After many bouts of thawing down iced up evaporator coils with a dryer to get by I decided to change out the heating element and thermostat as well as the adaptive defrost board ( got both parts for under about $80.00)
After letting it run for several hours the freezer seems to be working fine although the refer side took a while to drop in temp. The cold air does seem to be circulating ok through the ducts of the refer. It has been quite hot these past few days and I have no AC in our home. I noticed the refer hit about 40 degrees as I opened the door the temp thermometer began to rise quite quickly to 50 + degrees with the door open. After closing the door it seems to take quite a while to drop in temp. Is this normal or is it because of the hot weather as well as a moderate amount food in the refer at this time.
Sounds normal to me.
I am assuming that your defrost problem is fixed.
If you have not done it, clean your condenser coils and make sure that the condenser fan is running correctly and it’s blades are clean.
It may not change anything but at least the unit will run as efficiently as possible.
Looks like your unit has what is called a jelly roll type condenser.
These are a pain to clean.
Only way I have found is to blow them out with a compressor.
I have been told that a leaf blower will also work.
Dust gets all over the place but using a vacuum and a compressor will minimize this.
If possible roll the unit to an open door remove the back plate and the front kick plate and blow it out at least that way some of the dust is blown outside.
Hopefully someone else will jump in with a better method where a air source is not required.
[SIZE=2]It is always a pleasure to get a positive response. Thanks for your response denman.
I believe that my defrost problem is now fixed only because I let her run now for more than twenty four hours and the ambient temperature cooled down, upon opening the refer door at this point the thermostat read betwwen 30 and 40 degrees YEAH! I must add that I once again can hear the sizzling sound of melting ice when the motor/pump stops to begin the defrost cycle. ( I have started to hate this particular appliance a year after we bought it but I must say it has educated me very much so in the refrigeration arena.)
In regards to the condenser coils, you are right they are a pain to clean I did this last year with a narrow conical brush and vacuum and it worked fairly well. I haven’t checked them recently but I will and if need be I will try your advice on them compressed air does get into those nooks and crannys though and with the vacuum on the backside this should keep the mess to some what of a minimum.