As with any complicated system, it needs to be diagnosed by a professional who specializes in that type of appliance. Weather it is a refrigerator, washing machine, furnace -- knowledge and testing equipment is everything.

When my last tenant who's refrigerator went out, I had to come with my huge portable ice chest half filled with ice. I had to remove everything from the tenants freezer to access the rear panel. I tested and found the defrost timer defective, the temperature sensor wasn't working within range. The blower fan, heating element and compressor were good. So I installed a new defrost timer and temp sensor, costing me a whopping $25.

No, it does not sound right. Should get much colder much faster.

If you paid this guy to fix it, and he didn't, call him back so he does.

Thank you. The person who came advertised himself as an appliance mechanic and it was written all over his truck.

Two things stick out. He came in and looked and spoke out loud wondering what was the problem and I said, maybe it's a fan and then I unloaded the fridge and he removed the panel and the fan was not working. The coil wasn't a "huge block of ice' but it was covered with ice and no it did not defrost while he was there. I asked him about it and he said "that's what you want". Obviously you said it's not right to have that, Gevans.

So prepandemic Ally would have run out and got a new one instead. I am $350 into this problem with the repair guy. I looked at the local appliance store online and they have a lot of very expensive stuff in stock but the Plain Jane stuff I want is not. I think there is one model. I am going to call them in a few minutes and see what the situation is. Remember we have a problem on this coast with getting fridges during the pandemic. I had to get a smaller one for my tenant a few months ago. Maybe I should put this one on the porch or in garage or basement for emergency use if a tenant's fridge should break.

Spoke to my cousin today who grew up in his Dad's appliance store and he says it's a good idea to get the second opinion since it's so hard for me to handle the mess two times in a row. Maybe another guy can make a pre repair. they know the guy I am calling tomorrow and he's OK. His brother, my other cousin, does kitchen remodels nearby in Pennsy and he is having a very hard time getting fridges. It's a high end area. So I will keep fixing it but be careful how much I buy. I can shop every day and do have the box freezer in the basement.

I’m not a full up appliance pro, but I have worked on several hundred fridges.... I fix them and resell on marketplace when I’m not landlording. The first thing I’m wondering is the style of fridge? If it’s a top freezer with fridge below it will most likely only have a single evaporator fan. This fan blows air across the super cooled aluminum fins that help make up the evaporator. Eventually the dense cool air sinks to the refrigerator compartment with a little help from that same fan.

So curiously adjusting the fridge temperature only controls a damper that allows more or less sharing of the cold freezer air. The freezer temp control actually has an impact on the fridge temp because if it’s at negative 10 versus +10 it’s sure as heck going to effect the potency of the air shared with the fridge compartment. However modern side by side fridges and some newer top mount freezers automate the process with a blend door that is electronically controlled.

It’s possible the gruffy repair guy thawed just enough Ice accumulation to allow the fan to spin freely. However if there is still a good deal of ice accumulation on the coil it will need to run a few defrost cycles. Most fridges defrost for about 20minutes every 12 hrs. I’d check the temps again in the morning. Another thing to note, if you happen to check a fridge while it’s in defrost you might see an abnormally high temp. 20mins of defrost every 12 hrs is something like 5% off the time the fridge is actually heating up to melt ice. And there also must be some percentage of time it takes to actually get back to the desired cooling range. Most repair guys have temperature loggers so they can review a several day period of data. They just don’t like to leave them because it would be another trip charge to come back for it.

Im sure this write up misses some key points but I put it down anyway in case you might find it helpful. I do trust the old timers who keep there head down and bang out the repairs..the gruffier, the better!. Most of them would be glad to return if they don’t get it right the first time because it could be a chance for them to learn something new. Most repair problems are a single failed component, but sometimes it can be a compound issues. For instance, he could arrive to a poorly cooling fridge and diagnose it as a bad fan motor. But it’s possible the fan motor went bad because the defrost heater stopped. With no defrost cycle the ice could accumulate and over time engulf the fan and cause the fan to fail.

