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I called a service tech to repair a side by side refrigerator at a rental house I own. After a couple of hours he told me either the defrost timer or the defrost thermostat was bad but they must be replaced together. He had a defrost timer and a defrost thermostat with him and he tried both but the refrigerator still didn't work he told me that his new defrost timer and defrost thermostat were bad and he would be back tomorrow with new ones. He said the charge for the repair including parts was $189 + a $35 service charge.
My question is, is he over charging me for the repair?
It's pretty obvious to me he doesn't really know exactly what he is doing because I looked up both parts and the defrost thermostat is actually part of the heater assembly.
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Here's a defrost heater and thermostat assembly for yout unit. Part number: AP4072797
It is located inside the freezer section. The defrost timer is located inside the control console, in the fresh food section. Part number: AP4084056
From your description of the work your serviceman performed, I really don't think the pricing is unreasonable. I would just make sure he offers you a warranty on his work.
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I meant to type defrost thermostat and mistakenly typed defrost timer. In any case when I called the service tech to ask why he insists that the defrost timer and the defrost thermostat must be replaced together he got mad and told me to call someone else.
Such is life.
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Here are your parts Replacement parts for ADMIRAL ASD2120DRW Ref - SXS/I&W | AppliancePartsPros.comLooks like he makes his money on the parts mark up. Especially if there was not a timer involved with the repair. Heater/thermostat is $33.60, the timer is 62.28 plus shipping from this site. OK from your post he replaced the defrost heater and it's thermostat which come as an assembly. Often techs replace both even when they are separate items. The thermostats are usually fairly cheap and so are also replaced. Reduces the chances of a recall in a couple weeks that the unit is not defrosting again as the thermostat has now failed. You also say that the unit is still not working. Not sure what you mean by not working. Without actually knowing how he troubleshot the unit it is hard to comment on this. If the evaporator coils were heavily iced frosted over then you probably did have a defrost problem. So one of 3 components are to blame the heater, the thermostat or the timer. He replaced the heater/thermostat so all that is left is the timer. One proviso on this is did he check the new part before installing it or how did he come to the conclusion that it also was bad. This is a very easy check using a meter. If he had the unit off for a couple hours the coils probably defrosted. If the unit did then not cool down you have a different problem or perhaps the unit has two problems. Once the coils are defrosted the unit should run OK at least for a couple days till the coils again frost over causing a problem. FYI, here are a couple good site with fridge repair info. Refrigerator Repair Guide: How To Fix a Refrigerator - ACME HOW TO.comhttp://www.applianceaid.com/frig.html |
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The defrost thermostat comes with a heater coil as one assembly except in my refrigerator it is not one assembly. The wiring harness uses wire nuts so either the heater coil or the thermostat can be replaced separately. That is why he only had a thermostat that as it turns out was not an exact replacement for the one that was in there. He turned the heater coil on manually somehow using the defrost timer and the heater coil works fine. He replaced the defrost timer as well as the defrost thermostat, that's when he said they were both bad because he couldn't get the defrost timer to turn on the heater thru its normal cycle. It is all for naught now because when I mentioned to him about why he had to replace the defrost timer and the defrost thermostat as an assembly he got mad and told me to call someone else. I have decided to buy a new refrigerator and try to fix the old one myself and if I can't I will just give it to Goodwill or some other organization.
I do have a question about the defrost thermostat. If you use an ohm meter to measure resistance what should I expect if it is a good defrost thermostat?
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The thermostat is normally closed at temperatures, usually 32 degrees and below, and opens at temperatures above freezing. This is what "terminates the defrost heater, or, turns it off. When checking the thermostat, first look for bulging. if it is bulging, it usually is bad. Then, stick it in the freezer for about five minutes, and while it is cold, check it for continuity. You should read zero, or very near that, in ohms. Let it warm to room temperature and check it again. you should read infinity, or, no continuity.
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The defrost thermostat really acts as a switch, am I correct?
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Yes it does.
As magician 59 said.
The defrost cycle time is fixed but if the evaporator coils defrost before the defrost time is up the thermostat cuts power to the heating element so that you do not add unnecessary heat to the freezer compartment. |
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I checked the refrigerator the compressor is running but I still think I have a problem the freezer is getting cold but the refrigerator is not getting very cold. The service tech took a cover off what I think is the condenser and I don't know what he did with it. I think the condenser is the unit that the defrost thermostat snaps on to. I think I need the cover so the air can get over to the refrigerator but I am not absolutely sure.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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[COLOR="Blue"]I think the condenser is the unit that the defrost thermostat snaps on to.[/COLOR]
No the condenser coils are the ones under the unit by the compressor (Item 9 in Section 1 of the parts listing).
The ones in the freezer with the defrost thermostat clipped to them are the evaporator coils.
[COLOR="Blue"] I think I need the cover so the air can get over to the refrigerator but I am not absolutely sure.[/COLOR]
Yes, I would say that you need the evaporator coil cover to have the correct air flow inside the unit. |
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