rost/ice on only one upright freezer shelf - Kenmore 21501

[whitedavidp]

I was given a Kenmore Model 215O1, 5.0 cu. ft. capacity, upright freezer used in 2017. It has 2 shelves that both appear to have coolant being circulated through them. It has been in service until a few days ago when I emptied it to manually defrost the ice build up. I noticed then that only the upper of the two shelves had any ice build up. The lower shelf was cold to the touch but no ice. I went ahead and defrosted and re-started the unit. Nothing perishable inside it yet - only blue ice blocks. After running this way for a couple days, I can see frost forming on the upper shelf only. See the two red boxes in this photo. This is consistent with pre-defrosting but is disconcerting to me. Is this to be expected? If not, what - if anything - can be done? Thanks!

[evaappliance]

is the temp about 0 degrees ?  if so it is not uncomon for the top shelf to frost over way faster, if the temp is up in the teens , then you have a system issue and it probley would not be worth fixing 

Edited April 28, 2021 by evaappliance

[whitedavidp]

19 hours ago, evaappliance said:

is the temp about 0 degrees ?  if so it is not uncomon for the top shelf to frost over way faster, if the temp is up in the teens , then you have a system issue and it probley would not be worth fixing 

Yes, it gets down to 0 degrees no problem. And have not had issues with items not being solid and cold. But it seems quite odd that the lower shelf seems to produce no ice/frost. I don't want to have a breakdown since I have valuable salmon in there among other things. Hmmm.

Thanks!

[evaappliance]

The Freon comes into top shelf first, so it shows up way quicker on it. If it is getting down to 0 it is doubtful that you have an issue.   Not impossible but doubtful