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#1
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FrigidaireNotDefrosting
I have 7 year old Kenmore/Frigidaire top freezer refrigerator. It been
really hot lately, compressor runs about 90% of the time but does maintain 35F in fresh food compartment as long as evaporator is frost free. Problem is that evap coils keep frosting over and I have to defrost these manually. I have replaced defrost timer and checked the heater/thermostat circuit(measures 33ohm )to be good. Is it possible that the excessive on-duty cycle produces frost faster than system can remove it? Have any experts seen an problem like this? Thanks , in advance George Raetz |
#2
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"George Raetz" wrote in message ... I have 7 year old Kenmore/Frigidaire top freezer refrigerator. It been really hot lately, compressor runs about 90% of the time but does maintain 35F in fresh food compartment as long as evaporator is frost free. Problem is that evap coils keep frosting over and I have to defrost these manually. I have replaced defrost timer and checked the heater/thermostat circuit(measures 33ohm )to be good. Is it possible that the excessive on-duty cycle produces frost faster than system can remove it? Have any experts seen an problem like this? Thanks , in advance George Raetz This is Turtle. You forgot one item to check. The '' defrost terminator '' to see if it is good. It is a 1" button that is clamped on the evaperator coil to tell when the coil is defrosted and turn element off. if it is bad it will not let the coil defrost at all. TURTLE |
#3
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1 On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:15:10 -0500, "TURTLE" wrote: "George Raetz" wrote in message ... I have 7 year old Kenmore/Frigidaire top freezer refrigerator. It been really hot lately, compressor runs about 90% of the time but does maintain 35F in fresh food compartment as long as evaporator is frost free. Problem is that evap coils keep frosting over and I have to defrost these manually. I have replaced defrost timer and checked the heater/thermostat circuit(measures 33ohm )to be good. Is it possible that the excessive on-duty cycle produces frost faster than system can remove it? Have any experts seen an problem like this? Thanks , in advance George Raetz This is Turtle. You forgot one item to check. The '' defrost terminator '' Read it again. I have replaced defrost timer and checked the heater/thermostat circuit(measures 33ohm )to be good. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 7.1 iQA/AwUBQu1lqQIk7T39FC4ZEQLDXgCeI14Wor6WRBctQSiqLNssgH PVKT8AoPk4 3ptw3Rwvs9KVODBjDx2v8t0P =R3+O -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- -john wide-open at throttle dot info |
#4
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"~^Johnny^~" wrote in message ... -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:15:10 -0500, "TURTLE" wrote: "George Raetz" wrote in message ... I have 7 year old Kenmore/Frigidaire top freezer refrigerator. It been really hot lately, compressor runs about 90% of the time but does maintain 35F in fresh food compartment as long as evaporator is frost free. Problem is that evap coils keep frosting over and I have to defrost these manually. I have replaced defrost timer and checked the heater/thermostat circuit(measures 33ohm )to be good. Is it possible that the excessive on-duty cycle produces frost faster than system can remove it? Have any experts seen an problem like this? Thanks , in advance George Raetz This is Turtle. You forgot one item to check. The '' defrost terminator '' Read it again. I have replaced defrost timer and checked the heater/thermostat circuit(measures 33ohm )to be good. This is Turtle. Does Thermostat circuit mean defrost terminator ? Or Does it mean he check the thermostat circuit of the refrigerator ? I see a lot of defrost systems have trouble and they change the timer and then check the heat element and it's good. then they still have trouble and find out later the defrost terminator would let the defrost cycle start but cut it off way too soon. This fellow has a defrost terminator messing up or he installed the defrost timer in correctly. he did say the heat element had 33 ohms and seems to be ok. TURTLE |
#5
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1 On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 22:31:49 -0500, "TURTLE" wrote: then they still have trouble and find out later the defrost terminator would let the defrost cycle start but cut it off way too soon. That could happen if the thermostat was not clamped or fastened properly to the evaporator, and was just hanging or laying in there, exposing itself to the radiance of the heater, but they seldom just fall off, as the clips are stainless spring steel and do not corrode. Once in a blue moon, the terminator will fail shorted. In certain models, like older Frigidaire top freezers, the damn freezer will actually catch fire. Otherwise, they fail open, and no defrost, period. No 33 ohm continuity through the heater-thermostat circuit. :-) It is a fixed bimetal element acting against a switch - I have yet to see one open at a temperature outside its original design, unless it was defective and out of specs when new. But then again, I have only worked on "thousands", and not "millions" of boxes, so there's a first time for everything. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 7.1 iQA/AwUBQu3wGAIk7T39FC4ZEQJdhACdF6xsvh2q5bXE93X9UFrCOM bNFY8AoJkP yN7s96CtnT8gddhe9DigdMrN =TZlF -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- -john wide-open at throttle dot info |
#6
