REALLY random bleg

A friend has a freezer that ices up nearly instantly (it's a modern fridge, not one that SHOULD require defrosting).  The refrigerator repairman checked the seal, confessed himself stumped, and wandered off.  My guess, based solely on a long history with broken refrigerators and a hazy understanding of how the things work, is a problem with the compressor, presumably a hairline crack somewhere.  But since I am an English major and don't really understand how that pretty electricity stuff works, I'm anxious to check my judgment against my vast engineering readership.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/09/really-random-bleg/4060/