Originally Posted by DasHooch
(Post 7274662)
Fridge rookies...
Get a screwdriver and take off the back panel from inside the freezer. There I suspect you will find your coils have frosted over, such that air cannot pass through the heat exchanger. No flow means no spreading of cold.
So if you have a spare fridge/freezer you can just leave it off for a day with a drip bucket. If you a in a rush, a hair dryer will hurry things up, but keep it moving, you don't want to melt any plastic parts (you can also pour hot water on it, but it's generally too wet and wild).
So, after defrosting the freezer, you could just slap it back together, and it would work for about 3 days before frosting over again. You need to find out why it is not defrosting itself. Three components plus wiring can be suspected: the 'motherboard', accessible from the outer rear; the thermostat/switch that clips onto the coils (a little round thing with two wires); or most likely, the defrost heater. Yes, fridges heat up the cooling coils when the thermostat senses it is too cold (frosting over).
The heating element looks a like a cylindrical light bulb; it probably has a blackened part of the glass, just like a blown light bulb.
If it's the heater, go to Mabe in Vancouver and buy a replacement kit. They sell the thermostats too. You can replace both for material cost less than a repairman would charge to look at it. Also much cheaper than a new fridge, until the compressor fails 6 months later. The heater is easy to install with a screwdriver, the wiring is plug in sockets. The thermostat will probably require some wire snipping, stripping and soldering, if you're into that (cover it with something watertight).
You'll need the model number of the fridge for the replacements, it should be on the upper right side of the fridge. If you unscrew the switch holder for the temp settings, you might find a circuit diagram and spare list inside.
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