Whirlpool side by side, fridge side freezing contents…

[JagNutter73]

Hi All,

I’ve read through the multitude of Whirlpool American side by side fridge freezer issues and whilst they give hints towards my problem none of them are exactly it. Therefore I’ll explain my problem and try and fill in what I’ve learned from the other issues….

Model: FRSB36AF20/2
Service Number: 8586 158 15040

Bought the unit just over a year ago and hence just out of warranty! First noticed that some of the fruit and veg were frozen and hence had to be thrown away. Tried looking around the unit for possible reasons, blocked vents, dodgy seals, thermostat covered etc but nothing obvious.

Rang the Whirlpool service line to check that I wasn’t missing anything obvious prior to calling out an engineer and got told, what I believe is a load of rubbish, i.e. that the temperature setting for the fridge works the opposite way round and hence if it is too cold that I should set the display to a lower setting to warm it up!! Thought I’d give it a go just to check and bought a cheap fridge thermometer (not calibrated but probably close enough!) to check. Changing display made no real difference.

Fridge temperature ranges from 0 to -5 degrees seemingly independant of the display setting. Whilst I was at it, I thought I’d check the freezer side even though it appeared to be fine. Whilst the display was set to -18 the actual was nearer -11.

Worth pointing out at this point that at no point have I got any sort of warnings from the displays etc, either audible or visual.

I checked the manual again and noticed the comment about turning the unit off for a while and then turning it back on again. Upon turning it on I got a flashing “d” but after a while this was replaced by the 5 degree legend.

Since then the water has stopped working but I suspect that the supply has frozen (coil of pipes at real of fridge) as the fridge temp is so low and the water rarely used.

Whilst reading through the other Whirlpool posts there would seem to be several suspects:

PCBs
Thermostats
Air Flow damper

The PCB fault seems to be very common but the failure conditions seem a little different.

The thermostats were my fisrt thought but seeing as the temperature seems to be out in both halves, this seems less likely although not impossible.

The air flow damper seems to make the most sense as this controls the air flow from the freezer section to the fridge half in order to get the right temperature. If this blocked open then the temp in the freezer would fall and the fridge would get too cold. However I would have thought I’d get some warning from the fridge thermostat?

Can someone shed some light as to whether I’m barking up the wrong tree, or if I’m not, how I can a) prove it and b) fix it.

Apologies for the long ramble but thought it best to post all the available info.

Cheers in advance and anticipation of your useful responses.

Craig

[JagNutter73]

Re: Whirlpool side by side, fridge side freezing contents…

UPDATE:

Taken the panel off the inside of the fridge section. The motorised baffle appeared to be stuck. After a little bit of playing the baffle now moves freely but doesn’t appear to move of it’s own accord…

If I leave it closed the fridge gets warm (obviously!) and if I leave it open the fridge cools down, the fan cuts out at the right temperature but as it stays open the freezer air still finds it’s way in and the temperature creeps further down.

Question now is, how is the motorised baffle attached? I can’t see any fixings so guess it is glued on? Is this the case before I lever it off! Anyone know how to test operation and where to get one? My particular model doesn’t seem to be quoted on most parts websites so is there an equivalent model?

Any help gratefully received…

Craig

[piersx]

Re: Whirlpool side by side, fridge side freezing contents…

Hi Craig,
I have exactly the same issue with fridge contents freezing at bottom of fridge side. Did you ever resolve the issue?
Thanks,
Piers

[JagNutter]

Re: Whirlpool side by side, fridge side freezing contents…

Hi,

yes the fault was as I predicted. It seems to be a common fault and since owning the fridge I have now changed the damper twice.

The part isn’t too expensive and isn’t that hard to fit. If you get the new part first, by looking at it, it isn’t too difficult to work out how to take the old one off. You just have to remove the small covers at the top of both sections so you can access the damper and the fixings on the other side.

I hope this helps.

[piersx]

Re: Whirlpool side by side, fridge side freezing contents…

Thanks Craig,
I replaced the damper and Fridge was fine for a while but now freezing in salad trays at bottom only. Suspect it may be frozen cold water pipes as dispenser does not work on this one. Considering removing piping as this is not used but ice dispenser part works ok.
Piers

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