I’m not a full up appliance pro, but I have worked on several hundred fridges.... I fix them and resell on marketplace when I’m not landlording. The first thing I’m wondering is the style of fridge? If it’s a top freezer with fridge below it will most likely only have a single evaporator fan. This fan blows air across the super cooled aluminum fins that help make up the evaporator. Eventually the dense cool air sinks to the refrigerator compartment with a little help from that same fan.

So curiously adjusting the fridge temperature only controls a damper that allows more or less sharing of the cold freezer air. The freezer temp control actually has an impact on the fridge temp because if it’s at negative 10 versus +10 it’s sure as heck going to effect the potency of the air shared with the fridge compartment. However modern side by side fridges and some newer top mount freezers automate the process with a blend door that is electronically controlled.

It’s possible the gruffy repair guy thawed just enough Ice accumulation to allow the fan to spin freely. However if there is still a good deal of ice accumulation on the coil it will need to run a few defrost cycles. Most fridges defrost for about 20minutes every 12 hrs. I’d check the temps again in the morning. Another thing to note, if you happen to check a fridge while it’s in defrost you might see an abnormally high temp. 20mins of defrost every 12 hrs is something like 5% off the time the fridge is actually heating up to melt ice. And there also must be some percentage of time it takes to actually get back to the desired cooling range. Most repair guys have temperature loggers so they can review a several day period of data. They just don’t like to leave them because it would be another trip charge to come back for it.

Im sure this write up misses some key points but I put it down anyway in case you might find it helpful. I do trust the old timers who keep there head down and bang out the repairs..the gruffier, the better!. Most of them would be glad to return if they don’t get it right the first time because it could be a chance for them to learn something new. Most repair problems are a single failed component, but sometimes it can be a compound issues. For instance, he could arrive to a poorly cooling fridge and diagnose it as a bad fan motor. But it’s possible the fan motor went bad because the defrost heater stopped. With no defrost cycle the ice could accumulate and over time engulf the fan and cause the fan to fail.

If you order a frig today, it might be upwards of 6 weeks to get it.

I had one delivered last week which took six weeks and I have one coming next week - that one is only 4 weeks.

He might have been casing you, but most techs are making enough money they can afford investments…so he legit may have been interested in them as an asset. However on the flip side, landlords have a keen intuition. I trust your read in him and was so focused on your fridge troubles, I skipped his peculiarities.

I’m on few appliance forums geared like mrlandlord however for repair guys. They have their own secret talks about people that have them come in through the garage and require booties and so forth. It almost seems like a chip on their shoulder, maybe feeling a little undervalued and looked down on. Which is funny because all them who are decent at the trade are well into 6 figures…and 7 when they oversee a fleet. Just some insight.

For your fridge, a frosty evaporator is perfection. The aluminum will have a nice coat of frost —-which would build for eternity if it weren’t for the defrost heater that comes on every 12hrs. Sounds very much like you will be able to get a whole lot more value from that fridge. I intentionally keep some of the older fridges I repair for my rentals. They are the ones that where built to last. Once the cell phone makers like LG and Samsung entered the appliance business it became a race to shorten the product cycle. They will have us buying new fridges every 3 years if something doesn’t change.

Smart money in my area spends the big bucks for their personal fridges. Thermadore, subzero. They end up lasting 20 years and there’s a certain joy to owning one. For rentals it’s the well cared for older fridges for me. And like all things it just depends on your target tenant.

Fridge cooling systems are so nearly identical to home systems that seasoned landlords are already half way to being fridge techs. Just like a residential Hvac condenser, fridges need to have the condenser coil clean so they have a means to exhaust the heat they are extracting. I’ve picked up a great deal of poor functioning fridges that worked great by the time I hauled them down the interstate and the wind blew all the dust of the coil. Now days people don’t consider maintenance for appliances at all. Best of luck with your fridge and let me know if you think I can help.