A freezer still frozen while the fresh-food side warms up is a recognisable pattern. It occurs on shared-airflow and separate-system appliances alike, but the reasoning differs.
Many refrigerators cool the fresh-food compartment with air from the freezer through a passage, fan and often a damper; a restriction there produces this pattern, and ice in the passage is one known cause. Separate-system appliances can show the same complaint for their own reasons, including fan and airflow faults there — the shared-air explanation just does not describe them. The rating plate settles which design you have.
Nothing here asks you to open the appliance: temperatures, visible frost, blocked vents and when the problem began are observable with the doors alone. KONGRA LLC is independent; diagnosis is a paid on-site visit followed by a written estimate.
Measure the fresh-food compartment temperature and move perishable food to working refrigeration or ice promptly, following current food-safety guidance from the manufacturer and your local health authority. KONGRA publishes no safe waiting period: holding time depends on the real temperature, the food and how long it has been warm.
These are categories to narrow the question before a visit, not a remote diagnosis. Confirmation requires on-site measurement.
Doors-closed observations and an independent thermometer. No panels, no tools, no forced cycles.
The more of this arrives up front, the more useful the first visit is.
These details are optional and help us prepare for your visit.
A Mountain View service record describes a cold freezer and warm fresh-food compartment, with ice blocking the air passages. The technician cleared the ice and serviced the defrost system, including heater replacement. Final temperatures and longer follow-up were not recorded — the case documents the restriction and work performed, not a long-term cooling result.
On many designs the fresh-food compartment is cooled by air from the freezer, so a restriction there produces this pattern. Sensors, controls, damper and defrost operation still need measurement.
Removing ice can restore cooling for a time but does not establish why it formed. Treat a temporary improvement as information, not a repair.
The symptom can occur in either design. This guide's shared-air explanation applies only where compartments share airflow; separate systems require their own diagnosis.