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We have a Whirlpool fridge with french doors, similar to this model that is around 2 years old.

We have both the fridge and freezer parts sets as cold as they will get. This is -5F for the freezer and 33F for the fridge. The fridge is staying about this cold, but the freezer is only getting down to around 24-26F, and it seems like it is warmer because some ice cream we keep in this freezer always seems very soft when we pull it out.

This unit also seems to be inordinately slow at making ice. It has the ice container in the door, and even re-enabled the "fast ice" feature every 24 hours it isn't keeping the ice bay full even with only moderate ice usage. (I would estimate usage is no more than a quart by volume, including gaps between the cubes, while the bay itself holds a bit more than a gallon.) I'm not sure what the long-term effect of perpetually commanding fast ice is, or if this can be a problem. It's not fast enough for us even on the "fast" setting so I'm a bit perplexed by this setting.

There does not seem to be any blockage in air flow, but it seems like the unit runs a lot - although it is pretty quite and unless you stand up close to it or actually open the freezer drawer you might not know it. It was repaired for the opposite problem about 9 months ago (not cooling in the fridge part) and they replaced - I want to say they said it was an invertor.

Update: When "fast ice" is turned off the freezer temp does drop slightly - about 4-5 degrees, so it's around 20F, which is still 25 degrees above what it's set for. I suspect that fast ice is really just trying to direct more cold to the ice maker in the top of the fridge, but with temperatures only 5-10 degrees of melting it's no wonder ice takes so long to make.

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  • Is this fridge in your kitchen/indoors or is it in an partially outdoor/uninsulated area like a garage? Sometimes cold temperatures in the environment around a fridge can cause these symptoms, if that applies to your situation I will elaborate in an answer.
    – Cameron Roberts
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 18:45
  • @CameronRoberts Nope, it's in an air conditioned / heated part of the house (i.e. the kitchen)
    – Michael
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 19:15
  • Condenser fan is running OK?
    – rogerdpack
    Commented Nov 9, 2020 at 5:29

2 Answers 2

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I had pretty much the same problem with an old (I think) Frigidaire. It had the compressor & evaporator in the bottom of the fridge and used a rectangular air duct to get cold air up to the freezer. After a series of very humid days and lots of ice use (opening and closing the freezer door repeatedly) the air duct iced up. I had to use a hair dryer to blow hot air down the duct to defrost it, emptying the drip pan under the fridge each time it filled up.

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  • I'll take a look and see if I can find such a duct. Is this accessible from under the fridge?
    – Michael
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 19:15
  • I didn't find anything on the evaporator side of the fridge, but the coils had a dust bunny level of obstruction which might have been impeding the flow of air over the coils, reducing efficiency. I vacuumed up as much as I could, there is still a moderate level of dust on the interior coils that just isn't reachable by anything as large as a vacuum wand. I'll keep an eye on the temps and see if they improve now.
    – Michael
    Commented May 15, 2019 at 19:49
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Knowing nothing else, I'd guess that you have a leak in the door seal of the freezer section somewhere.

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  • I'll check that, thanks! However, could that also explain the slow ice making? It's in a completely different area.
    – Michael
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 19:56
  • Yes, absolutely in fact that's the first thing that usually points to a bad seal on a freezer. I just noticed the "in the door" part too, and in your door ice delivery port, there is a "flapper" of rubber that seals the opening after the ice drops through. That sometimes gets ice built up on it or it gets old and weak and doesn't seal.
    – JRaef
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 17:48
  • I checked all the seals around the doors and there is no evidence of a leak (i.e. the metal at the edge of the seal is not cold or colder than expected. I did notice that if I turn off fast ice the freezer temp drops by 4-5 degrees; will add that into the question.
    – Michael
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 19:14

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