Refrigerator cold, freezer warm

[pungo]

New member seeking advice.
I have a 4 year old Bosch refrigerator/freezer combo. I noticed the automatic ice maker stopped producing ice and on further inspection, the items in the freezer were not frozen.
-Set freezer temp for 0F, actual temp is ~24-45F (varies throughout the day)
-Set frig temp for 38F, actual temp is ~40F
-Condenser fan blowing air
-Condenser coils clean
-Freezer evaporator fan blowing air
-Freezer evaporator coils not frosted
-Freezer evaporator return line thin layer of frost within the freezer.
-Compressor humming along, not too hot to the touch
-Front panel control display fully functional
-Model B21CL80SNS/02

I explained all this to a appliance service company and they said they could come out to diagnose/repair it.
I already had the evaporator cover unscrewed so I could quickly show them the evaporator/frosted line. It only took them a few minutes for a visual inspection and said something is wrong with the sealed refrigeration system which they do not work on.
Wanted to charge a hefty service fee, which I questioned since they didn't actually service anything. They agreed and there was no charge. They said they would give me a reference for a company that works on the sealed system, but never did.

I have no problem paying for repairs, though for myself, I'd at least like to diagnose what's wrong if I can so I'm more educated when someone comes to diagnose/repair it. Could there be a problem with something outside of the sealed system that I could repair/replace myself? I could not fine a service manual which may help with diagnoses

Any help diagnosing this problem it appreciated. Thanks

I attached a graph showing temps in the freezer over the last few days. The high temps above 45 where when the door was open for inspecting the evaporator. It has a strange rhythm where the temp spikes, then starts slowly dropping, then spike again. The refrigerator is shown for comparison.

Frig
16068

Freezer
16067

[pungo]

One month with no replies, guess nobody had anything helpful to say :eek:

UPDATE:
Connected gauges and the low side showed 20 hg vacuum, high side 75-85 psi. I evacuated the system and isolate the high and low side. Checked each side with high pressure Nitrogen for an hour with no leaks shown on the gauge or soap bubbles on all visible components. Purged both sides to flush any contaminates a few time, installed a dryer, sealing the system up, pulled vacuum for an hour, then charged back up and both the frig and freezer are both keeping their set temps. I assume the freezer capillary tube had a restriction and purging with Nitrogen cleared it?

Maybe this info will help someone in the future.

[seanf]

The 12 hour cyclic temp rise might be from defrosts.
What refrigerant does it run on?
There may have been a blockage, if you recovered the gas you could have checked what you pulled out against the labelled charge.
Could be that it was low on refrigerant, did you take the gauge off the schrader valve and check that the schrader wasnt leaking while you had nitrogen in the system? It may not be a big enough leak for you to see a pressure drop in an hour, theres also the possibilty that the temperature of the system went up, increasing the pressure and masking any pressure drop due to a leak. Also may only leak when things warm up or cool down.

[pungo]

The 12 hour cyclic temp rise might be from defrosts.
What refrigerant does it run on?
There may have been a blockage, if you recovered the gas you could have checked what you pulled out against the labelled charge.
Could be that it was low on refrigerant, did you take the gauge off the schrader valve and check that the schrader wasnt leaking while you had nitrogen in the system? It may not be a big enough leak for you to see a pressure drop in an hour, theres also the possibilty that the temperature of the system went up, increasing the pressure and masking any pressure drop due to a leak. Also may only leak when things warm up or cool down.

Thanks for your reply, almost 150 views and only a single reply, seem this group is not very active.

The cyclic temp rise is the defroster timer kicking in to defrost evaporator as verified with a DVM.

The R134 recovered was only 10% below the system spec, so I doubt that was enough to cause a the warm freezer temps.

The temperature of the system did not go up to increase the pressure when doing the leak test.

I'm still going with the failure was due to a restriction in the freezer capillary tube and purging it with 100 psi of nitrogen cleared it. Unfortunately, with this dual evaporator system, I could not find a test mode to command the 3 way valve to only open the freezer capillary, therefore both the freezer and frig were open at the same time, so I purged a few times. A small amount of oil came out so that may have been the restriction. At least now I have high/low gauge ports brazed on making it easier to diagnose in the future if needed.

[seanf]

Thanks for your reply, almost 150 views and only a single reply, seem this group is not very active. Yep. May also be that theres alot of people that ask domestic fridge questions, and you cant really help them without them being able to give pressures, temps and checking electrics ect. Also domestic fridges can just be a pain in the arse and a bit boring.

The cyclic temp rise is the defroster timer kicking in to defrost evaporator as verified with a DVM.

The R134 recovered was only 10% below the system spec, so I doubt that was enough to cause a the warm freezer temps.

The temperature of the system did not go up to increase the pressure when doing the leak test.

I'm still going with the failure was due to a restriction in the freezer capillary tube and purging it with 100 psi of nitrogen cleared it. Unfortunately, with this dual evaporator system, I could not find a test mode to command the 3 way valve to only open the freezer capillary, therefore both the freezer and frig were open at the same time, so I purged a few times. A small amount of oil came out so that may have been the restriction. At least now I have high/low gauge ports brazed on making it easier to diagnose in the future if needed. Could have been, seen an oil build up stop flow through a 1/2" pipe before.

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