25 replies to this topic

[CJrun]

UPDATE!

 

CTG51 was smelling the correct rat.  Yeah, I've already ordered the replacement timer, but that doesn't appear to be the problem.  I masked the real symptoms by the order in which I did things.

 

1) Cleaned the condensor coils.

 

2)Turned the fridge/freezer off.

 

3) Emptied the freezer and removed the panels covering the evaporator; found the evaporator was frozen up.

 

4) Manually defrosted with a blow dryer.

 

5) Couldn't find the dang Ninja Timer, fridge still off, but freezer defrosted.

 

6) Eventually found the Timer, then unplugged the unit per Samurai's instructions, before messing with the Timer.  Manually advanced Timer to the CLICK, then got out my temperature gun and shot the Heater Wires.  Got a reading of @ 60F, so I assumed the Heater Wires were functioning.

 

7) The Timer turned everything back onto normal.

 

So, I read around 30 F on the evaporator coils, but 60 F on the heater wires, on a unit that had been unplugged while I messed with the Timer.  Re-doing the test this morning, neither the Evaporator nor the Heater Wires ever got up over 30 F during the defrost cycle,  This is probably because yesterday I had a defrosted unit which had been unplugged for a bit, so the heater wires were reflecting more of the air temperature in the empty freezer with the door open and no ice on the evaporator coils (therefore, 60 F).  Today I did it without unplugging, without manually defrosting, and the wires more closely reflected the temperature of the ice on the coils!

 

It's gotta be the dang Heater Wires, not the Timer!  So, now I gotta order the wires and return the replacement timer.

 

Thanks for making me puzzled enough to re-run the test and find the flaw in yesterday's effort.

 

This morning

[certified tech group 51]

In step 6)   When put into 'forced defrost' the bi-metal was still open..............The defrost circuit was 'open'............What are the items you call 'heater wires'??........The wires that connect to the heater ( small round metal looking thingy)  should not get hot, just the heater itself...............When the freezer  has been down to '0' degs for about an hour ,( 30` on the evaporator ???)  check the continuity of the defrost terminator ( bi-metal )........................Try this, with the unit operating for over 8 hours,  ( 8 hour timer ) remove the evaporator panel, put unit into forced defrost, does the heater operate??............... it will be a dull red to a bit brighter red color and it will be hot....   Could still be the timer  ( p/n 68233-2   65 clam$ on the Shell-O-Meter) as more info is extracted.................. ( Heater assy. p/n 61003120 just for a  defrost terminator, at  about 41 clam$...................I have seen bi-metals go for 60 clam$..) ...

[CJrun]

Well, I call this the Heater Wires. 

 

 

 

I figured they are essentially resistor wires that should heat up.  Near the top of that photo may be what you call the small round metal looking thingy.  It attaches to the white leg of the Heater Wires.  That may be the Terminator.

 

The parts listing (already ordered) describes the Wires and the metal thingy as the Heater Assembly:

http://www.repaircli...mber=MSD2454FRQ

 

The coldest I ever recorded on the Evaporator was @ 4 F, which seemed acceptable.

Edited by Samurai Appliance Repair Man, 05 January 2013 - 07:24 PM.
Embedded image of "heater wires."

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Just dealt with this exact same problem today.  Let's stop trying to ballroom dance with Burmese war pig-- just gut the defrost system in this puppy and get back to having cold beer.  Here's what you need to replace for a 100% guaranteed fix for under a $100 (and save you a lot of time and headache... unless you enjoy warm beer):

 

Defrost timer ==> http://www.repaircli...mber=MSD2454FRQ

 

 

 

Defrost heater and thermostat assembly ==> http://www.repaircli...mber=MSD2454FRQ

 

[CJrun]

Well, to be truthfull, it's my Better Half's beers that are threatened.  My frosties are dispensed from an OASIS "Hot 'N Cold" water cooler, probably from the 1960s, out here in my workshop.  It has a little door in the front that accesses close to a case-of-beer worth of very cold storage.

 

I already ordered both items above, around $120, with rapid shipping, but worth it if My Baby is kept happy.  Plus I enjoy doing this sort of stuff.

 

Question:

 

If the Timer appears to be working, do I go ahead and replace it?  Do I return ship it?  Should I just stick it on a shelf in the workshop, knowing it may fail sometime soon?  Parts are already paid for, but we ain't exactly rich.

 

Besiades, I have a lovely "Ben Hur" deep freezer from the 1960s out in my storage shed that I would like to resurrect.for fun and kilowatt consumption.  It worked beatifully until after I refinished it, moved it, and now it's a brick.  I have asked a fridge mechanic to look at it but he has suggested that it may have developed pinhole leaks in the shelf/coils and shoud be shit-canned.  He wasn't willing to even look at it.

 

My current inclination is to go ahead and replace the Timer and box the old one, in case I ever need it.  I think it may be functioning fine, but what the Hell.

 

My Baby will be impressed that none of our food has spolied, it only cost us a bit over $100, and we didn't have to put up with a repair visit disturbing the "peace" in the midst of our schedules, 4 dogs, 3 cats, and 20-something chickens.

 

And maybe I will have bought some goodwill by doing this myself, to allow me to play with Ben Hur and it not seem as if I am just goofing off, when there are bound to be chores she would prefer to assign me.  And they won't be pleasant chores.  They will probably involve things like clothes.  Or remodeling another room in a house with 2 adults, 3 boys, 4 dogs, 3 cats, and 20 something chickens.

 

Her last three projects were the hall bathroom/laundry (yes, you helped with the washer), now all redone and tiled, while continuing to function for the home, the entire kitchen, complete with all new (to us) appliances, ceilings, floor.  All functioning, the entire time, and she wouldn't even let me move the washer and dryer out onto the back porch, while I tiled the laundry floor; everything had to be completely functional and in place, at the end of each day's effort.

 

So, Timer?  Yes or no?  Ben Hur?  Yes or no?  Shall we attempt a group restoration on a gorgeous 1960s deep freezer?  I don't know what I would ever put in it, these days.  Our chickens are pets and with even hamburger at $4 a pound it would bankrupt us, to fill it.  But, just for fun, after I get my Baby's fridge fixed, I would like to pull Ben Hur out of the shed and get it running.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Question:

 

If the Timer appears to be working, do I go ahead and replace it? 

 

Lemme answer this in four different languages so there's no ambiguity:

 

Japanese:  Hai

 

Russian:  Da

 

French:  Oui

 

'Merkan: You betcher ass, budrow.