Island Appliance Delivery
 

I live out on Rattlesnake Island during the summer months and am very suspicious that my refrigerator is rapidly going south on me (ie the main compartment is not very cold (even though I have it dialed to its coldest setting). Given that my days of being able to assist in carrying around 200 lbs (+\-) are nothing but a distant memory .... I would like to understand how to get appliances delivered (and installed) to island homes. Any info and referrals would be very appreciated!

Island support service, give Steve a call.
http://islandsupportservice.com/home.html

He typically charges $100 for a delivery, don't know about install charges.

A little maintenance
 

Did you try to vacuum the coils and vents?

A lot of times the accumulation of lint and dust prevents the airflow and restricts the cooling. I would spend 15 minutes trying to help the airflow to the coils. Make sure that back of it is not tight with the wall. Airflow is important.

Good luck!

Before going to the expense and trouble of replacing the refrigerator, do some basic exploration as to why the main compartment isn't getting very cold. A seemingly common problem, most notable in humid weather, is an evaporator coil in the freezer side that is clogged with ice, beyond the capacity of the auto defrost cycle to handle. This can be caused by the door being inadvertently left ajar for a while or by too much heavy stuff being loaded against a panel covering the evaporator coil. Search for other threads on this situation here on winni ...com. If there is some cooling, just not enough, there is a reasonable chance that over-icing of that coil is the culprit.

Empty the contents of the freezer side into a large cooler or two (or some container that will keep the contents from defrosting too much for a short while). Locate the panel covering the evaporator coil, remove the screws, and expose the coil. If it's clogged with ice - bingo! That's the problem. With the 'fridge unplugged, use a hair dryer to hasten the defrosting, reassemble, reload, and you are back in business. Keep big from stuff away from that panel.

During a defrost cycle, a small heater melts the frost from the coil, and the meltwater runs out through a tube and runs to a pan underneath, to be evaporated by the small fan that moves air past the condenser coil. But big things presing up against the panel covering the evaporator coil can suck heat out of the defrost heater easily, preventing it from melting the accumulated frost. The frost keeps accumulating until the coil is completely plugged with ice, and the defrost heater is overwhelmed.

I've gone through this more than once, doing a manual defrost each time and saving an expensive replacement. Some models are more prone to this than others. Of course you may just have to suffer replacement cost, but a little effort on your part might just avoid that. Let us know how you make out.

Happened to my frige last year....
 

Live on Cow Island. Was surprised at how cheap new ones can be and that the local suppliers will deliver to any public dock. And take the old one away. Used the legendary George Randle to bring it out - 253-7042. He's quite an experience all by himself!

Sorry for the belated "thanks"
 

Thanks, DickR! What you wrote was exactly my situation ... thanks a million for saving me a pocket full of scratch and a lot of sore muscles! The refrig has been working great since following your recommendation!