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I think this is my problem but I'm not 100%. Seems to be some conflicting information out there. This unit is about 15 years old now and never had any trouble. Suddenly, both the freezer and refrigerator portion were not getting cold and food started spoiling, ice cream got soft. We checked some of the obvious things (dust on coils, doors closed tight, food not packed in) but the unit was seemingly running.
Did some checking and the defrost timer was coming up as a possible culprit. So after being misled as to where the defrost timer is and removing this housing in the refrigerator (at the top in back where cold knob setting is located and where cold air comes in) I finally found it in a more convenient location - beneath the kick plate, on the lower left side, where the manual over-ride screw can be accessed also.
At about this time I noticed a heavy frost on the back wall of the freezer compartment we had not noticed before. When I pulled the unit away from the wall, I saw that both the main coil fan (on bottom) and the compressor were apparently running like "normal". Then I pulled the back wall plate off the freezer to expose the main cooling coil and things looked much worse, leading me to believe (according to what I've read) that it's a "frost free failure". It's pretty obvious that with that much frost, no air can pass through the cooling coils to cool the freezer or refrigerator. I could barely get the wall plate off because the bottom was "frozen on".
I plugged the unit back in (had it unplugged for a while) and saw that the coil "cooling fan" in freezer behind wall was operating fine. I then turned the manual over-ride on the defrost timer and it shut the fan off, as well as everything else except the lights (I believe - compressor, back fan and ?). I ordered a new defrost timer from APP.com.
Now where I get confused is that someone was saying something about turning the defrost timer to off, but that the heating coils should "NOT" operate at this time. This makes no sense to me because it's in defrost mode, right? While the timer was in the "off" position, the heating coils were apparently "on" and I could even hear a sizzling sound as all that ice/frost build-up was melting pretty fast (600 watts of heat power). I also left the timer in the "off" position for quite a while - probably about an hour. It should have turned back on after that long, but it never did before I retired for the evening and shut the unit down for the night (unplugged it).
Seems to me that everything on this unit could be functioning properly except for the defrost timer. But I'm hearing that the defrost thermocouple probe, heating coils, or control board are to be considered. I think I can rule out the heating coils unless there is some reason they should not come on. The unit is too old to have a control board. I can't tell at this point if the thermocouple (defrost temp sensor?) is okay or not. My plan at this point is to get that defrost timer installed ASAP and get 'er running again and hopefully get everyone in the house happy again (and no more frost build up). If anyone thinks I'm on the wrong track here (or right) please let me know! Thanks!
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Here are your parts, includes a wiring diagram. Parts for Frigidaire FRS26ZNHW3 Refrigerator - AppliancePartsPros.com[COLOR="Blue"]Now where I get confused is that someone was saying something about turning the defrost timer to off, but that the heating coils should "NOT" operate at this time. This makes no sense to me because it's in defrost mode, right?[/COLOR] Right It is just semantics but the defrost timer contacts are never Off, they are either in cooling mode or defrost mode. [COLOR="Blue"]But I'm hearing that the defrost thermocouple probe, heating coils, or control board are to be considered. I think I can rule out the heating coils unless there is some reason they should not come on. The unit is too old to have a control board. I can't tell at this point if the thermocouple (defrost temp sensor?) is okay or not. [/COLOR] Since the defrost timer never came out of defrost which should last about 30 minutes I would agree with you that it is toast. Since the heater came on when you forced a defrost cycle it is OK. Also the defrost thermostat is OK see below FYI. Also if the defrost thermostat was not OK it would have been hot in the freezer because the heater would have been on for at least the hour you left it in defrost mode. FYI Every 8 hours of compressor run time the unit should go into defrost. Defrost lasts for about half an hour and is a fixed time. The defrost thermostat is wired in series with the heater so lets say all the frost is melted off the coils in 20 minutes then the defrost thermostat opens killing power to the defrost heater. The defrost cycle then continues for the next 10 minutes but the heater is off. It then switches back to cool mode. |
THIS FORUM IS DEAD!!!!!!! |
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Rank: Member
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Originally Posted by: denman  Here are your parts, includes a wiring diagram. Parts for Frigidaire FRS26ZNHW3 Refrigerator - AppliancePartsPros.comNow where I get confused is that someone was saying something about turning the defrost timer to off, but that the heating coils should "NOT" operate at this time. This makes no sense to me because it's in defrost mode, right? Right It is just semantics but the defrost timer contacts are never Off, they are either in cooling mode or defrost mode. But I'm hearing that the defrost thermocouple probe, heating coils, or control board are to be considered. I think I can rule out the heating coils unless there is some reason they should not come on. The unit is too old to have a control board. I can't tell at this point if the thermocouple (defrost temp sensor?) is okay or not. Since the defrost timer never came out of defrost which should last about 30 minutes I would agree with you that it is toast. Since the heater came on when you forced a defrost cycle it is OK. Also the defrost thermostat is OK see below FYI. Also if the defrost thermostat was not OK it would have been hot in the freezer because the heater would have been on for at least the hour you left it in defrost mode. FYI Every 8 hours of compressor run time the unit should go into defrost. Defrost lasts for about half an hour and is a fixed time. The defrost thermostat is wired in series with the heater so lets say all the frost is melted off the coils in 20 minutes then the defrost thermostat opens killing power to the defrost heater. The defrost cycle then continues for the next 10 minutes but the heater is off. It then switches back to cool mode. Okay thanks. I think I get it now. This is probably why someone was saying that the heating coils should be "off" for part of the cycle (the defrost part). Because if there's no ice/frost on the coil then the thermostat will overheat quickly and turn off the heaters and if they were on, this could also be indicative of something like the thermostat and possibly a timer problem. The person who wrote what I read must have been stating these testing instructions based on dry, and/or ice/frost free conditions. So what I had was frost and ice all over the place and so this is why I saw the heaters working. thanks again!
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I just want to provide an update on this repair in case it will help anyone. I had certain parts of our SxS refrigerator apart while determining the problem (the lower back cover off, freezer back plate off, defrost timer removed, and inner cowel in frig compartment). The frig was pulled out and most of the food was removed. But I realized that this repair can be performed with the frig basically together so last night I assembled everything back and temporarily plugged the (broken) defrost timer back into the plug without mounting it. The frig now works great and is even making ice once again. This is simply because it has "thawed out". I realize this is only temporary, until it frosts up again and plugs off the cooling passages in the coils. This morning I came down to the kitchen and it had shut off, reaching the cold temperature settings in the freezer and frig I assume. So I waited until it turned back on, which it did, and then I let it run about 5 minutes. After this, I manually turned the defrost timer until it "turned off" (runs the heaters for the frost-free process). I then left it in this position for about 6 - 8 minutes. I figure even if it takes days to frost over again, I don't want to chance it. I checked my email and APP already has the new defrost timer part shipped to my town and on a truck so I should have it tonight. They are right when they say they have really fast delivery! Now all I have left to do is plug the new defrost timer in to replace the old one and put the sheet metal sleave in with two screws. Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so because I work kind of slow!
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