Some people have all the luck...

[280plus]

I call my friend Bob, "Hey Bob, they put two different kinds of timer in your freezer so I need to come back over and check real quick to see which one you have. Can I come over tomorrow morning?"

Bob, "Normally I'd say yes but I'm in Hawaii."

Me, "HAWAII!! Well, then I guess you're probably not too worried about that freezer right now."  

[230RN]

I don't know much about appliance repair.

Dumb Question Department:

On one 'fridge I had, I could have sworn that they regulated temperature by changing the duty cycle rather than directly by temperature with a thermostat.  Just by the 'fridge's behavior, but I could never be sure about it.

You remarks about a timer indicate that I might have been right.  I can "see" a timer cam which changes the duty cycle by moving it toward or away from a switch with the control knob.  Or moving the switch, more likely.

So educate me, please.  It's been a long-standing question in the back of my mind.

Terry, "Source of all dumb questions," 230RN

[280plus]

In this particular case I am talking about a defrost timer for the freezer. They all have them but Bob's freezer is a commercial style. Trips to Hawaii to see the UCONN game(s), $6000 commercial fridge / freezer, wine cellar. Do you detect a pattern with Bob? 

Anyhoo, my thought is your observations MAY have been in relation to the defrost timer in your fridge. Most residential fridges will cool the fridge part by sucking air from the freezer part with a fan. So when it goes into a defrost, maybe once a day at the same time, it will not be cooling for a while ~30 minutes let's say and will also shut off the fan and compressor. So it could certainly appear to be a change in the duty cycle as you describe. Generally somewhere on the fridge is a knobbie that you can turn to manually trip it into or out of defrost. You can also use it to adjust the time that it goes into defrost each day. Off the top of my head I'd suggest one night just before you go to bed turn the knobbie (probably with a screwdriver) until you hear it click into defrost. Then it will defrost during a time your least likely to open the door, which will save you energy.

This, of course, may or may not actually apply to your particular situation and is at best a scientific wild ass guess as to what you were experiencing. 

 

[sanglant]

lol, ever seen a sidebyside model go into defrost every 8-10 hours. GE is the devil.

[280plus]

Honestly, I have very little experience with your basic residential refrigerator. Too many brands from God knows where all with their own little idiosyncrasies. I actually don't do much commercial refrigeration either these days. Same reason. It got to be too much of a PITA with parts and all. Bob is a friend so I made an exception but there's a prime example. I give the model # to one guy he says I have one kind of timer, then I give the same numbers to another guy who actually sells me the part and he says it's the other timer. So now I have to go back over to Bob's house and visually confirm which one it is becasue once I order it I own it. And THIS brand is one of the last actually constructed in the USA. Try getting parts for one made in Mexico.  

I mean, 230s fridge could very WELL have had some kind of duty cycle temp reg feature, I've never seen that but that doesn't mean it's not out there.

[280plus]

Now that I think about it again, it could also have been his defrost wasn't working and his evap coil was all plugged with ice. This prevents the air circulating down to the fridge part which will make it warmer and maybe act the same way he was describing. I dunno... 

[sanglant]

lol, the ge gets constipated and dumps water all over the floor.

[280plus]

clogged drain i'll bet you... 

[sanglant]

aye, dump hot water through it to clean it out every month and you can prevent it. all in the name of not having a drain tray. i would much rather have to empty the tray.