Side by Side Fridge Question

[sattie]

We have a Kenmore side by side fridge and wanted to ask a rather strange question. And, if anyone knows, if it should be a concern.

We have never noticed it before until one day we had both the fridge and freezer doors open and my hand was leaning on the part in the middle that separates the fridge from the freezer. This piece is amazingly hot... through the entire lenght. Is it supposed to be that way?

About a year ago or so, we had a rather strong electrical storm come through and we heard something that sounded like it came from the fridge, but could not be certain. It seemed after that incident is when we noticed that the piece in the middle stays extremely warm.

Any insight is appreciated!!!

 

[Half Baked]

Give Sears a call and see what they say. How old is the frig?

 

[FryBoy]

I suspect it might be just the automatic defrost cycle doing it's thing. Does the internal temp stay where it should?

 

[sattie]

Calling Sears is useless to me. They will not answer any questions without first wanting to schedule a service call which will run $40 or more. But I will give it a try.

The internal temp is fine. It could be that it has done this all along and just have never noticed it before. DH tends to worry about it a bit (imagine that, the roles are reversed!), so there for I am asking you kind folks.

I appreciate your replys.

 

[GB]

Sears often has fridges in the store that are plugged in. Maybe if you go to Sears you will luck out and they will have your model there and plugged in. That way you could feel theirs and see if it is hot too.

 

[JCook]

I have the same fridge as you and I went and checked the middle section on mine to see if it was hot and it was. So if I were you I wouldn't worry if everything else seems normal.

 

[Corey123]

That part on the divider that you all are speaking of is called the mullion - a funny name, and yes, it DOES get quite warm or hot to the touch.

All frost-free fridges have this feature, from the top-freezer models, bottom-mount models, as well as the SBS models.

And the reason for this part getting so warm or hot to the touch is because it either has an electric heater strip there behind the narrow panel, or a tube of hot refrigerant that flows through it. It keeps the freezer and fresh food doors' gaskets from freezing up and sticking to the cabinet by warming them up and keeping them warm and dry, which could otherwise tear the door gaskets, in time.

And in most of today's models, there REALLY IS a tube of hot refrigerant that surrounds the front of the freezer compartment to keep the door gasket from sticking to the cabinet and to help prevent that area from freezing up. So technically, there really is nothing wrong with your fridge, Sattie. That's the way that it works. I hope that this has helped you.


~Corey123.

 

[Dove]

What an informative answer. Thanks Corey.

This must be your line of work.

$40.00 for a house call isn't bad. My son's x-roommate is an appliance repairman and it is $130.00 to walk in your front door.

 

[Corey123]

You're quite welcome! Glad to help!!

Unfortunately, this isn't my line of work. It's cooking - which I've just landed a job in the field. I sign the paperwork on Tuesday, but it starts out as dishwashing until a cook's position opens up soon.

I'm doing this mainly to get my foot in the door, as I desperately need a job to keep the rent and utility bills paid and to work on getting a car.
But the co. promotes current employees from within before hiring off the street again.

However, I DID do repairs on major appliances, including my own. Sears includes a parts list with most of their major appliances, and this part is usually illustrated in that parts list that comes with their refrigerators.


~Corey123.

 

[licia]

Mine isn't hot - it must be the cycle it was in.

 

[Robo410]

Had a GE side by side (20 yrs old, still working fine) and yes the gasket in the middle was always warm to hot.

 

[Corey123]

Mine isn't hot - it must be the cycle it was in.

Incidently, the last refirgerator that I had ACTUALLY DID sweat and freeze up in that same area - between the freezer and fresh food sections! And the door gaskets ACTUALLY DID stick to the cabinet and tear.

It was an old Gibson model, and even though it was frost-free, it started falling apart little by little. Things like the veggie crisper's support holders on the side broke and the thing would freeze up in the fresh food section, causing things like celery, tomatoes and other items to freeze up.

All of which prompted me to buy the new Whirlpool unit.


~Corey123.

 

[sattie]

That part on the divider that you all are speaking of is called the mullion - a funny name, and yes, it DOES get quite warm or hot to the touch.

All frost-free fridges have this feature, from the top-freezer models, bottom-mount models, as well as the SBS models.

