|
Posted by Frank from Deeetroit on January 28, 2007, 5:48 pm
> Frank from Deeeetroit wrote:
>>>
>>> wrote:
>>>> I have a 4 year old GE side by side refrigerator. The evaporator coils
>>>> freeze-up about once a month. We have to un-plug the 'fridge and let
>>>> the
>>>> coils thaw out for the unit to run properly.
>>>>
>>>> One other symptom, one of the two light bulbs (the upper one) in the
>>>> refrigerator side of the unit will not work. A new bulb will not work,
>>>> the
>>>> switch is good, the second bulb works.
>>>>
>>>> I have a basic understanding of the system. I thawed out the coils two
>>>> days
>>>> ago and vacuumed out the area under the 'fridge, behind the bottom
>>>> grill.
>>>> Where do I start the troubleshooting?
>>>>
>>> If understand correctly the coils in the freezer side ice up?
>>
>> That is correct.
>>
>>> Maybe the automatic defrost circuit is not working? It usually
>>> comprises a timer switch, and heaters that thaw out the ice so it runs
>>> away through a drain.
>>
>> I suspect that is the problem, but what part is brokern in the system.
>>
>>> Many years ago our defrost timer stopped working (the little clock
>>> motor that ran it went open); cos otherwise i might have been able to
>>> repair the timer switch.
>>> It took Sears and myself a couple of weeks to bring in a replacement
>>> and myself to install it. In meantime we wired a temporary manual
>>> switch in place of the timer. Had to remember to not leave it in the
>>> defrost mode before going to bed!
>>> It's worked now for at least 15 or more years.
>>>
>>
>> The way I undestand the system, there is a mother board that controls
>> everything, a defrost timer, and the defrost heating element. Just
>> wondering where to start testing first with my volt/ohm meter.
>>
>> thanx
>>
>> Frank
> It's tough when they use fancy electronic (microprocessors or pic chips)
> to control a simple function. One other thing, there might be a
> temperature
> senor to turn off the defrost heater element once the coil temperature
> reaches
> thaw. This is probably to conserve energy and not put extra heat into
> the freezer, only to have to run the compressor to take it out later.
> With a
> simple meter you should be able to check out the heater resistance. I
> should
> be rather low, like under a few hundred ohms or even much lower.
> The temperature sensor, if there is one, could be open or closed depending
> on the design and the temperature at the time of reading. A schematic
> would
> be of tremendous help. Check the back inside of the unit, behind the
> panel,
> etc. Or, search for it on the internet.
Art,
Thanx for the info, will check out the schematic and go from there.
Frank
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap