What you are actually seeing
- Cold spots and warm spots in the same compartment
- The fresh-food compartment is warm but the freezer is still cold
- Not this fault: Freezer fine, fresh food warm, and ice on the back wall of the freezer
Ranked causes on a Comptree Inc refrigerator
- Blocked air path between freezer and fresh-food compartment — Ranked here because: the interior fan is the whole cooling path on a thermoelectric unit and a critical one on the compressor units
- Evaporator fan not running — Ranked here because: this is a wear part with a service life rather than a component that fails at random
- Defrost cycle not clearing the evaporator — Ranked here because: the compressor cabinets in the range use the same short rear drain as every other compact
- Cold control or thermostat out of calibration — Ranked here because: the temperature control is a discrete part with a decisive test rather than a judgement call
What to check, and in what order
- If there is a frost slab, unplug the cabinet with the doors open for a full day, then run it and watch how long normal cooling lasts
- Put a thermometer in each compartment and read both after an hour
- Confirm the compressor and the condenser fan are running and that air is moving inside the freezer
- Clear the freezer and look at the rear wall and the vents between the compartments
Steps you can safely do yourself
- Confirm the compressor and the condenser fan are running and that air is moving inside the freezer — Tools: none — Estimated time: a few minutes
- Clear the freezer and look at the rear wall and the vents between the compartments — Tools: none — Estimated time: about ten minutes
- Unplug the cabinet, pull it out and clean the condenser coil and the condenser fan thoroughly — Tools: vacuum, coil brush — Estimated time: about half an hour
- Close the door on a strip of paper at several points around the frame and pull each one out — Tools: sheet of paper — Estimated time: a few minutes
Safety
Safety
fridge-40f freezer-0f unplug-before-service
When to call a technician
the condenser is clean, the fans run, the doors seal and the cabinet still will not cool — that is a sealed-system diagnosis the defrost fault returns after a manual defrost, since the heater and thermostat are behind the evaporator the compressor runs continuously and the compartment is hot rather than merely warm
Nearest pages
What this page does not cover
Not this fault: the family pages that separate the compressor cabinets from the thermoelectric ones Not this fault: model-specific pages once a model number is known
Links: - [Common Comptree Inc Refrigerator Problems](/blog/comptree-inc-refrigerator-problems) - [GE Refrigerator: Ice Maker Fault](/blog/ge-refrigerator-ice-production) - [GE Refrigerator: Controls, Display or Error Code](/blog/ge-refrigerator-control-fault) - [Comptree Inc Refrigerator: Abnormal Noise or Vibration](/blog/comptree-inc-refrigerator-abnormal-noise)
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
