Our Frigidaire freezer was getting warm and we lost food. There was so much ice in the back I couldn’t get the basket out. After taking out the rest of the food, I unplugged the freezer and left for a couple of days. When I went back down stairs there was water on the floor. I think it may be a defrost issue and I wanted to check both the defrost theromstat and the defrost heater.
How do I get the back off to check the theromstat and the heater?
I did plug the freezer back in and checked it the next morning and the test pieces I put in there were frozen solid.
First remove the evaporator cover in the freezer so you can see the coils.
Do not let them de-ice.
If they are heavily iced/frosted over you have a defrost problem.
You may not have to remove the cover just to determine if the defrost heater comes on, you may be able to see the glow or hear the water dripping/sizzling.
If yes.
Manually force a defrost cycle by turning the defrost timer cam (Item 23 in Section 3 ) till the fans and compressor turn off.
Now check the defrost heater to see if it is on.
Be careful you do not want to burn your fingers.
If the heater is on then the timer needs replacing, re: it is probably stalling during it’s rotation so is never getting into a defrost cycle.
If not on.
Unplug the unit.
Remove the wire for one side of the heating element (Item 14 in Section 3) from the wiring and measure it for continuity, usually around 20 ohms or so.
If the heater is OK
Remove one wire to the defrost thermostat (Item 20 in Section 3) and measure it, should be 0 ohms when frozen. Note that it opens just above freezing so must be frozen to check it. Also inspect it, if it is bulged at all replace it even if it measures OK.
If both the above are OK then odds are the defrost timer contacts are toast.
Best way to test this is a live test to see if you have 120 volts across the heater/defrost thermostat combo.