you are having a defrost issue then heres why this is a guide or tip i wrote for this site on why this happens
how the defrost system works Here is what's happening when you have a malfunction in the defrost system.
- Air cannot circulate from the freezer(where the cold happens basically) to the fresh food section.
- Your refrigerator will run constantly to try to cool the fresh food section. This will develop a new set of problems with your refrigerator. More on that later....
- Excess frost builds up within the coils inside the freezer. This is what is blocking the air flow to the fresh food section
- Usually you will notice the icemaker will stop making ice. Poor air flow and not quite cold enough temperatures in the freezer cause this
- Water will not come through the dispenser on the door. Cold air settles, the water resovoir will freeze.
- Compressor may overheat and shut off. This is when you hear, click, click, click. Not good
- Ice Cream in the Freezer will start to get soft. That's really not that bad. lol
What can you do about this. Let me explain the defrost system in general so you get an understanding of what is going on.
The coils inside the freezer are the only part inside the whole refrigerator that "get cold". They need to stay free from excess frost build up so that air can pass through the coils and reach the refrigerator section of your
refrigerator. Every eight hours or so, depending on the type of defrost timer or control you have, the compressor and fans will shut off and the machine will go into defrost mode.When the refrigerator is in defrost there is a heater that is tied into the evaporator coils inside the freezer that comes on. This heater is behind the rear panel inside the freezer where the evaporator coils are located. It melts the frost that has accumulated over the course of time. After about thirty minutes the machine comes out of defrost and goes back to normal operation.
Now the air can continue to pass through the coils and keep the freezer frozen and the refrigerator cool the defrost cycle is made up of 4 functioning parts the defrost timer, the defrost heater, the defrost thermostat and the fan .I will go through what each of these do
The Defrost timer Some refrigerators have a defrost timer. This type works like a clock. Every eight hours or so the machine hits the defrost spot and that's when defrost occurs Some refrigerators have an Adaptive Defrost Control. This is what makes a refrigerator energy efficient. It varys the length of time it takes the machine to go into defrost.So instead of energy hogging heater coming on every 8 hrs it could be different due to how many times you open the doors and how many times the compressor has run some models dont have a defrost timer and instead use a control board that works just like the timer it is usually located in the rear of the machine under a metal panel.
Defrost ThermostatThis is the component that controls how long the heater stays on when the machine is in defrost mode. Say the defrost cycle is thirty minutes, the heater may only be on for ten of those thirty minutes on the timer controls. On Adaptive Defrost Controls, when the heater shuts off, shortly after the machine exits defrost mode. Basically if the heater only stays on for ten minutes, the whole defrost cycle will only be about 12 or 13 minutes long.
Basically when the heater comes on, it starts to melt the frost on the evaporator. Once all the ice and frost is gone, the temperature behind the panel will start to rise. Once the temperature behind the panel rises to a certain temperature, the thermostat will break the current of electricity going to the heater. Bam, it shuts off and prevents your freezer from becoming a sauna, or an oven. I'm sure you get the drift. The heater is on the bottom of the evaporator coils and the defrost thermostat sits on top of the evaporator coils.
Defrost HeaterThis one should be pretty simple. By now if you have read this far you should already know what this does and how important is it. Some defrost heaters are a coil of wire in a glass tube under the evaporator coils. Works like a light bulb basically. The other style looks like the bake element in your stove. They both get red hot either way and melt the frost.
The FanSome dont consider this to be part of the defrost cycle but if the fan is not working then the air is trapped inside the freezer and sometimes can cause the same ice up situation which is why I say to always look at the fan first
Continuity tests can be done to check the defrost thermostat and the defrost heater you can also do an ohms test between terminal 1 and 3 on your defrost timer which will tell if the motor section of the timer is good then you can check between terminals 1 and 4 to by doing a continiuity test which is to the compressor and tells the compressor how long to run if you turn the timer till you hear the click it goes into position to and you can do a continuity test on the heater between terminals 1 and 2 and then you can do a continuty test on these two terminals as well And here is the guide to how your defrost cycle work if you have any further questions message me back and please remember to rank how this opinion has helped it allows me to help others in similar situations in the future Thanks Rick
