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What's the best way to test the defrost circuit in this refrigerator?


Samurai Appliance Repair Man

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Hint: Please don't bore us with any amateur hour "ohm out" answers. 

Extra credit: What is the function of the brown wire at pin 5 of the ADC controller? 

Double extra-special credit: Enroll at Master Samurai Tech and a get free premium tech membership here at Appliantology.

 

First person to post the correct BEST answer, I'll hoist a mug of my flavorite brew in your honor. AND if you get the Extra Credit question, too, you'll get an electronic plate of my special cardboard cookies! 

 

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Jump pin 1 to pin 2 and test for current flow. The brown wire at pin 5 seems to be useful for splitting the circuit, to test for voltage through the bi-metal.

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MarcusF

Posted (edited)

Jumper Pins 1-2 on the ADC, check current draw of the defrost heater circuit. Perhaps disconnect Pin 4 depending on what it does, can't tell because of the picture being cut off.

It looks like the brown wire tells the board whether or not the bimetal is closed, by checking for the presence of 120VAC WRT Neutral, but I'm not completely sure. Also looks like there's a way to manually test that with a meter at the test terminal at the end of the wire.

Edited by MarcusF
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Posted

7 minutes ago, THRAMICH said:

Jump pin 1 to pin 2 and test for current flow.

 

7 minutes ago, MarcusF said:

Jumper Pin 1-2 on the ADC, check current draw of the defrost heater circuit.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Just kidding-- but I will hoist a brewski in both of your honor since you posted at nearly the same time. :beermug:

 

7 minutes ago, MarcusF said:

Perhaps disconnect Pin 4 depending on what it does, can't tell because of the picture being cut off.

It doesn't matter what load pin 4 is supplying because you're only doing this long enough to test amps on the defrost circuit. But, this is another good extra credit question: even with a clipped off schematic, you should be able to discern the function of the switch with the common pole at pin 1. It's switching L1 from either the defrost circuit to something else. What would that be in a refrigerator?

 

7 minutes ago, MarcusF said:

It looks like the brown wire tells the board whether or not the bimetal is closed, by checking for the presence of 120VAC WRT Neutral,

You're on the right track! What's the name for these kind of lines? 

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Quote

You're on the right track! What's the name for these kind of lines? 

Sensing lines!

Quote

It doesn't matter what load pin 4 is supplying because you're only doing this long enough to test amps on the defrost circuit. But, this is another good extra credit question: even with a clipped off schematic, you should be able to discern the function of the switch with the common pole at pin 1. It's switching L1 from either the defrost circuit to something else. What would that be in a refrigerator?

Ah, makes sense. It's either cooling or defrosting, so that'd be to power the compressor and fans. 🧠

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  • Team Samurai
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Posted

1 minute ago, MarcusF said:

Sensing lines!

Correctillia! Here's your plate of cardboard cookies, from an old Samurai family recipe. Enjoy! 

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5 minutes ago, MarcusF said:

Ah, makes sense. It's either cooling or defrosting, so that'd be to power the compressor and fans. 🧠

You got it!

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  • Team Samurai
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Posted

Posting the markup of the solution:

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beyerappliance

Posted

Jump pin 1 to pin 2. If heater comes on, ADC is bad. If heater does not come on, jump wires at test term. If heater comes on bad bi-metal, if heater does not come on, bad heater.

Brown pin 5 bypasses the bi-metal to check continuity on heater

Obviously it could always be a bad connection or a busted wire.

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