Whirlpool fridge ET8BPKXKQ00 - freezing vents closed

[Don Mill$]

Hi..  This freezer is working, but the vents to the fridge are being frozen in about a month of use.  I've manually defrosted it twice and cleared the drain hose each time.  no apparent blockage.

The flow chart suggests I need to troubleshoot the defrost control which is electronic.  No manual switch to turn as far a I can tell. 

The coils are all frozen, as well as the pan collecting to the drain hose. snow like frosting. I have pictures but I don't know how to load them up here. 

Thanks for any advise you can provide.

 

 

 

[Terry Carmen]

Is the evaporator defrosting normally but the vents are icing up, or is nothing defrosting?

[Don Mill$]

Hi Terry.. i have no evidence of defrosting, but  what would indicate defrosting?

[Terry Carmen]

33 minutes ago, Don Mill$ said:

Hi Terry.. i have no evidence of defrosting, but  what would indicate defrosting?

Not your model, but if the evaporator looks like this, it's not defrosting.

 

 

 

[Don Mill$]

ok.. i'd say it looks like that.. snow on coils and everywhere.. only place there isn't.. is around the fan.

so changing the control board a solution here?

[Terry Carmen]

2 hours ago, Don Mill$ said:

so changing the control board a solution here?

There's no way to tell without actually checking it.

You would need to look at the wiring diagram and check the components involved with defrosting. Unfortunately I can't find the wiring diagram for it so you would need to hope the tech sheet is still there.

It could be the defrost heater or the board or the wiring or the defrost thermostat (bi-metal) if it has one or whatever temperature sensor it has on the evaporator

 

[Don Mill$]

 

[Don Mill$]

 

[Don Mill$]

 

[Don Mill$]

ok.. Terry.. if it makes a difference I've managed to post pics.

I'll look for a wiring diagram if it would help. in the meantime  If I removed the defrost control board, relatively easy thing to do... can i check it?

[Terry Carmen]

10 minutes ago, Don Mill$ said:

I'll look for a wiring diagram if it would help. in the meantime  If I removed the defrost control board, relatively easy thing to do... can i check it?

You can check it, but not without a wiring diagram. 8-)

I don't have a lot to offer here except that it's not defrosting.

Once you get the diagram, you should (if you're lucky) be able to check the defrost heater and defrost thermostat from the board, which isn't buried in ice. 8-)

If the heater and thermostat are good, the board is a likely suspect. You should be able to set the board to "defrost" and see if the terminals supplying the heater have 110V on them during defrost.

Again, I don't have any of the service information for this and don't know how to put the board into defrost, but if you can find the tech sheet, it should be pretty easy to figure out.

Terry

 

[vee8power]

The way to put this one into defrost is to unplug it, turn the cold control to off. Wait a few then plug the fridge  back in; when you turn the cold control on this time , it won't start running but it will be in defrost. If you can't see, hear, or otherwise detect any defrosting going on in the next 15 minutes, the best guess would be the board and the defrost thermostat. If defrosting does happen after that procedure , the best guess would be the board.

That's as close as you can get without a meter and/ or a wiring diagram .

[Don Mill$]

Ok.. thank you Terry and Vee8power .

Vee.. when you say .." it won't start running, but it will be in defrost".. you mean no compressor, no fan, but maybe heat? I assume there is a heater coil in that snow.   If its not running, ( no compressor, no fan)  then it will defrost naturally, but I don't think that's what you mean.

For both of you.. since it takes about a month for the freeze to affect the fridge... would that mean anything?.. from what I understand the defrosting should occur every few hours.. and if its not defrosting at those periods..then wouldn't snow build up be faster?

At this point, 2 items .. a defrost timer and a defrost thermostat will only set me back about $130.. can it be something else?

 

[vee8power]

16 minutes ago, Don Mill$ said:

Vee.. when you say .." it won't start running, but it will be in defrost".. you mean no compressor, no fan, but maybe heat? I assume there is a heater coil in that snow.   If its not running, ( no compressor, no fan)  then it will defrost naturally, but I don't think that's what you mean

In normal operation, the compressor and fans stop running and the heater will come on to melt the frost. This happens maybe ounce a day or so for say 20 minutes.

 

21 minutes ago, Don Mill$ said:

At this point, 2 items .. a defrost timer and a defrost thermostat will only set me back about $130.. can it be something else?

Of course it could be something else but like I said, for a DIYer, those 2 parts would be the best guess, unless you see something obvious like a loose wire.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

The most common problem on these are the defrost t-stat which is covered in the snowy ice in the upper left corner just 3 or 4 inches below the ice maker fill tube.

Most of these units have a test plug to bypass the defrost t-stat, (usually an open plug with a brown and a pink wire - I think it might be the plug that you can see at the surface with the tape over it).

If the above test provided starts the defrost cycle but it doesn't defrost you can again remove power and take a short piece of Romex electrical wiring, (14 gauge), and strip about 1/2" off each end and plug into the test plug and do the above sequence again.  If the defrost t-stat is bad the wire will jump it and make the board think the defrost t-stat is closed and it should start defrosting.

You will most likely find the blue epoxy cap on the defrost t-stat is all bulging/popped out of the metal part - really common to see in these models.

[Terry Carmen]

13 hours ago, Don Mill$ said:

For both of you.. since it takes about a month for the freeze to affect the fridge... would that mean anything?.. from what I understand the defrosting should occur every few hours.. and if its not defrosting at those periods..then wouldn't snow build up be faster?

No, it doesn't mean anything.

While the optimal defrost interval is whatever the manufacturer picked, unless you leave the door open a lot, for a long time, it can easily go weeks without defrosting, and still maintain temperature.

 

[Don Mill$]

On 11/9/2019 at 7:00 PM, vee8power said:

The way to put this one into defrost is to unplug it, turn the cold control to off. Wait a few then plug the fridge  back in; when you turn the cold control on this time , it won't start running but it will be in defrost. If you can't see, hear, or otherwise detect any defrosting going on in the next 15 minutes, the best guess would be the board and the defrost thermostat. If defrosting does happen after that procedure , the best guess would be the board.

the fan did not stop after unplugging.  I'm pretty sure the compressor did though.  No heating occurred. 

I've elected to purchase a replacement and once the replacement arrives, I'll decide on restoring this and using, or selling it or scapping it. 

I'll follow-up if I get it working.  I suspect that I'll at least find a wiring diagram .. any suggests where i could post it so others might benefit?

Thank you for all your advice on this.