Freezer acting up, need help figuring out what is wrong

[Opus]

Hoping their are some appliance repair guys on here that might be able to pinpoint my freezer issue. A few weeks ago we replaced our 15 year old side by side fridge. My wife wanted to keep the old one in the garage for storing drinks and my fish food. This weekend when I went to get some food I noticed the pack was thawed out. Checked the few other items in the freezer and they were the same. Moved everything to our other freezer and checked the freezer the next day and it was still the same. It is cold but not freezing. I unplugged the fridge for about an hour and then plugged it back in. The freezer got cold enough to freeze my fish food I put in there as a test. Checked it the next morning and it was back to being very cold but not enough to freeze the food. Been doing searches but haven't seen anyone with my problem. Most of the issues I see say it should also effect the fridge part and it seems to be fine. Fridge is a whirlpool, model GD5PHAXLB01.

Not sure if it matters but it has an ice maker and I have it turned off.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Does it have a temperature control knob on it anywhere? Might be stuck in a higher temperature setting or something, also might have jarred something loose while moving and leaked some refrigerant. It's 15 years old so it may use freon.

 

[Mopartech]

is your garage heated? if not it has to do with the temperature of the garage. if it gets too cold the freezer will shut off so the lines wont freeze. its a safety thing. happens with my mom's.

 

[Opus]

is your garage heated? if not it has to do with the temperature of the garage. if it gets too cold the freezer will shut off so the lines wont freeze. its a safety thing. happens with my mom's.

I was thinking that but we have another freezer next to it and it is working fine. Supposed to be in the 50's by Friday, so if that is the issue I will find out then I guess.

 

[Opus]

is your garage heated? if not it has to do with the temperature of the garage. if it gets too cold the freezer will shut off so the lines wont freeze. its a safety thing. happens with my mom's.

Well, it has been in the 50's here and it is still doing it so I guess that wasn't the problem. I was hoping it would be an easy fix but from my research it looks like it could be 3 or 4 different things causing it. The parts range from $25 to $300 so not sure I want to throw money at it. May just wait and see if I can pick up a cheap new side by side in the scratch n dent section of Sears or Best Buy.

 

[five.five-six]

Does it have a temperature control knob on it anywhere? Might be stuck in a higher temperature setting or something, also might have jarred something loose while moving and leaked some refrigerant. It's 15 years old so it may use freon.

Our garage fridge is an over freezer and under fridge section and there is a temp control knob that is at the top of the fridge section and you really can’t see it unless you stoop down to look for it or you are a 6-year-old like ours who likes turning things and turned it off ruins hundreds of dollars of food one day the end.


Try unplugging it for several days, it’s common for the refrigeration coils to freez over and it takes a day or to for them to melt compleatly. DO NOT TRY AND SPEED UP THE PROCESS WITH A HEAT GUN OR HAIR DRYER.

 

[Opus]

The freezer has been staying at -5 when I've checked it over the last 4 days. Fridge is staying around 37. Temps are supposed to fall again by this weekend so if the problem comes back then I will assume it is the outside temps causing the problems.

 

[ReeferBob]

It is frozen coils. They could be getting too cold due to low refrigerant. Also could be really dirty and/or blocked coils. Give it a good cleaning.

 

[Suspect]

Rub some vaseline on the gasket.

 

[Tarpongriller]

Take the back off and make sure the condenser fan is running when the compressor is running . The evaporated fan in freezer side will also be running. If u obtained temps -5 and 37 that tells you no leaks and compressor is ok. Every few days the defrost control will turn evaporated heater on to defrost coil. If that doesn’t happen after 7 to 10 days the coil will be impacted with snow/ice. You can see the frost building out off the inside back freezer wall. That’s when temps rise in both sides. Fresh food relies on air flow from freezer. Rare but also peek behind the gasket and make sure the light is off. Sometimes the garage floor is pitched and can throw door alignment off enough to affect door switch. 40years of appliance repair history. Good luck Jim C