[larosao]

Hi,

After much research on the internet, i was able to narrow down the source of my freezer icing over. Of the three possible parts in the defrost system, I've concluded the source of the problem to be a bad defrost heater element. I understand that Whirlpool/Kenmore use the Calrod-type heater element, which is similar to that used in electric ranges. My problem is physically taking out this U-shaped element from in between the evaporator coils, where it is located.
It is 18 1/2" in length by 7 1/2" wide at the bottom.

Could you please provide any suggestion on what i need to do to pull the heater element out? The Evaporator seems to be able to swing forward, though not enough to take the heater element out, due to the evaporator coils having one end go straight through the back of the freezer wall and into the insulation on the back of the refrigerator.

[richappy]

You need to pull evaporator screws out and it just swings out to remove heater.
However, it is rare these go bad, particularly if no visible damage. Get ohmeter and check, should be around 34 ohms.

[larosao]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I got that recommendation and will definitely re-check that one more time. At x1, I was getting infinity and is why i thought the heater was bad. I understand that for my particular model, the heater is fused and once the fuse is shorted, i need to replace the heater. However, i'll definitely re-check this. I'd also read somewhere else that these calrods rarely go bad, so you have confirmed that. The defrost timer seems to be working, so that leaves the bi-metal (aka, terminating thermostat). I did not test this, but it's the only thing left that I know of that is causing the evaporator to accumulate ice. When the defrost timer shuts the compressor off, i don't see the "glow" of the calrod which I've seen in the past. The door seals/gasket seem to be tight and are not a factor.

Unless you can suggest something else i might have missed, thanks again for the suggestion to re-check the heater.

[richappy]

One simple test is to pull termination thermostat, short wires and try defrost, if it now works= bad thermostat.