4th Evap Motor in 5 years -- Frigidaire Commercial Upright

We have one of the commercial upright freezers and have replaced the motor going on 4 times. I was referred here to try and see if anyone had any other ideas to our latest problem. Was installed July, 2007.

Every time the motor has been replaced (3) the fan has stopped running and the temperature in the unit increases so we have called, a new evap fan motor is put in, and it runs immediately and we go on our merry way.

We noticed a few days ago the fan was not running and so with prior knowledge of the issue, ordered another evap fan motor for replacement. We over night the package only to put it in and not work.

Next thought was look at the evaporator in the top back of the unit. We did that and it was completely iced solid… so we went ahead and melted the ice off to get the fan to click on. It doesn’t.

Next up is we guess is a defrost timing or temp issue, but aren’t quite sure since the fan didn’t work with the ice melted. We have a mechanical defrost timer and turned it off, let the unit sit, and then turned it back on manually and started hearing noise as if it is working… so the defrost selection "works"…

The unit fan still does not work, the evaporator is not significantly iced over, and the unit has been sitting since Tuesday at about 25-30 degrees… so it’s keeping temp while closed. The unit has always (ALWAYS) had frost buildup – icecicles hanging from fan air outlet, build-up beneath the evaporator onto the second shelf, as well as on top of the top lip of inside of the door.

I don’t know how beyond the icing issue they could be interrelated other than electrically.

Electrolux seems to think is it some sort of electrical problem – any ideas?

I recently had a baby who was in NICU and started a job making 60% less, so unfortunately we don’t have the extra money to pay someone to come just look and play on a hourly basis and we can’t just buy a lot of parts and tie up our money on what next we might think is the issue. So, TIA so ANY information you may can provide.

Sometimes the evaporator fan motor is wired in series with the defrost thermostat so the fan will not work unless the evaporator is well below freezing. Check your service sheet to see if that is correct.

What exactly is the "service sheet"?

It is a data sheet that contains the schematic, usually behind the front kick panel.