Defrost Timer Issues Whirlpool ET14JKXFN02

[swampdog2002]

I've been having defrost issues with my Whirlpool refrigerator, and I am at my wits end! What is happening is that it does not enter the defrost cycle on its own; rather, I have to manually turn the timer with a screwdriver to get it to defrost. I have replaced the following items: Defrost timer (twice), defrost thermostat and regular thermostat for refrigerated section. Once I manually initiate a defrost, the heater does come on and melt and ice in the freezer, and after about 20 minutes the timer switches back to cooling cycle, but does not automatically go back into defrost roughly 8 hours later (its rated time). This refrigerator does not seem to have any sort of defrost control board, as I looked over the parts diagram for this unit. I really don't know what else could be causing this issue. All replaced parts were OEM and correct to this Whirlpool refrigerator, and I did test them via recommendations elsewhere online. Please, if anyone has anything that could help me try and solve this I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much!

[Budget Appliance Repair]

Is this the defrost timer and part# that you installed?

Part number: WP2183400

If you received on with the flying lead, (a lead for the motor that has to be pushed onto one of the terminals), and you didn't read the instructions correctly and install onto the correct terminal, the motor will not advance correctly.

If you actually received the above part# timer without the flying lead it should be the correct one.

Edited August 29, 2020 by Budget Appliance Repair

[swampdog2002]

Yes, that is the exact one I installed. There was no flying lead on mine.

[swampdog2002]

The only other thing I can think of at this point is that there is a wiring issue somewhere within the refrigerator, but if the defrost timer advances on its own once I manually put it into defrost, it should be getting power to the timer. I don't want to keep throwing money and time into this, but trying to avoid getting a new refrigerator if I can fix this.

[swampdog2002]

Update: After some more testing, I found something interesting. When running normally out of defrost cycle, Pin 2 ALWAYS has 120V across it, which is ONLY supposed to have a drop across it in the defrost cycle. Pin 1, on the other hand, does NOT have 120V across it outside of the defrost cycle, and should until it enters the defrost cycle. There is some sort of mix-up somewhere in the wiring, so could it be the wiring harness in the freezer itself? I need to find a schematic for this refrigerator, but this whole issue is just so bizarre and confusing...

[Vance R]

The timer motor only runs when the thermostat is close. So it is 8 hours of run time of compressor. this picture should help.

[swampdog2002]

Thanks! I needed some sort of schematic to trace this back! Hard to find a wiring diagram for this particular model online.

[Vance R]

Should be one in the toe plate area.

 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

Also, in this setup, after the the defrost t-stat opens and the defrost timer comes out of defrost the timer doesn't start advancing again until the evaporator gets cold enough to close the defrost t-stat.

[swampdog2002]

Ok, so I did some more testing last night and checked the timer this morning. I made a mark on the defrost timer last night to see if it had advanced, and after checking this morning it had moved quite a bit. I took some measurements in voltage at pins on the timer, and came up with test values (all referenced to ground):

Pin 1: 120V

Pin 2: 0V out of defrost mode; when in defrost it is 120V

Pin 3: 120V

Pin 4: 120V

All are as to be expected. However, I checked the timer for advancement a few moments ago, and it has not seemed to have moved since checking it this morning. I checked the above pins again, and came up with the same results. So, the timer only advances when the defrost thermostat is closed from my understanding. However, when I check for a drop across pins 2 and 3, I get a value of 120V, which would indicate that the defrost thermostat is closed, correct? If so, then is there any reason why the defrost timer has stopped advancing? The compressor has been running, so it should definitely be moving.

[Vance R]

42 minutes ago, swampdog2002 said:

However, when I check for a drop across pins 2 and 3, I get a value of 120V, which would indicate that the defrost thermostat is closed, correct

yes.

 

43 minutes ago, swampdog2002 said:

If so, then is there any reason why the defrost timer has stopped advancing? The compressor has been running, so it should definitely be moving.

None i can think of, If you have 120 vac At pin 2 (pink) to  pin 3 (red) the timer motor should be running. The cam movement is very slow, does this timer have a window to see if motor is running? Keep and eye on it and hopefully it will go into defrost by itself. Once a day should be more than enough to keep evap clear.

[swampdog2002]

No, unfortunately no window on this timer. I did, however, make a mark on the timer and the small dial to see if there has been any movement. It's just so strange that it partially works, then stops. I even went so far as to set up a test rig with just the timer itself removed from the refrigerator and applied 120V to both pins 1 and 3 to see if it moves, which it does. At this point, I really don't know what else to try. Wouldn't seem like a wiring issue if I'm still getting the correct readings from all of the pins on the defrost timer. This is very frustrating, considering there is not much to this refrigerator in general.

[swampdog2002]

Oh, and to add to the above, I even tried another known good compatible defrost timer to rule out any issues with the other one. Same result as the other one, where it just does not advance the timer.

[Vance R]

Last thing to check would loose or corroded connections.

[swampdog2002]

That's the only other thing I was thinking. I checked last night when I was checking the defrost thermostat, and didn't see anything unusual with the wiring in there. If it's in the main harness that runs through the refrigerator through to the freezer section, that would be bad as I don't even know how I'd end up replacing that if there were a problem there.