[tjtroy]

The refridgerator was fine yesterday, but today the temp is not cold enough. I checked it with a digital thermometer and it was 58 degrees. The temp on the freezer side(its a side by side unit) is right at 12 degrees. I took the cover off of the back and cleaned the fan and the coils. The coils weren't very dirty, but the fan was severely caked up with dirt....it was running, but I don't think it could have moved much air with all of that on it. Also, I noticed on the freezer side, a small amount of frost built up in the back of the top section. I have never noticed that before today. Any help is appreciated.

[fixxit]

ok what your dealing with if a frozen evaporator coil. to verify this open the freezer and remove all the food inside. remove the evaperator cover. and i expect you will have an evaperator that looks like a block of ice. the frist thing to do is to try and put it into a defrost mode. look for the defrost timer, usualy on the control area, or under the front of the fridge. either with your fingers or a screwdriver turn the timer untill you hear it click. your heating element should heat up. 3 possible problems

1. bad defrost timer-the test above will tell you if it is the timer if it heats up it is the timer

2. bad heating element- if it dosent heat up, check for power in to the element. no power it is either timer or thermostat. power it is the element

3. bad defrost terminating thermostat-sometimes you will get lucky and it will work like a turkey timer, poped= bad. not poped-could still be bad

if in doubt try replacing all the above
timer part #AP2111929
element part #AP2114859
thermostat #AP2150024

good luck and post your results

[tjtroy]

I finally was able to get everything out of the freezer, and into another one. I removed the bottom access panel in the freezer side, and as you said, it was like a solid block of ice. I located the defrost timer behind the front lower cover at the bottom of the unit. I turned the defrost timer knob until it clicked as suggested. The heater came on and the ice started melting off. After several minutes, the compressor came back on and the unit stauted to get cold again. All of the ice wasn't melted off, so I ran the defrost cycle again. I watched the timer knob, and it was turning as time progressed. After several minutes, again the compressor came on , and the refridgerator is getting cold as I am typing this. Does this indicate the defrost timer is bad?

[fixxit]

more likely your defrost terminating thermostat. turn your refer off at the controls . now for the fun part (just kidding) using a blow dryer you will want to defrost the evaperator.it is a bit of a pain but is needed. after you get all the ice you will see a small "can" attached to your evaperator coil at the top. if it is poped you will definatly need to replace it. if not you still may need to replace it. part # is, thermostat #AP2150024. probable might want to replace it as a matter of course. good luck and post your results here

[tjtroy]

I see the can looking thing, with 2 plug in type connectors on it. I don't see anything that looks popped out like a turkey timer...if thats what I understood it would look like. I guess I'm looking at the right thing....it looks sort of like its clipped onto a copper line. And 1 more question, how long should the defrost cycle run.....how long should the heater stay on? I tried to get parts today, but you can't get antything here on the weekends. On Monday, I will go to Dayton and get what I need. One more thing, as long as I've had this thing, I never knew it had a control to turn it off, and when you said to turn it off at the control, I started looking...and BEHOLD !! Thanks!

[tjtroy]

OK...I replaced the defrost timer and the defrost thermostat. It was an easy repair except for the freezer section being very narrow...difficult to reach back in there. Everything is working fine now. Repair cost me $42. Thanks for the GREAT help !