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1930

1930

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Maybe someone on here knows something about these things/ has experience with repair.

We bought new maybe 3 years ago tops. Have never done anything to it like thawing it out and we keep things clean.

Last few days the freezer started weeping on the floor. My wife cranked it all the way up last night, still food thawing.

I removed evaporator cover and find the evap completely iced over almost.

I am hoping that we can let it sit overnight, thaw it out and be done with it but Im guessing its not quite that easy.

Its a Frigidaire Model PLFU1778ES7 if that helps, side by side, the other side is regular refrig.

Just going on-line I can see ( assuming I am understanding things correctly ) that this is not supposed to freeze over, something is supposed to come on a few times a day and thaw these coils out?

Thanks for any suggestions.

EDIT: if the freezer evaporator coils ice over, the freezer does not get cold enough. Several times a day the defrost heater assembly turns on for a few minutes to melt away any frost or ice that may have accumulated on the freezer evaporator coils. If the defrost heater assembly has burned out, the frost will build up on the coils and eventually no air will be able to travel through the coils to provide cooling to the freezer. The most common cause for this condition is a problem with the defrost system............

So where is the defrost heater?
 

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Several things can enter into this

Evap fan can be "weak" or stopping at times, due to wear, dirt, bad bearings

Defrost timer can be going bad or have something wrong with what triggers it. Older ones were a electro / mechanical clock motor and switch, newer ones are "solid state." I'm not familiar, much, with them

EDIT A quick search found a similar model, seems to indicate you have a mechanical defrost timer, "somewhere underneath." Hard to tell from the diagram.

Door gasket or other leaks can be leaking in warm humid air

Defrost heater can be defective

Drain plugged.

Or you might have suddenly loaded it up with a whole bunch of unfrozen food, like a deer, etc.

The above causes are far more likely than an actual refrigeration system problem. But if the compressor is starting to go bad (valves typically) or it has a slow leak, at a certain point, this can also happen.
 
When I looked up the defrost timer using your model number, this is the image I came up for the part.
 

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That will defrost real fast for you with a hair dryer. Then plug it back in to buy yourself some time....
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
When I looked up the defrost timer using your model number, this is the image I came up for the part.
Click to expand...

And most times that's the issue. The fridge needs to cycle to keep the coils from doing that.

Certainly something to consider.

On a side note, I could live in that fridge, it's bigger than some apartments I had 40 years ago lol.
 
Yup, that's mechanical. "Find it" under there, most of those you can cycle manually if needed--screwdriver, etc..
 
A little more digging on-line and I was able to find the heater deal, it is part # 297216600 if anyone is interested what it looks like.

I tested it the way You-tube told me too and assuming I tested it correctly the part is no good.

8 dollars later on E-bay bought me the part brand new ( free shipping ) and supposedly I will see in on or before Tues.

I hope this fixes it, thanks for all the suggestions!!
 
1930 said:
I hope this fixes it, thanks for all the suggestions!!
Click to expand...

I have had, oh, maybe three refrigerators over the last 40 years do exactly what you have going on there and that little defroster part was the problem.

I had one stick in my freezer a couple of years ago with the opposite result. It thawed everything and wouldn't kick back to cool cycle. I messed with it and it has been fine since.

Odds are good.

It could be something else I suppose, but I wouldn't know what.
 
1930 said:
A little more digging on-line and I was able to find the heater deal, it is part # 297216600 if anyone is interested what it looks like.

I tested it the way You-tube told me too and assuming I tested it correctly the part is no good.

8 dollars later on E-bay bought me the part brand new ( free shipping ) and supposedly I will see in on or before Tues.

I hope this fixes it, thanks for all the suggestions!!
Click to expand...

Good luck to ya. The heater is a simple heating element, it should show continuity at the electrical connections. If you have access to a "cheater cord" you could even hook it up and see if it heats. If it is bad, it would certainly cause this problem
 
No go on the part I replaced which was the 3rd part down on this web-page http://www.repairclinic.com/RepairH...gidaire-Freezer-coils-frosting-up-PLFU1778ES7 called a defrost thermostat

Evidently these are the 3 biggest culprits ?

Not sure where to find the other two exactly, pulling out the freezer from the wall is going to be a pain in the balls ++ but I guess I may have no choice?

What part would you guys throw at it next?

