Hi,
Been checking some posts. I opened the back compartment in freezer and coils have a lot of frost on them. Should I just let it defrost? Then what? Is there a defrost timer part for this model?
thanks for any help
Here are your parts
http://www.appliancepartspros.com/partsearch/modelsearch.aspx?model=596.52679200
Here is a goods link
http://www.applianceaid.com/refrigerator.html
Check out #30.
Frost on the coils must be heavy enough to limit the amount of air being pulled through the evaporator coils for it to be a defrost problem and it does sound like that is the problem. Note I do not have a wiring diagram or tech sheet for this unit but can tell you it does use an adaptive defrost board.
Try forcing a defrost using the press the light switch 5 times in 6 seconds method. If the compressor and fans shut off you are in a defrost mode.
First remove the evaporator cover in the freezer so you can see the coils.
Do not let them de-ice.
Manually force a defrost cycle by turning the defrost timer cam (see above).
Now check the defrost heater to see if it is on.
Be careful you do not want to burn your fingers.
If the heater is on then the adaptive defrost board needs replacing.
If not on.
Unplug the unit.
Remove the wire for one side of the heating element from the wiring and measure it for continuity, usually around 20 ohms or so.
If the heater is OK
Remove one wire to the defrost thermostat and measure it, should be 0 ohms when frozen. Note that it opens just above freezing so must be frozen to check it. Also inspect it, if it is bulged at all replace it even if it measures OK.
If both the above are OK then odds are the timer contacts are toast.
Best way to test this is a live test to see if you have 120 volts across the heater/defrost thermostat combo.
If you do not own a meter, I would suggest you purchase a one. You can get a decent digital multimeter for under $20.00. You do not need fancy though it is nice if the leads are a couple feet long.
If it saves ordering one unnecessary part it has paid for itself and you end up owning a useful tool.
Most places will not let you return electrical parts so if you order it, you own it.
A couple things to watch when measuring ohms and continuity
- Always remove power from the machine otherwise you could blow your meter.
- Always disconnect at least one side of any device you are checking. This eliminates the possibility of measuring an alternate/parallel circuit path.
- When checking for closed contacts and continuity use the lowest scale (Usually 200 ohms). Then try higher scales. This scale is 0 to 200 ohms so if the device you are measuring is 300 ohms this scale would show an open circuit which it is not, you are just measuring outside the scale’s dynamic range.
There is a good STICKY at the start of this forum about it’s use.