Looking for a sanity check.
Our 13 month old Whirlpool side by side refrigerator (out of warranty) has started putting a strong chemical odor out of the air ducts into the freezer and ice maker - and with the air dampener into the fridge section, in there too. Not a food odor by any means but the ice and any food not well sealed is getting fouled. Refrigerator is clean, no old food ever.
Got a repair tech out yesterday and he gave it a pretty cursory check and said it was fine and he couldn’t explain the odor. As he shuffled food around in the freezer one last time he noticed some ice on the rear wall of the freezer (panel over evaporator coil). So we pulled food, shelves and inside panel off and said everything looks normal. But what I saw was the lower 80% of the coil was iced up with what I would guess would average 1/16” to 1/8 inch thick. Not enough to bridge between coils, but thoroughly iced up, not frosted. He said the defroster cycle takes care of it, which I guess I bought at the moment, put it back together, took a check and left.
After he left I started thinking about that (slow mental processes I guess) and said to myself that didn’t look right. Called up Whirlpool tech line and a women said frost OK - ice, something is going on and not right. Called my air conditioning buddy, and he disclaimed to be a refrigeration appliance tech but said ice does not sound right. So, trying to get back in touch with the repair tech but in the meantime just checking that ice buildup on the evaporator coils isn’t right. Probably low gas or defroster malfunction, my guess.
Sound like a problem?
Our 13 month old Whirlpool side by side refrigerator (out of warranty) has started putting a strong chemical odor out of the air ducts into the freezer and ice maker - and with the air dampener into the fridge section, in there too. Not a food odor by any means but the ice and any food not well sealed is getting fouled. Refrigerator is clean, no old food ever.
Got a repair tech out yesterday and he gave it a pretty cursory check and said it was fine and he couldn’t explain the odor. As he shuffled food around in the freezer one last time he noticed some ice on the rear wall of the freezer (panel over evaporator coil). So we pulled food, shelves and inside panel off and said everything looks normal. But what I saw was the lower 80% of the coil was iced up with what I would guess would average 1/16” to 1/8 inch thick. Not enough to bridge between coils, but thoroughly iced up, not frosted. He said the defroster cycle takes care of it, which I guess I bought at the moment, put it back together, took a check and left.
After he left I started thinking about that (slow mental processes I guess) and said to myself that didn’t look right. Called up Whirlpool tech line and a women said frost OK - ice, something is going on and not right. Called my air conditioning buddy, and he disclaimed to be a refrigeration appliance tech but said ice does not sound right. So, trying to get back in touch with the repair tech but in the meantime just checking that ice buildup on the evaporator coils isn’t right. Probably low gas or defroster malfunction, my guess.
Sound like a problem?
