thanks Gene,ill replace that part and get back with results,thanks again for this great service
Another idea, somthing that I do once in a while is to unplugg the refer, and cut and strip the wires on the defrost thermostat and connect them together (the 2 wires that are part of the machine, not the thermostat) tape the ends. now plug the power cord in, turn the defrost timer to defrost, and see if heater comes on. If it does, your defrost thermostat is bad, if your heater does not come on, your heater is bad. Maybe this can help those that do not have a meter, or know how to use one.
I presume you mean to bypass this part - it was clipped to the refrigeration coil. and seemed to be in between the heating element and the rest of the circuit.
That is correct
I am still a little fuzzy how the freezer knows when to defrost/stop defrosting. It seems that the defrost timer closes the circuit to begin defrosting once every x hours. At that point the thermostat (above) provides a second check to see if the freezer temperature is below a certain point (35F?). If it is, then the fridge needs defrosting and the circuit closes, sending power to the heating element which heats up and starts defrosting the cooling coil.
So how does it know when to stop defrosting? Is it as simple as the thermostat temperature rising above the set point? And then, because the thermostat is clipped to the top of the cooling coil, and the heating element is at the bottom of the heating element, the thermostat should not turn off until all of the coil is properly defrosted?
In essence the thermostat just opens and closes at a specific temperature (35F?) - My question is essentially how do I test continuity on the thermostat. Can i just cool it below 35F, or how does the thermostat sense ice.
The thermostat is in a closed state when below a certain temp, and opens up when the evap has reached around 70 degrees during the defrost cycle. So the thermostat must be cold enough to test it in a closed position, and room temp to test in open position
So I got the meter and the heating element tests fine (about 20 Ohms) the thermostat shows continuity when it is cold, open circuit when it warms up. The only thing I can think of now is that for some reason there is no current going to the heating element when it is in defrost mode. What is the correct way to test this - I don’t know if there is any reason why the wiring would go bad, or if I can check if there is a bad contact somewhere…
tyang54,
Does the fan in the freezer work?
Gene.
yes, fan is definitely working. problem is that the heating element isn’t heating in the defrost cycle. I’ve tested both the old and the new element and they register about 20 ohms resistance. I presume that is ok for a working element. In defrost cycle the heating element is still cool to the touch, I presume that’s bad. Is there a safe way to test if there is current running to the defrost element when in defrost mode? How much power should be going to the defrost coil, and is it AC or DC?
I was going to unplug the heating element and complete the circuit using my volt meter to see if any juice was flowing. I have an open solder joint right before the new defrost thermostat that I can tap to take the defrost thermostat out of the equation.
Thanks again to all of you guys for your help
Cut the defrost thermistat out and connect the 2 wires together and see if the heater comes on, just leave enough wire so you can reconnect it after testing.
so for a quik check of the thermostat and temporary fix(if the defrost heater is ok)would be to bare the wires like this and touchm together awhile when the frost gets thick?like a manual switch
any idea of the part no. of that thermostat on photo?
P1010003.jpg (52.9 KB)
I am having the same problem as the posts below where my freezer works fine but the fridge area is too warm. I did notice that frost builds up on the back panel of my freezer and thats when the fridge area stops working. Its like no air flow thru the vent. If I unplug my fridge and let the water drain out and plug it back up. It works fine on both sides until it freezes up again. I have the back off of the unit and it looks like everything is working fine but obviously something isn’t. Any suggestions? My model is a GE (GSS22SGPCSS)
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Fridge 001.jpg (86.4 KB)
hello ,I connected the bare wires in the photo shown .Instantly some small chips of ice flew off a wire at the top of the coil,but after 1 hour the frost build-up was all still the same .would this point to a bad defrost heater?
I do not think it was a good idea because of poor connection and possible shortage to metal parts.
As abadfish66 advised, you have to cut the thermostat out and connect the wires using a wire nut.
The defrost timer must be in “defrost” position at this time to provide power to the defrost parts.
Gene.
ok,how do i get it in defrost position?,i cant use my model # to see the breakdown.i cut out the switch and put on a wire nut,same result.
thanks
Most likely it is somewhere in the control panel and it should look like this:
[CENTER]
[/CENTER]
[LEFT]Using a flat screwdriver, slowly turn the shaft in the middle CW until it clicks and the compressor stops.
Gene.[/LEFT]
Dremert,
You can find the complete instructions on page 3 of this thread in the reply posted for bohemian.
Gene.
control panel location?perhaps in the back near the compressor.the fridge has only min-max turn knob inside.or maybe in the freezer near the defrost switch?
what does the defrost heater look like?
thanks for your help
I’m not able to tell you where the defrost timer is located because I do not have break down diagrams for this model. You have to search your refrigerator for a part looks similar to the picture I posted earlier.
The defrost heater is a tube in the evaporator area with two wires attached to it.
Gene.
So I did this and the heater is not really running. I tried checking voltage across the circuit and I am getting 2.4V AC Is this enough to drive the circuit? I tested my circuit all the way to the input for the freezer compartment which also reads 2.4 V.
My question is
- is 2.4V the correct voltage going across the heating element and
- if not, where can I be checking upstream for the proper voltage?
I am definitely not getting enough current across the heating element when the freezer is in defrost mode.