Not so good with electrical test equipment to be honest but it wouldnt surprise me if that defrost thermostat ( the brand new one ) was no good. Bought it from E-bay as new but we all know half the people selling dont know what they are selling.

Ittl work great for maybe a week and then it will be all frosted over again
 
67Dart273 said:
Good luck to ya. The heater is a simple heating element, it should show continuity at the electrical connections. If you have access to a "cheater cord" you could even hook it up and see if it heats. If it is bad, it would certainly cause this problem
Click to expand...
Can you explain to me how to check this part using this cheap P.O.S harbor reight multimeter. I dont own a good one cause I dont know how to use them correctly.

I need to find a good one on E-bay ( preferable Mac-tools unit ) if you know of a good model number to watch out for.


I can get some wire and make a ........... If you have access to a "cheater cord" you could even hook it up and see if it heats...........

That sounds alot easier to me than fooling with this multi-meter
Thanks
 

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1930 said:
No go on the part I replaced which was the 3rd part down on this web-page http://www.repairclinic.com/RepairH...gidaire-Freezer-coils-frosting-up-PLFU1778ES7 called a defrost thermostat

Evidently these are the 3 biggest culprits ?

Not sure where to find the other two exactly, pulling out the freezer from the wall is going to be a pain in the balls ++ but I guess I may have no choice?

What part would you guys throw at it next?

Not so good with electrical test equipment to be honest but it wouldnt surprise me if that defrost thermostat ( the brand new one ) was no good. Bought it from E-bay as new but we all know half the people selling dont know what they are selling.

Ittl work great for maybe a week and then it will be all frosted over again
Click to expand...

See post number 3. It has been the main issue with many refrigerators in my rentals (when I had 17 of them).

Read post number 5 that quoted my number 3 post also.
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
See post number 3. It has been the main issue with many refrigerators in my rentals (when I had 17 of them).

Read post number 5 that quoted my number 3 post also.
Click to expand...
I did see that but Id like to test the part that I already bought though before I go ahead and purchase a different part. Thanks though for pointing out the issues you have noticed.

Id bet your right, that I just need to go ahead and find that part on the fridge and buy another.
 
The defrost thermostat is a simple thermostatic switch. "Generally" the defrost timer brings on the defrost heater at set intervals of time. The heater comes on, and melts the ice, heats up the evap coil. If the thing gets warm enough (not much frost) before the timer kicks the heater back off, it will trip off on the defrost thermostat.

The heater is sort of like "heat tape" IE a long thing wrapped around in there somewhere

You want to check continuity of the stat, which should be near zero ohms, although I'm not sure where it shuts off. If you have another cooler / refrig / freezer, cool it in there for a few minutes.

You want the switch on the meter pointing down at the lower left, at "200" close to the "OFF" switch and with the probes in the bottom two jacks. Only time you make use of the upper jack is for measuring 10 A current

One glaring problem I see with that meter (in this day and age) is that it will not measure AC amperage, only DC

And sure enough, LOL, "there's a YouTube video"

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB9a30RkHpM"]Defrost Thermostat - How to Test and How they Work - YouTube[/ame]
 
I had an old fidge/freezer that worked like that/same problem and had to replace the defrost heater (element) a couple of times. Usually happened after the fridge was moved so the heater must have been a bit fragile in that particular model.
 
Spoke with you tonight. Order a new heater. From what we went over it points in the direction of a shorted defrost heater.
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
dustermaniac a/k/a Tom does this work for a living so maybe send him a pm. He was on yesterday so maybe he will pop in in a little while.
Click to expand...
Thanks again for the suggestion. I did contact Tom and did not get a response up until tonight. Evidently he is busy at the moment has been away from the forum.

Not only did he offer to help but he have me his contact # and we conversed for quite a while over the situation. Very knowledgeable and friendly and we prob. have diagnosed down to a bad heater element.

This forum is the best!!
 
1930 said:
Thanks again for the suggestion. I did contact Tom and did not get a response up until tonight. Evidently he is busy at the moment has been away from the forum.

Not only did he offer to help but he have me his contact # and we conversed for quite a while over the situation. Very knowledgeable and friendly and we prob. have diagnosed down to a bad heater element.

This forum is the best!!
Click to expand...


Tom is a great guy that knows his business and is up to date on the newer stuff.
 
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