Expert: Carl Goodwin - 7/26/2006

Question
I have a Whirlpool side-by-side refrigerator, about 6 years old. My freezer is below 0 degrees, but the fridge side is not cooling (stays about 50-60 degrees). I had a service tech come out today and he confirmed that the compressor, relay, condenser fan are all working properly. The compressor is extremely hot which he thinks is normal. He also checked the air vents that blow cold air from the freezer into the fridge and there was no frost build up. He said the fridge door gasket (seal) is also tight, but in my opinion it is a little loose compared to the freezer side. He looked at the evaporator coils in the freezer and found frost on only half of the coils. He immediately suspected a freon leak and told me to get a new refrigerator.

My question is, if it's a freon leak, why would the freezer be working so well? It's only the fridge side that's not cooling. If there is
indeed a freon leak, would you expect the freezer to be functioning properly?

Answer
Faiz,
A refrigerant leak will cause incomplete frosting of the evaporator (as is your case). It SHOULD also cause improper operation in the freezer, although not all the time. An evaporator fan that is faulty will also cause this problem. Without knowing when the fridge last when through a defrost (and thus melting all the ice), it is hard to tell if there IS a refrigerant leak. The only way to tell for sure is by hooking up gauges to check to see if the system is in a vacuum or not. I would suggest that you make sure the evaporator fan is working properly, and that the light is actually going off when the door is closed. For the record, the fridge doesn't use "Freon". Freon on a tradename for DuPont refrigerant, and NOT the name of R134A refrigerant. I hope this helps! :)