The freezer warmed up and was running continuously. I finally unplugged it let it sit for 30 minutes and plugged it back in again. Within a few hours it was back to zero and stopped running constantly. A week later it did it again. It warms up to 32 deg and then stays there. I reboot it and it goes back to zero. Now it does this everyday. I have a remote thermometer and when it starts to warm up it will warm from zero to 32 deg within an hour or two. Even unplugged it won’t warm that fast.
I saw the article on testing the thermistors (it has 3) in a cup of ice water (32 deg), the one in the freezer compartment (FZ) was very close at 16.2k ohms. The one the EVAP was 15.5k ohms. I didn’t test the one in the Fridge (FF1) but at 37 deg it was at 12k ohms. So it seems as though these are in spec, +/- 10%.
I don’t see the defrost heater on the coils inside the freezer, but it seems like it must be malfunctioning in order for the freezer to heat up that fast. Also, am I correct in assuming that since it goes to zero when working that the compressor is fine?
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks so much.
You might have an intermittent motherboard in the back AP4436216,pull it out and check for bad solder connections at the big power relay.
Thanks for the info. I checked the motherboard and I don’t see any evidence of bad solder connections, or anything burned out. Seems ok. I didn’t do any continuity checks or anything.
What would be causing this flaky temperature control? By the way, this morning the freezer was at -20 deg below zero. That’s with the temp control in the middle at 5. The fridge was at 45 deg which is the highest it’s been. I power cycled it and the freezer went to zero very quickly and stayed there.
What should I test before replacing the motherboard?
Just to be clear: The evap fan should NOT be running while in defrost mode? Because it is running. I don’t see the heater so I’m not sure how to test whether it is drawing current. I’ve seen pictures of the side-by-side fridge heater, but this top freezer fridge doesn’t look like that at all.
The evaporator motor should never run while in defrost. get a new motherboard.
Ok, I’ll order a motherboard. I’ll post back and let everyone know how it went.
Put the new motherboard in 3 days ago. Worked like a charm. Temp went right to zero and stayed there, plus or minus a few degrees. Fridge is at 39 deg. Good call, thanks for your help.