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Why Does My Refrigerator Have Frost Buildup?

You want your refrigerator cold, but not that cold. Frost building up in your refrigerator could cause damage to components that weren't mean to handle so much moisture or cold temperatures and could damage the quality and shelf life of food you have stored inside. If you notice frost is starting to accumulate in your refrigerator you'll want to get to the bottom of it pretty quickly and get it fixed.

Moisture in your refrigerator and even moisture freezing over in your refrigerator isn't uncommon, but your refrigerator has mechanisms in place to prevent this. When it starts happening in excess, you know something is not doing its job within the refrigerator and you'll want to start investigating the source and be ready to call a professional.

A bad door gasket

One easy place to start looking if you notice frost building up in your refrigerator is the door itself. All refrigerators have a door gasket which is a rubber lining along the door that creates an airtight seal when the door closes, keeping out warm temperatures and moisture. If your refrigerator door gasket is damaged or faulty in some way, it can allow moisture to seep into the refrigerator where it may start to freeze over in the coldest parts of the appliance. Open the door and inspect the gasket to make sure no part of it is faulty and, if you do notice an issue, get a new one installed.

Problem with the defrost timer

Your refrigerator has built-in mechanisms to prevent frost buildup and goes through a couple defrost cycles a day. So it's possible that it's no longer defrosting and if this is the case it's likely because something has gone wrong with the defrost timer. It could be damaged or, if you have an older refrigerator, has stopped working altogether. It's best to call a professional to get your refrigerator defrost timer looked at to see if it is the culprit behind your frosty fridge.

Refrigerator positioning

A common problem with double door refrigerators where the freezer and refrigerator are side by side is some of the low temperatures from the freezer can start to affect the refrigerator where the two meet. You'll notice this with the water dispenser which could start to freeze and become clogged or it may manifest as frost buildup. You can try to correct this on your own by making sure your freezer isn't set to too low of a temperature but it's possible you have a thermostat issue if you can't adjust the temperature to be warmer.

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