Freezer repair help

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

I have a question about repairing my freezer. It is a hotpoint refrigerator / freezer. Model is HSM25GFTASA. I have two problems. First one that started was the ice dispenser does not always give you the correct ice crush vs. cubed. Seems to give you one or the other. The second and more important problem is the freezer is now building up frost on the outside of items in the freezer. Also, on the shelves, their is a buildup of frost/ice. Seems like things in the freezer start to melt and then freeze again. This is also causing the ice to melt some and then freeze into chunks.

I assume this is some sort of a problem with the defrost mode?

I was looking for help in determining where the parts are that need to be checked. How to check them to determine which is bad so that I can order the correct part to fix the problem.

2

Remove the freezer back panel and check the frost pattern, if completely heavy ice, defort with ahair dryer. Post the freezer temperature once it is running a while.

3

I checked the coils inside the freezer behind the panel. They have frost on them. Not sure if any frost is normal or not. I’m including a picture so that someone can tell me if this much frost is acceptable.
I unplugged the freezer and let everthing defrost. Once defrosted, I wiped up the water and plugged back in the freezer. After one day, the coils have frost on them again.
I can’t find a thermometer to test the temperature inside the fridge. Ice is in the ice maker and is normal at the moment.
_frostphoto.jpg (63.9 KB)

4

Picture looks normal to me, post the freezer temperature.

5

It took a while for me to respond. I got a thermometer and the temperature in the freezer was between 12 and 14 degrees.

The freezer temperature setting is set to 6.

6

The freezer temperature is too warm, if that is the lowest temperature the freezer can get down to. Check the condensing fan in the back and the condensing coils.

7

I checked the temperature again this morning. The temp was -8 degrees. Thermometer has been in there for about 12 hours. My first report of temp only had the thermometer in there for an hour.

Is -8 the correct temp?

8

Your refrigeration system is ok. Seems like your compressor may be intermittent.
Pull the cover off the motherboard in the back, remove the motherboard and check the solder connections in back of the big power relay, might be burnt.

9

I checked the back of the motherboard and don’t see any burnt solder connections. All solder looks to be ok.
I’m not sure exactly what you are referring to as the big power relay.

10

If the evaporator never gets ice clogged, you have no defrost problem. Next time it fails, note what is running/not running

11

I have been monitoring my freezer. I’m not real sure on what to check for running/not running.

What I do know is that now that I have a thermometer in the freezer, I notice that when things start to ice up it is because the temperature is not cold enough. It can be anywhere between 10 and 20 degrees.
when everything in the freezer is not frosted over, the temperature is usually between -10 and -15.

I’m guessing the thawing of the frozen objects is causing the moisture which freezes and makes frost?

What specific parts do I need to check?
What do you think would need to be replaced?

  • I really appreciate the help.
    Reggie
12

The next time it starts to get warm, tell us what is running, not running. If the compressor is running, both rear and evaporator fans should be running. If in defrost, the defrost heater will be on and the compressor, evaporator fan, and condensing fan must be off.

13

I wish I knew where all the fans, heaters and compressors were located.
Anyway, I finally was able to notice something happen. Tonight, the freezer/fridge just shut off. It went silent and nothing at all was running. I opened the freezer door quickly to check the temperature and it was -18 degrees. About 30 minutes time went by before anything came on again. All that came on was the fan in the rear. Open the freezer door and the temperature was up to 50 degrees. 10 minutes went by and the inside fan has still not turned on.

14

Just wanted to update again.

The fan on the inside the freezer eventually came on.

I really hope someone has a suggestion as to what is wrong with my freezer. I’d really like to get this fixed.

Thanks,

15

Your motherboard is probably bad AP4436216, only thing in the fridg. that would act up this way.

16

Ok - I got the part ordered and it will ship tomorrow. I’ll update the thread to let you know how things go.

Thanks for the help - hope this works!

17

I replaced the motherboard on Saturday. The freezer is still exhibiting the same symptoms. Ice maker not giving you the correctly selected choice (crushed vs. cubed). The items in the freezer continue to melt as the freezer temp gets above 50 degrees when everything shuts down.

Looks like the motherboard was not the problem. Guess I will put the original motherboard back in and return the part.

Now the question is what part is causing this problem?

Is this something that I am going to need to get a trained and qualified repair technician out to my house to repair?

18

The fact that everything goes off indicates a possable intermittent connection. I would buy a can of non-residue contact cleaner at Wall- Mart and spray all the main plugs while unpluging, then plugging back in, might solve the problem.

19

I noticed today that the motor makes a noise soon before it cuts out. It was a humming/whining noise low pitch over and over again.

20

You found it, your evaporator motor is intermittent, just order a new one before it blows out your motherboard.You will need to look at it and detremine if it has the white thermistor wired into the wire harness or not.