unit and vacuumed everything out. It was already pretty clean but I figured I'd do it anyway. Then I waited ~6-8 hours to see what happened. Unfortunately none of this work fixed the problem. The top was still warm, and the bottom was cold.
Next I removed the door to the freezer as well as all the racks and baskets and pulled off the back panel to check the evaporator. When I did this I first unplugged the refer, so by the time I got the panel off about an hour had gone by. The evaporator was ice/frost free and damp, but there was a large piece of solid ice in the upper right that surrounded some copper pipes and some wires. I slowly melted/removed the ice with a heart gun and an ice pick, carefully avoiding the pipes and wires.
Once the entire back area appeared ice free, I plugged the unit back in and watched the evaporator fan. It turned on immediately and seemd to work perfectly. I then unplugged the unit and let it sit for another 8 hours to make sure any internal ice build up that I could not see would have time to melt. I also removed the ice maker, which had never been hooked up.
At this point I plugged the unit in and periodically checked the temps in both the fridge and freezer. Things cooled very quickly, much faster than I expected. Within a few hours the freezer temp was below freezing and the fridge was below 50. By ~6 hours the freezer temp was below zero, and the fridge was at 35, and I thought that everything was fixed.
However, being a bit of a pessimist I did not load everything in again, but instead watched and continued to check the temps. Sure enough, a few hours later the fridge temp was back to 40, even though the freezer remained cold. It was now late at night so I went to bed. In the morning the fridge temp was ~55. Interestingly the freezer temp was no longer at or below zero, but had risen to ~15. I could hear the big fan running, as well as the compressor. No idea about whether the evaporator fan was working.
I unplugged the unit and let it sit for 45 minutes before plugging back in, hoping that might reset the control board. No luck. The fridge stayed warm and the freezer stayed cold, but only ~10 degrees.
One other possibly unrelated fact. Occasionally (maybe once/twice a day) there will be a fairly loud popping sound from the unit, it sounds a bit like a piece of ice had just been dropped inside the fridge. But nothing there that can be seen.
That get us to the present. From what I have researched, it appears that the most likely problem is that the condenser fan is not working or the airflow passage from the freexer to the fridge is clogged. Fan failure could be because the fan itself is bad, a temp sensor that activates the fan is bad, or the motherboard has failed. I doubt that the passage is clogged since the warming of the fridge, after it seemed to be working, happened so quickly. But here my ignorance might well have me making unwarranted assumptions about how long it takes that passage to ice up. Because the unit did initally get cold after the full defrost it appears the compressor is working and there is plenty of refrigerant, but again I might be making false assumptions.
So what is my next step? Do I pull the panel in the freezer again and check to see if the evap fan is working? Is there a temp sensor for the fan that I can check?
My wife and I have really liked this fridge until now, and a replacement (she has to have it in white) is close to $2k. I have no problem replacing bad parts if I am able to determine what is bad.
Any help will be greatly appreciated! And any questions are welcome.
