Brian Ó Broin pearsanta personal: Noise from Fridge-Freezer - Freezer works but fridge not functioning

For several months we had noticed that the fridge was not functioning as well as it should. The freezer was still freezing, but the main fridge compartment wasn't cooling so well anymore. Milk was going off quicker, food was spoiling quicker, and beers just weren't as cool as they should be.

Lately things had got worse. It sounded like the fridge was possessed. Loud cracking sounds came from the interior and there was a regular knocking sound emanating from the very center of the fridge. We prepared for the worst and started putting money aside for a new fridge.

Eventually the noise stopped completely, but so did the fridge. The freezer kept working, but the main compartment didn't cool anything anymore. To keep the milk fresh we had to move ice trays from the freezer into the main compartment.

Here's where I started doing a little research. The freezer was still working, so that meant the cooling apparatus was functioning. Fridges typically only have one cooling unit, which serves both compartments. Why was it only cooling the freezer?

It seems that fridge-freezers send cooled air from the freezer into the main compartment using a fan and a duct. If the fan breaks, or if the duct is blocked, then the main compartment will no longer cool.

I thought back to the cracking and knocking sounds. Was this not the symptom of a damaged fan, particularly since the knocking was regular?

The internet provided most of my information, since our Maytag freezer-top refrigerator seems not to exist (Model number MTF2191ARW or MTF2191AR). In fact, the Whirlpool corporation makes it under several brand names. Variants exist under the brand names Amana, Danby, Whirlpool, and Maytag (and others). On the plus side, this suggested that spare parts would be easy to find.

In the case of this model, the evaporator is behind the back panel of the freezer. The panel itself has several grilles, the central one slightly convex and housing the fan. Under the grille is a duct leading to the main fridge compartment. The fan sends cooled air from the freezer into the main compartment.

Note: to get at the back panel you have to take out a wire shelf. It's difficult. You have to force the shelf further into the holes on one side of the freezer while pulling up on the other side, thus getting the other side out of the holes. You can then pull the shelf out of the first two holes.

After unplugging the fridge and removing the back panel (four screws) I noticed two things:

1) The fan had lost a blade and worked itself off its spindle

2) The duct was blocked with ice

Was the fan motor still working? Making sure that there was no obstruction to the fan or the motor, I plugged the fridge back in and gently touched the spindle. It was rotating, meaning that everything was working but the fan itself (the motor was fine).

Now it was a simple case of finding a replacement fan and hoping that the duct blockage was simply a side effect of the breakage. I was going to have to clear the duct of the ice, however (hint: use a hairdryer set to warm - DON'T use a knife or a screwdriver; be patient).

Finding a replacement fan wasn't the easy job I thought it would be - the Whirlpool corporation, eager to have its customers simply buy new fridges, protect their parts numbers and service manuals like state secrets, and I had to make a best guess. I ordered the fan on the internet ($11) but when it arrived it was several millimeters wider than the original, and therefore stuck fast to the walls of the housing when placed on the spindle.

What to do? The replacement part came with a website for instructions (servicematters.com) and this indicated to me that this part was actually the only sanctioned replacement for the fan in question (so my best guess was actually pretty good).

Could I grind the fan blades down?

Well - nothing to lose by trying.

A caveat: if you're grinding the blades of a fan, you must grind the exact same amount off each blade. If you don't, the fan will become unbalanced and fail very quickly.

I'm no expert on grinding, but I have a Dremel, and I have grinding bits, so I went to work.

To ensure balance, I numbered the blades, and gave each one about ten seconds of continuous grinding each (so ensuring more or less that the same amount of plastic was being ground off). I ground my way around the fan ten or twenty times (and possibly even double that) before I was satisfied that the fan could turn on the spindle without touching the sides of the housing.

To install the fan I simply pulled the wreckage of the broken fan off the spindle and pushed the new fan onto it. I pulled the metal clip off the new fan and reattached it after the fan was firmly back on the spindle.

The duct between the freezer and the main compartment of the fridge was blocked with ice (in fact, a lot of the space behind the panel had iced over), so I got a hairdryer and melted all the ice out of the rear area. Then I left it on in the freezer for another ten minutes to completely dry everything.

With nothing refastened I plugged the fridge back in and was delighted to see the fan spinning without making contact with anything around it. At least it was working, and that meant I was done.

Now all I had to do was replace and refasten all the parts and plug the fridge back in.

By the way: while I was at it, I also removed the back panel of the fridge and vacuumed the evaporator and condenser (and everything else back there). The back area was FILTHY, and really needed this cleaning. Vacuuming back there supposedly improves the fridge's functionality.

Now: be patient. The fridge's main compartment will suck all the cold air out of the freezer compartment until it has fully cooled, and that can take literally hours. Only then will the freezer begin to freeze. So don't panic if your ice cream melts.

You should find within a day (as I did) that the fridge is functioning normally again. Job well done! Reward yourself with a beer, nicely cooled in the main compartment!