Kenmore 596.73503200 S/N10368678CJ evaporator freezeup 2nd time in 2 week
Kenmore 596.73503200 S/N10368678CJ evaporator freezeup 2nd time in 2 week Need tech doc/wire 2 tblst
Defrosted a week and a half ago with hair dryer, took back wall of freezer off and coil solid ice. Worked fine for week and a half, but refrigerator compartment now 55 degrees, while freezer is 0 degrees. Can see evaporator coil is iced up again through holes in back wall. Where are all controls related to defrost located? Is it mechanical timer, or electronic? Any mechanical temp sensor at coil, or is it thermistor? What test points can I check with meter, and what resistance values normal for any thermistors, and defrost heater? Condenser fan is running when compressor is running. Fan in freezer compartment is running when compressor is running. Refrigerator compartment damper is fully open. Seals are all good. Going to defrost again, but want to troubleshoot. Please send documentation that is available, would greatly appreciate it! If no service manual available, any test/troubleshooting steps for defrost controls would be great!
You have to choose what you can access the quickest/easiest to see if you want to check line voltage coming out of the defrost timer to ground, if the timer is energized. You also want to see if the timer clock in it works. A good electrical tool to have on hand is a Kill-a-Watt electrical meter, as you can plug it in your outlet and then plug your fridge in -IT-, and then you will know if you are getting a flow of current. And when I have rotated good defrost timers and the defrost comes on, I get something like 450 watts through the Kill-a-Watt meter, (just to give you a rough idea).
If you do not have a defrost water back up, that can’t get out the tube, then it is defrost mode related. Before doing anything, make sure your defrost drainline can drain water!)
You can take apart connections and test resistance through the defrost element, as you can also test for resistance of the defrost thermostat (probably a round disc up by the coils). You can also check for line voltage once you have the defrost element terminal unplugged. You would have to rotate the timer dial and put it in defrost to test for that 120 current from to-defroster hot wire, to ground.
If something went wrong with these, with an ohms test likely you’d get no reading. It just be an open break.
