Frequently Asked Questions About Domestic Refrigerator Repair:

Manual defrost refrigerator is too cold

Hi, I have a refrigerator question for you. Recently everything in my refrigerator froze. I defrosted it and it was better for a day or two, but still really cold. I had it turned down as low as possible, but everything froze again, the thermostat never shut off. The temperature control setting mechanism wasn't designed to come off (~13 cf Welbilt). Do you think this is repairable? Does it sound like a thermostat problem or something else? Thanks for any help you can give me.

We don't have Welbilt refrigerators where I'm from (Canada) so I'm blind here about the details of this model. Anyway, I'm assuming it is a manual defrost because you stated you defrosted it.

Now a refrigerator of this design will be too cold for one of three reasons.

First, the frost line is not complete around the entire freezer box due to a hermetic system problem. You will know this if the frost that you removed was not around the entire box. This would be a more serious problem that you may want to get an estimate on first.

Second, the sensing end of the control must be firmly attached to the freezer box. Sometimes these come off.

Third, the control itself is insensitive or the internal contacts stick together. Even though it looks like it is not replaceable it has to be. Usually the dial pries straight off to expose the screws holding it to the frame underneath.

So if the frost line is complete and the control capillary end is firmly attached, the problem will be the cold control. My book or video can help you do this repair yourself, if you are so inclined.