Freezer too cold/icing and everything shuts down

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

My evaporator fan started making noise several days ago, and parts in the freezer were icing up. I had replaced the defrost timer about three months ago, but figured it must have been a bad part. So I thawed out the freezer, replaced the defrost timer, and everything worked okay…for awhile.

Someone suggested that the evaporator fan motor was bad, which I doubted, but I replaced it anyway. That didn’t fix the problem either. The defrost thermostat was replaced three months ago also, and doesn’t have a bulge, and though my knowledge is limited, I don’t think that is the problem either.

Throughout this ordeal, my freezer would run for 3 to 8 hours. Aside from a little excess build up on the coils, there would be a lot of ice on the defrost timer and the wire harnesses. When this happens, it reaches a point where the evaporator fan stops running, the defrost timer won’t work (even manually) and the compressor won’t come on. When I melt all the ice and turn the power back on, everything runs fine, and will continue to do so, as long as I manually turn the defrost timer. Sometimes the defrost timer would work on it’s own, but everything is so unpredictable, I preferred to do it manually every few hours to make sure the refrigerator would continue to run. While this worked well during the day, I’d run into trouble over night, when the unit would run for several hours without frequent defrosting, then everything would freeze up again (in the freezer).

A few days ago, I turned the freezer temperature control knob down to see if the same pattern continued, and the problem escalated. Freezing would occur very fast…less than an hour, seemingly almost immediately. When this happened (and I even left the refrigerator unplugged for about 36 hours) the compressor didn’t seem to want to kick off.

The refrigerator was nice an cold while the unit was working, so I’m thinking it’s not the Control Damper. I suspect the Freezer Temperature Control Thermostat assembly, but I don’t understand things enough to be certain. Thanks for the input.

2

Hi.

Please, check the water supply line to the icemaker.If it’s leaking when the icemaker fills up it could be messy.
If there is no problem with the water tube - the cold control could be the answer.

Simon.

3

[quote=Simon / APP Team;775376]Hi.

Please, check the water supply line to the icemaker.If it’s leaking when the icemaker fills up it could be messy.
If there is no problem with the water tube - the cold control could be the answer.

Simon.[/quote]

The water line does not leak, and I changed the cold control. But I am still having the initial problem, which is the refrigerator stops running. The freezer and refrigerator are both cold, and the ice maker works fine, but after running for a few/several hours, the evaporator fan stops. At this time, I can advance the defrost timer and it will kick in. As of now, that (or manually thawing the coils) will get the system working again.

As I did before, I plan to automatically trigger the defrost cycle so the refrigerator will keep running. As long as I’m able to do this, the refrigerator will run. The problem is over night, when I’m not doing this every two hours, the system stops.

Before I changed out the cold control, and turned off my refrigerator (until I received the replacement part), turning down the cold control caused the coils to stop cooling and the evaporator fan stopped. This was after a prior adjustment to the control (also lower) caused the freezer to get colder faster. So it seemed like the cold control was the obvious problem.

After I changed out the cold control and turned on the refrigerator, it ran and cooled normally, and after about 8 hours, the defrost timer clicked on, went through the initial cycle and everything functioned as it should. But, after having run for some time, the original problem has returned.

So far, I have replaced the defrost timer, the evaporator fan motor and the cold control. Is there something in the circuit that could be closing that stops the process? Can the defrost thermostat be causing this even though it fairly new and doesn’t look bad? Or is there another component that hasn’t been considered yet?

4

[quote=LaurenG;775336]…So I thawed out the freezer, replaced the defrost timer…

…there would be a lot of ice on the defrost timer and the wire harnesses… [/quote]

Lets make some things clear. The defrost timer is located on the back of the refrigerator and is shown as #12 at the diagram. It can not be COVERED with ICE at all due to pretty warm temperature around. So which part did you call “defrost timer” and which part did you replace?

The defrost system of your refrigerator consists of 3 parts: the defrost heater (#62 at the diagram), the defrost thermostat (#22 at the diagram) and the defrost timer. Prior to any actions the first 2 parts have to be checked for continuity. The defrost thermostat should be ice cold at that time. Any of those 2 parts with no continuity must be replaced. If there is nothing wrong with them then the defrost timer has to be replaced.

