Troubleshooting an Iced Up Fridge Freezer.

My fridge recently stopped keeping the bottom section cold and there was zero airflow from the vents. Topside in the freezer there was ice build up which is a bad sign in my auto-defrost fridge. I have this fridge for 11 years and I want to keep it a couple more years to come so I went about finding to reason for its lack of cooling.

Mind you this instructable is lacking certain details since I did the repair job at midnight and I was extremely sleep too. Think of it as the Dr. Who's Shada episode. You know, that horribly put together episode series where Tom Baker narrates all of the episodes because they never completed the filming. It was cheesy and extremely minimal effort so much so I wanted to pan my brain pan. Anyhoo, consider this instructable the Shada of all instructables.

The first step is to empty the freezer of food, remove the shelf, the base cover then the Air Duct cover. All of this is quite easy but I didn't take pics. Sorry. The light fixture has to come off as shown.

Step 1: Removing the Rear Cover Panel.

Just a single screw for my fridge and the rear panel came out by pulling the left side of it forward. Also the left shelf support needed to be popped out.

Step 2: Inspection.

The root of the problem! Ice build up. This happened because the electronic defrost time I had set to save energy and not defrost often enough. I fixed that afterwards by making it defrost for 30mins every 10hours.

Step 3: More Checks.

By disconnecting the heater I tested the resistance and got 49ohms, which is good. The thermostat leads I did the same and got continuity, also good. I powered up the fridge, forced a defrost cycle, used my Kill-A-Watt meter and thermal camera to verify proper operation. Sorry for no pics there but remember that Dr. Who episode.

Step 4: Checking the Drain Line and Air Duct.

The drain line i poured some water into it and saw it discharge into the pan above the compressor. No clogged drain! Hooray! The Air Duct was clear and good for service. I put back all the panels, light fixture, shelf and food. Now the fridge works perfect again.

This instructables seems rushed and ill prepared right? Yes it is! Just like that Dr. Who Shada series.