I am trying to troubleshoot my ‘old’ Hotpoint refrigerator. Based on reading some of the threads I’ve determined that my problem is most likely a defrost issue.
I noticed a warming of the temp in the fresh food section. I removed the back panel in the freezer and found the coils covered in frost (not ice). So I manually defosted the coils, re-assembled the freezer and set the controls to the initial settings. In about 24 hours the temps in both the freezer and fresh food section were looking good. Problem solved, right? Well for about 2 weeks it was good. Then I noticed the warming again. I removed the back panel in the freezer section and voila! Frost!
So I pulled up the diagram of my unit, and cannot for the life of me find the defrost timer’s location.
There is actually an ‘R’ at the end of the model number listed here, but my panel is so worn I cannot recognize all the characters. But the diagram looks like the correct one.
I would appreciate it if anyone can point me in the direction of where the defrost timer would be located on this model.
I could not find your exact model number so used CTX18PPNRAD.
It is likely to be close to yours.
It shows the timer (Item 648 in Section 2) in the control compartment,
There is often a hole in the cover to allow you to turn the timer cam to force a defrost cycle.
After reviewing your reply I disassembled the control compartment in the fresh food section in the attempt of locating the defrost timer. But I think the model you suggested is not the correct one for me. Inside the control module all I have is the temp control switch and the damper control. There is no defrost timer located there.
I went back an looked at the model and serial numbers again.
Based on this information and the diagrams provided it shows my defrost timer as being Item 257 in Section 3, but I cannot locate it in the diagrams provided.
Sometimes the info on these older units is messed up.
Take a look in Section 3 of your parts breakdown. You will see an Item 648, it has the general shape of a timer.
Check behind the kick plate and if it is not there behind the unit in tyhe machine compartment.
This is also a common spot for them.
Look carefully as often all you see is a bracket with a hole in it and the timeris mounted to the back of that bracket.
I appreciate your patience. I was able to locate the defrost timer, it was behind the kick plate as you suggested it might be. I tested it by following the procedure outlined at the beginning of this section (Refrigerator & Freezer Repair). Turned the knob on the defrost timer until it clicked, waited about 10 minutes, checked the coils and they we almost completely de-frosted. I could also feel the heat radiating from the heating element. So I guess I’m off to get a defrost timer.
