Last week, I replaced the thermostat as suggested on my Maytag MSD2756geb. The freezer had a tendency to drop temps below -10 and when the vents frosted shut, the fridge temps would go above 40.

For about a week all went well. I checked the freezer temps daily and they were stable between -4 and -10. Then, I placed a large plastic bag of food on the shelf just above the fan and might have blocked the vent a bit. Within a few hours the temps had dropped to below -10. I pulled the back off and the coils were starting to get covered in heavy frost. Defrosted and it runs fine again... except that I notice a crackling/buzzing sound coming from the direction of the defrost controller. The fridge temps didn't go up appreciably so I think I caught things early this time.

What should I look at next?

Sorry if I had put my original post in the wrong thread.

I have a ge tbx23zbf the refrigerator isnt getting cold. If I turn the cold setting control in the refrig up and down I hear the fans start and stop,but the only air vents in the freezer compartment have air blowing in. I put my fingers in the part in the refrig where the cold air comes into it and feel just a slight air movement. The door switch is broke and the lights dont come on but the bulbs are good.

Just bought this to replace my old refrig do I need to just chalk it off as a learning experience?

In what position are both temperature regulators?

Gene.

The refrigerator is now defrosted.

When turning the Defrost Timer to stop the compressor, the heater doesn't come on (the fridge isn't cold). Should it still come on? Does unplugging the Defrost Thermostat bypass it to make the heaters come on? I Ohm-metered the 1 and 3 leads.... only show ohms for a split second... is that how it's supposed to be? Continuity from 1-2, and 1-4 is fine when plugged in.... but, not if the Defrost timer is unplugged.

So,to check resistance on the Defrost Thermostat, do the wires slip out of the white coupler? And, will it slip right back in?

There are 2 Defrost Heaters. The bottom one's glass is fogged up so can't see the element. To test continuity, how do you slip off the black piece from the beige part.... or is it the beige piece that comes out? The black cover looks glued on.

Thanks so much for all your advice!!!

Gene,

I have a Kenmore 363.8784480. I posted to this thread in August of last year. I could not find a hard failure of any defrost component, and yet the evaporator was thoroughly iced up.

I defrosted the evaporator and put it back into service. It didn't seem to work. I defrosted it again and put it back into service, and it went into remission. Now, 9 or 10 months later, it has iced up again.

Maybe the timer 'sticks.' I could monitor and log the position of the timer shaft a couple of times each day for the next year or so, or until it fails again. Kind of a nuisance, but it would provide data.

Maybe the heater is intermittent. Yeah, maybe, but it's an incredibly long shot.

Maybe the defrost thermostat is marginal. Maybe it opens at too low a temperature, preventing proper defrosting.

I could:

• replace the defrost thermostat
  
• replace the defrost thermostat and the timer
  
• replace the thermostat, timer, and heater

I hate to do 'shotgun' repairs -- I like to know exactly what's wrong, and fix only that thing. But I have to remember that this is not some project of mine, it's the refrigerator. And my wife's sense of humor extends only so far... I expect that 'shipping & handling' will double the cost of the thermostat, so it makes sense to try to buy everything at once. Maybe I should buy the defrost terminator and the timer, and install only the thermostat, putting the timer on the shelf.

If it were yours, what would you do next? I don't want this to be a perpetual project.

The problem is complicated by not finding the model (363.8784480) in your database. Can you ID the replacement parts for me? In case is helps, the Serial Number is 81062248.

Thanks in advance for sharing you wisdom and experience,

Paul in East Troy WI
PS: If you are able to ID this box, can you also tell me the defrost cycle? I think that it's a 10/20, but I can't remember for sure...