5

[quote=Gene;776195]Lets make some things clear. The defrost timer is located on the back of the refrigerator and is shown as #12 at the diagram. It can not be COVERED with ICE at all due to pretty warm temperature around. So which part did you call “defrost timer” and which part did you replace?

The defrost system of your refrigerator consists of 3 parts: the defrost heater (#62 at the diagram), the defrost thermostat (#22 at the diagram) and the defrost timer. Prior to any actions the first 2 parts have to be checked for continuity. The defrost thermostat should be ice cold at that time. Any of those 2 parts with no continuity must be replaced. If there is nothing wrong with them then the defrost timer has to be replaced.

First off, I apologize, as you are correct about my original post…I meant to say that the defrost thermostat, not the defrost timer, was icing up. I wasn’t sure if it was too much ice/frost, but since you say it needs to be ice cold, well it definitely is. Yes, it would be hard for the defrost timer to ice up. Fortunately, it is very accessible at the bottom right front of my refrigerator, so it is easy to turn manually to defrost the coils.

In June, I replaced the defrost thermostat and then the defrost timer. This time around, I replaced the defrost timer first, then the evaporator fan motor, then the cold control. I was thinking about replacing the defrost thermostat next. Can the defrost thermostat go bad without the obvious bulge? And are defrost timers that sensitive?

I will get a meter and check the continuity of the defrost thermostat, the defrost heater and the defrost timer. I have to ask though, if there was a problem with the defrost heater, would it even work? It’s doing it’s job and effectively thawing the coils…I just have to turn the defrost timer manually every few hours to keep the whole system running. Otherwise, the entire unit stops after running a few hours.

Thanks!

6

This prove that the defrost heater and the defrost thermostat are still good. On the other side such behavior of the new defrost timer is very strange. You have to double check the electrical connections of the timer. What is the part number of the timer you installed?

Also a few hours is way too short time to build up ice on the evaporator coils enough to block the fan motor. There should be some other cause of it or defrost time was not enough.

Gene.

7

[quote=Gene;776228]This prove that the defrost heater and the defrost thermostat are still good. On the other side such behavior of the new defrost timer is very strange. You have to double check the electrical connections of the timer. What is the part number of the timer you installed?

Also a few hours is way too short time to build up ice on the evaporator coils enough to block the fan motor. There should be some other cause of it or defrost time was not enough.

Gene.[/quote]

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Each time I have replaced the defrost timer, it was part number R0131577. I checked the continuity on both timers and got the same results, but not sure if that is good or bad. I found instructions on the internet for testing this part, but they did not make sense with the readings I got. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]The readings I got for each timer (applying one probe to terminal #3, then the other probe to each of the other terminals) were continuity for each connection. When I tested terminals 1 & 4 and 2 & 1, they showed no continuity, when one pair was in cooling mode, and the other was in defrost mode. This was not consistent with the instructions I read, so I don’t know what it means.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana].
Since I changed out the cold control, the frost build up seems normal. I tested the continuity on cold control I removed and it did appear to be bad.

Both the refrigerator and the freezer are nice and cold, and the ice maker is functioning just fine. But I still have the problem with the fan going off. It will run and hour or two or maybe three and shut off. A few times, it has come back on pretty much by itself, other times I either have had to turn off the power for awhile or manually advance the defrost timer to get the unit running again.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Hard to believe that both defrost timers could be bad. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Thanks[/FONT][/COLOR]

8

There are no universal instructions for defrost timers because defrost timers are different.

Per the diagram from the Tech sheet for your refrigerator (page 4) the common (hot) terminal is #1. While the timer is in cooling mode (power goes to the compressor) there suppose to be continuity across the terminals #1 & #4. While the timer is in defrost mode (power goes to the defrost heater) the continuity should be across the terminals #1 & #2.

Make sure the wires connected to the defrost timer are: terminal #1 - hot, terminal #2 - defrost heater, #3 - neutral and #4 - compressor.

The evaporator fan motor should run as long as the compressor does but it is wired in series with the defrost thermostat what means it would not run after each defrost until the defrost thermostat closes.

Gene.
ARS9169.pdf (510.4 KB)