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hanzi1  
#1 Posted : Monday, August 16, 2010 8:51:12 AM(UTC)
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hanzi1

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Hello,
The refrigerator side is not cooling, I opened the cover on the freezer side and the evaporator had heavy frost and ice build up.
I thawed this our to allow it to run again for a day or 2 . It seems to run fine or cycle on and off but it is difficult to tell. There is starting to be some frost build up on the cover of the evaporator. I also cleaned out the coils under the frige. Reading a bit about this I ordered these parts: But I still need some advice if I am on the right track. Thank you for the help.
AP4340119 (W10135899) CNTRL-ELEC AP4340119 (W10135899) CNTRL-ELEC
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denman  
#2 Posted : Tuesday, August 17, 2010 3:47:29 AM(UTC)
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denman

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Here is your tech sheet
http://www.servicematters.com/d...0Sheet%20-%202311817.pdf

[COLOR="Blue"]I opened the cover on the freezer side and the evaporator had heavy frost and ice build up.[/COLOR]
Yes this does sound like a defrost problem.
The coils have to be iced/frosted up to the point where the evaporator fan cannot pull air through them.

The board you ordered could be the problem but it could also be the heater or the defrost thermostat.

First remove the evaporator cover in the freezer so you can see the coils.
Do not let them de-ice.
If they are heavily iced/frosted over you have a defrost problem.

If yes.
Manually force a defrost cycle (see the tech sheet) till the fans and compressor turn off.
Now check the defrost heater to see if it is on.
Be careful you do not want to burn your fingers.
If the heater is on then the board you ordered should fix the problem

If not on.
Unplug the unit.
Remove the wire for one side of the heating element from the wiring and measure it for continuity, usually around 25 ohms or so.

If the heater is OK
Remove one wire to the defrost thermostat and measure it, should be 0 ohms when frozen. Note that it opens just above freezing so must be frozen to check it. Also inspect it, if it is bulged at all replace it even if it measures OK.

If both the above are OK then odds are the defrost board is toast as it is not automatically doing a defrost cycle.

If you do not own a meter, I would suggest you purchase a one. You can get a decent digital multimeter for under $20.00. You do not need fancy though it is nice if the leads are a couple feet long.
If it saves ordering one unnecessary part it has paid for itself and you end up owning a useful tool.
Most places will not let you return electrical parts so if you order it, you own it.
A couple things to watch when measuring ohms and continuity
1. Always remove power from the machine otherwise you could blow your meter.
2. Always disconnect at least one side of any device you are checking. This eliminates the possibility of measuring an alternate/parallel circuit path.
3. When checking for closed contacts and continuity use the lowest scale (Usually 200 ohms). Then try higher scales. This scale is 0 to 200 ohms so if the device you are measuring is 300 ohms this scale would show an open circuit which it is not, you are just measuring outside the scale's dynamic range.

There is a good STICKY at the start of this forum about it's use.
THIS FORUM IS DEAD!!!!!!!
hanzi1  
#3 Posted : Saturday, August 21, 2010 9:20:21 AM(UTC)
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hanzi1

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Thanks for the quick response. I opened the evaporator cover and there was very minimal frost and ice build up at the bottom.
I did a forced defrost cycle and the heater did get hot-yes was very carefull not to burn myself-good tip. Since I already had the Bi-Met defrost thermostat I also replaced this. And plugged it back in and seems to be running fine.
Making ice seems to be really slow-maybe it waiting too long to eject the ice? Freezer temp is 20F, refrigerator is about 50F.
The Control Board was out of stock-still have to find this. What do you thinkabout the temperatures and the icemaker?
denman  
#4 Posted : Tuesday, August 24, 2010 3:52:29 AM(UTC)
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denman

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Your freezer section is too warm.
Should be 0 to 5 degrees F

The fresh food should be 40 degrees F approx.

This could be why the ice maker is slow.
THIS FORUM IS DEAD!!!!!!!
hanzi1  
#5 Posted : Tuesday, August 24, 2010 7:17:02 AM(UTC)
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hanzi1

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I did not check the temperature of the defrost thermostat on the side of it discovered this on the old one later.
Could thid be caused by the control board or refrigerator thermostat?
How do you suggest I proceed. Both temperature settings are set to high.
denman  
#6 Posted : Tuesday, August 24, 2010 11:26:22 AM(UTC)
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denman

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[COLOR="Blue"]I did not check the temperature of the defrost thermostat on the side of it discovered this on the old one later.[/COLOR]
Sorry but I do not understand the above.

[COLOR="Blue"]Could thid be caused by the control board or refrigerator thermostat?[/COLOR][COLOR="Blue"]
How do you suggest I proceed. Both temperature settings are set to high.[/COLOR]

Is the unit/compressor cycling on/off or is it constantly on?

If it is cycling then it could be either the board or the thermostat.
I would bet on the thermostat.

You could check this by unplugging the unit and shorting the two wires that go to the thermostat together. Taping them up so they cannot short to anything else if you have to. Then plug it in and test it.
It should constantly and go down to the correct temperature or lower. If it does then replace the thermostat.
Make sure you monitor the temperatures as you could freeze everything in the fresh food side running it this way so just use this as a test.
THIS FORUM IS DEAD!!!!!!!
hanzi1  
#7 Posted : Wednesday, August 25, 2010 1:16:25 PM(UTC)
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hanzi1

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On the side of the defrost thermostat embossed is the temp details and model #s the old one was 7.4 - 15.2C.
I heard the unit switich off or cycle this morning for 10 mins. So I shorted the wires to thermostat and will observe- still no temp difference after 5 hours.


Hans
hanzi1  
#8 Posted : Thursday, August 26, 2010 9:45:33 AM(UTC)
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hanzi1

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It has been 24 hrs now temps are still the same on both freezer and refrigerator.
(I have already cleaned the coils under the unit. Ambient temperature is about 85 to 88 depending on time off day sometimes cooler when house ac is on.)

What do you suggest as a next step?
denman  
#9 Posted : Thursday, August 26, 2010 10:40:40 AM(UTC)
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denman

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I am also at a loss as to what is going on.

The compressor is running constantly so it is trying to cool the unit down.
Your condenser coils are clean and the condenser fan is running so that side of the sealed system is OK.

All that I can think of is that there is a problem in the evaporator side of the unit.

Double check that the evaporator fan is running OK.
Check that the frost pattern on the coils is even across the coils. If it is blotchy or just in one area it is an indication of low freon.
THIS FORUM IS DEAD!!!!!!!
hanzi1  
#10 Posted : Thursday, August 26, 2010 3:12:38 PM(UTC)
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hanzi1

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I believe the frost pattern is heavier on the bottom, the top of the evaporator coils are relatively frost free-this is from the last time I had it open- i have not opened since 48 hrs.
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