And the reason for this part getting so warm or hot to the touch is because it either has an electric heater strip there behind the narrow panel, or a tube of hot refrigerant that flows through it. It keeps the freezer and fresh food doors' gaskets from freezing up and sticking to the cabinet by warming them up and keeping them warm and dry, which could otherwise tear the door gaskets, in time.

And in most of today's models, there REALLY IS a tube of hot refrigerant that surrounds the front of the freezer compartment to keep the door gasket from sticking to the cabinet and to help prevent that area from freezing up. So technically, there really is nothing wrong with your fridge, Sattie. That's the way that it works. I hope that this has helped you.


~Corey123.

Wow, THANK YOU Corey!!!!! Not this should put hubby to ease. I suspected it was something that should happen but was not positive. I checked our old HotPoint out in the garage and it is warm, just not near as warm and the Kenmore. Very imformative!!!! I gotta go give you some love!

Anyhow, I just checked it and it is hot. You mentioned something about cycles, so are you saying that there should be some times when it is not so hot? Because it seems to be that way all the time.

 

[sattie]

What an informative answer. Thanks Corey.

This must be your line of work.

$40.00 for a house call isn't bad. My son's x-roommate is an appliance repairman and it is $130.00 to walk in your front door.

It is actually more than that..... but when only one person in the household is working, you really want to know if you truly need a repair person.... not to have someone come to your house and say " Oh, it supposed to do that, that will be $40 please"......

 

[Corey123]

Wow, THANK YOU Corey!!!!! Not this should put hubby to ease. I suspected it was something that should happen but was not positive. I checked our old HotPoint out in the garage and it is warm, just not near as warm and the Kenmore. Very imformative!!!! I gotta go give you some love!

Anyhow, I just checked it and it is hot. You mentioned something about cycles, so are you saying that there should be some times when it is not so hot? Because it seems to be that way all the time.

You're welcome!!

I think it's that way all the time, unless there is a hot refrigerant tube there, which would get warm when the compressor runs.


~Corey123.

 

[sattie]

Corey, since you provided that info to me, I got to looking around on the web for the word mullion. It stated that if it was extremely hot to check the compressor fan. Sure enough, the fan appeared not to be working. So I bought the part and replaced the fan motor and it now works!!! Corey, again, thanks so much! Otherwise I am sure something else would have went wrong and then I would really be paying out the wha-zoo for repairs. The fan motor ran me about $65 and took me about 45 minutes to replace.

Thanks Corey, and thanks to everyone else as well!!!!!!

 

[Sephora]

If you ever have questions about your appliances and someone as wonderful as Corey isn't around, you can download most appliance manuals online and they have a section that tells the "odd" or "strange" things your fridge will do. Mine was making gurgling noises and freezing the stuff in the back. The gurgling was listed as the defroster cycling and the freezing was operator error. It was nice to not have to have a service call and find out everything was working normally.

 

[sattie]

I keep all the manuals to my appliances and either 1. I did not consult the manual for this particular issue, or 2. I did and just don't remember it, or it did not say anything about this particular issue. But I had to use the manual to figure out how to put the fan on the motor. The fan has to be put on a certain way to where the ridges were facing out. That was kinda tricky!!!!

One thing I have learned over the years... keep your manuals. I keep all mine in a file cabinet. They are all in one place and readily avaliable.

 

[ChefJune]

Calling Sears is useless to me. They will not answer any questions without first wanting to schedule a service call which will run $40 or more. But I will give it a try.

I was surprised to see you did not have a service contract for your fridge. I got one when I bought my AC from Sears, and it has proven extremely valuable. They come and co any kind of service (including preventive maintenance) for NO charge, and should my unit break down irreparably, they will replace it free of charge if my contract is in effect. I am sure if I'd purchased a Kenmore fridge I'd have also signed up for a service contract on it, as well.

 

[Andy M.]

A service contract is a product appliance stores sell because they make money on it. That is, customers pay more for service contracts than what the store has to spend to honor them.

There are some products that are prone to failure and there are lemons out there, so some will benefit from a contract, overall, you will lose money on them.

I am talking about averages here. Some people benefit from having a SC and the store loses money on them. But, on the average, there is a profit to be had.

PS: Some stores buy an insurance policy or sell the contract to another provider so they have their money and don't care what happens.