Kenmore model # 25359682992 Side-by-Side is 10 years, 4 months old.

Over the weekend I noticed that the freezer will not turn off. I have the temperature gauge at about 30% of full (about 3 lines up from off). Ice maker works, everything is cold and frozen, but it won't turn off. At first I thought the thermostat may be bad, however if I turn the temperature control down (counter clockwise) to two lines, it will turn off. If I turn it back to 3 lines it will turn back on in 2 minutes and stay on.

Overnight I turned it to 50% of full (strait up) to see if it you get colder, and it seemed to be colder than at 30%. When I turn the temperature control knob counter clockwise it will turn off at about 30%.

Is it my thermostat, compressor, coolant levels (rare I know, but just a thought) or something else. I don't see any ice build up anywhere and at least it's still keeping things frozen, I just don't want a $500 electrical bill. :(

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I was considering purchasing a thermostat to start since it would be considered a "cheap fix".. if that is the problem.

I removed the back and the front and cleaned the coils, well at least the ones that I could reach from the front and back. It didn't seem to dusty at all, but I have nothing to compare them too. While I was cleaning the coils I also vacuumed out all the dust mites and cleaned off the condenser.

The fan was spinning and everything else seemed to be working just fine. However I did notice that the condenser was really warm to the touch. Is that normal?

I left it unplugged the entire time I was cleaning it (20 minutes or so) and then plugged it back in. I put a thermometer in the freezer to see what temp it get. I put the thermometer on the top shelf of the freezer. It started at 24.7 degrees and after 1 hour it was down to 2.3 degrees. I'm going to let it run for 24 hours as you mentioned and see if it ever turns off.

I currently have the thermostat at 50% (strait up on the gauge). The temperature outside the refrigerator (inside the kitchen) is 82 degrees. The temperature inside is now 1.9 degrees and its still running.