Fridgidaire Freezer

[deedee]

Please help! Night before last my son left the door slightly ajar. I heard the temperature alarm. I turned the temperature control to cooler temp. Things are remaining frozen and additional items put in the freezer have frozen, but it's not as cold as it should be..

I took off the panel inside: the fan is running fine, there was no ice built up on the fins and the drain area doesn't have any ice built up.

The outside {sides} of the freezer according to our thermal lazer reader
is 117 degrees. How hot should it get? Should it get hot while the compressor is running? Doesn't this have something to do with defrosting and if so shouldn't it turn off while the compressor is running?

I'm trying to fix this so my husband won't have to!

Thanks!!!!!!!!

[DIY Guy]

As far as not getting as cold as it should; it can take up to three days to all the way down to where it should be. If the fridge/freezer are overfilled, it may not cool properly at all.

As to exterior temp; the mullion heaters (where the door touches) heat the mullions to prevent condensation. They can be turned off if you have an "energy-saver" mode. The defrost system may cause exterior chassis to increase in temperature and some people describe it as hot to the touch. I don't have info on what temperature is considered normal. Finally, the compressor will have been running for an extended period while the door was open and whle it cooled down again. The warm air that vents around the whole fridge can warm the exterior cabinet.

The defrost system can get stuck in the "on" position, causing unusual temperature levels. However, there is thermal coupler that automatically turns off the defrost if it exceeds a certain temp. Once the temp drops, it will turn on again. If both the defrost timer and the thermal coupler failed, then a dangerous overheat condition could occur, but that would be a rare occurence.

[richapplyguy]

Check for a clogged condenser or bad condenser fan. Measure the freezer temperature and post.