Might have lost my garage fridge

[ISurvivednmu]

My freezer door was left open for a few days and now it seems either the freezer part of the fridge is not working or the general low temps in the garage (40F) are too low for it to work.

This is an older unit that is not frost free.

The fridge part seems to work, but the bottle of water in the freezer is not frozen.

Any ideas on how to test things or if the temps might be killing the fridge?

 

[rburke65]

I have no experience on this type of appliance but some one on this site will jump in and offer some help. Welcome to the Garage Journal....from Ohio!

 

[johninct]

I would unplug it , open the doors and let it defrost for a few days then try it again.

 

[Wood'nMetal]

I would bet that the compressor ran constantly and the evap or coils froze up. I second the idea of unplugging it for a day or two then trying it again.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Not sure if the stickers from the manufacturer are still on your fridge but there should be a specified operating range on there. I'm unsure of the exact numbers but after reading many comments on here most guys will tell you to unplug the fridge in your garage if it's un heated or has a possibility of falling below those temperatures inside. I unplug mine during the extremely cold winter months to avoid frying it.

 

[Jagmandave]

I moved mine from the garage down to the basement adjacent to the garage for just this reason. My older one (circa 1986) had absolutely no issues with my 40* winter temps in my garage, but the new ones don't like anything below 50*.

I may wind up moving my air compressor down there too, it does NOT like to start in cold weather......

Since this is an older unit, I agree with opening up and letting it defrost, tho with garage temps in the 40's it may take more than a few days. I put a box fan in front of mine to hurry it along but it still took a couple of days.

 

[ISurvivednmu]

Thanks guys, I will unplug it and see what happens. When I do that, I will look for stickers to see if it has a range. I have a backup ready to move in, but its smaller and I would like to see this one keep running.

 

[Two Sheds]

I had this same problem when I moved my house refrigerator and freezer to the unheated garage while I was remodeling. The freezing compartment of the refrigerator wasn't keeping as cold as it did in the house. This was because the thermostat was in the refrigerator portion, which was almost the same temperature as the garage air, so the compressor didn't need to run much to maintain temperature. I moved the frozen foods to the stand-alone freezer until the weather warmed up; by then the fridge was working normally

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

It's likely that the air channel from the fridge to the freezer froze up - which explains why the fridge is cold and the freezers NOT.

Unplug it and let it thaw. Hopefully good as new.

I remember something like that happening to our kitchen fridge.

Jim

 

[Moose02]

i agree with the unplug it

but if you are in Mi just open your doors you don't need no stinking freezer