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"~^Johnny^~" wrote in message ... -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 22:31:49 -0500, "TURTLE" wrote: then they still have trouble and find out later the defrost terminator would let the defrost cycle start but cut it off way too soon. That could happen if the thermostat was not clamped or fastened properly to the evaporator, and was just hanging or laying in there, exposing itself to the radiance of the heater, but they seldom just fall off, as the clips are stainless spring steel and do not corrode. Once in a blue moon, the terminator will fail shorted. In certain models, like older Frigidaire top freezers, the damn freezer will actually catch fire. Otherwise, they fail open, and no defrost, period. No 33 ohm continuity through the heater-thermostat circuit. :-) It is a fixed bimetal element acting against a switch - I have yet to see one open at a temperature outside its original design, unless it was defective and out of specs when new. But then again, I have only worked on "thousands", and not "millions" of boxes, so there's a first time for everything. This is Turtle. Little Johnny , You ain't worked on thousands of boxes for your who speech here evolves around a terminator working or not working as I have stated above here. You just said a terminator can't go out of temperature range but still work. if you have worked on thousands, you would know they have defrost terminator that can go out of range sometimes and give a short defrost time limit. Come on Don't try to bull**** me here. TURTLE |
#7
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1 On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:40:42 -0600, "George Raetz" wrote: I have 7 year old Kenmore/Frigidaire top freezer refrigerator. It been really hot lately, compressor runs about 90% of the time but does maintain 35F in fresh food compartment as long as evaporator is frost free. Problem is that evap coils keep frosting over and I have to defrost these manually. I have replaced defrost timer and checked the heater/thermostat circuit(measures 33ohm )to be good. Is it possible that the excessive on-duty cycle produces frost faster than system can remove it? Have any experts seen an problem like this? Turn the timer to defrost (with the unit running and cold) and check the current draw. It should draw a few amps if the heater is getting current. Also check the door seal for leaks, and make sure the evaporator fan isn't slowing down (tightening up). -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 7.1 iQA/AwUBQu1okQIk7T39FC4ZEQKCyACgmi6+NsfycQHW6rSIsKY5fx UFcRcAoLoe ZMT5qDZqaBXp8xKoFHClADHN =qAcB -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- -john wide-open at throttle dot info |
#8
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Evaporator fan runs great. Also, I took the back cover off the freezer, Set
the timer to defrost, and I could see the heater glow red hot and remove all the frost. The (brand new) timer seems to work OK. All I can think of at this point would be an intermittent connection problem, or possibly your suggestion. Thank you very much for help George "~^Johnny^~" wrote in message ... -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Turn the timer to defrost (with the unit running and cold) and check the current draw. It should draw a few amps if the heater is getting current. Also check the door seal for leaks, and make sure the evaporator fan isn't slowing down (tightening up). -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 7.1 iQA/AwUBQu1okQIk7T39FC4ZEQKCyACgmi6+NsfycQHW6rSIsKY5fx UFcRcAoLoe ZMT5qDZqaBXp8xKoFHClADHN =qAcB -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- -john wide-open at throttle dot info |
#9
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1 On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 21:09:01 -0600, "George Raetz" wrote: Evaporator fan runs great. Also, I took the back cover off the freezer, Set the timer to defrost, and I could see the heater glow red hot and remove all the frost. The (brand new) timer seems to work OK. All I can think of at this point would be an intermittent connection problem, or possibly your suggestion. Thank you very much for help George Turtle says the defrost thermostat could be dodgy. I dunno. It could be worth a shot. They don't cost that much to replace. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 7.1 iQA/AwUBQu3wpgIk7T39FC4ZEQIoLQCeOvbzCIxU6D7A4kfBb7ehrr mOXoIAn0mG VB4sQBWTmRlRPYrQJo6+Vyov =RaE/ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- -john wide-open at throttle dot info |
#10
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"~^Johnny^~" wrote in message ... -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 21:09:01 -0600, "George Raetz" wrote: Evaporator fan runs great. Also, I took the back cover off the freezer, Set the timer to defrost, and I could see the heater glow red hot and remove all the frost. The (brand new) timer seems to work OK. All I can think of at this point would be an intermittent connection problem, or possibly your suggestion. Thank you very much for help George Turtle says the defrost thermostat could be dodgy. I dunno. It could be worth a shot. They don't cost that much to replace. -john Well, I replaced said thermostat, and problem solved! Thanks very much for help George |
#11
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Excess frost comes from one of two things. Either there is too much humidity
getting into the unit, or the defrost circuit isn't removing the normal frost. I suspect a failure of the normal defrost system. What's the current draw of the unit when it first goes into defrost? -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org www.mormons.com "George Raetz" wrote in message ... I have 7 year old Kenmore/Frigidaire top freezer refrigerator. It been really hot lately, compressor runs about 90% of the time but does maintain 35F in fresh food compartment as long as evaporator is frost free. Problem is that evap coils keep frosting over and I have to defrost these manually. I have replaced defrost timer and checked the heater/thermostat circuit(measures 33ohm )to be good. Is it possible that the excessive on-duty cycle produces frost faster than system can remove it? Have any experts seen an problem like this? Thanks , in advance George Raetz |
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