CST20KABAAD Hotpoint Refrigerator - Instructions

1. Unplug, remove control knob from both temp control sliders, remove upper light bulb and light shield from refrigerator compartment. 2. Remove screw holding top of bracket control mod in place. 3. Lift bottom tab from slot and remove control mod from ref compartment. 3. Unplug temperature control and defrost timer and replace. (Each are held in place with two screws.) 4. Replace control mod. This part took me the longest because the space between the top of the control mod and the top of the ref. compartment is very small and replacing the nut was difficult. Use a nut driver with a long shaft. 5. Use screw driver to turn control button of defrost timer to start cycle. 6. Replace bulb cover and light bulb. 7. Set temp control to initial setting. 8. Have a Margarita and celebrate. It's been over a week and the refrigerator/freezer is working perfectly.

First unplug the refrigerator!

Removed the top shelf of the refrigerator. Pulled off the knobs from the temp slider controls. Popped the cover off of the light and temp control section. This Hotpoint model has both
thermostat and defrost timer easily accessible in the refrigerator compartment. Used a socket set
driver to loosen the screws and remove the
temp control section and unplugged the wire connectors. This freed the whole temp control
section. On the workbench removed the old
thermostat by unscrewing the screws with a socket driver. Unplugged the wires from the old thermostat then put the new one in. Then put the
new one in the same holes, reconnected the
wires and reassembled the everything. Then
simply put this temp control box back in the
original place (and reconnect the wire plugs)
and put the screws back in . The hardest part is re-aligning the holes and the control levers, but this is not too bad.

Plugged it back in and so far it has been turning
on and off normally. (The old thermostat contacts
were oxidized so I think this was the problem).

Poped out with screwdriver the old swithch and unplugged the two wires. Plugged in the wires to the new swithch and pushed it back in the hole where the old switch was before.

Got part overnight. Unscrewed cover plate at top of regerator compartment, disconnected old part, connected new part. Screwed back plate. Voila!

I saved a bunch of money!

Removed top hinge and electrical connector (freezer door has ice and water dispensers) then had to turn off water supply to unit and disconnect the hose to the door and remove the spring protector from the hose -- this required removal of the compression fittings in the water line so spring would come off of the tube. Then removed bottom hinge from the door and used saw to remove the rivet that had held the cam to the hinge, used a nut and bolt to attach new cam. Put other cam (used two) in the hinge and replaced lower hinge unit on the door. Then reattached both hinges to the refrigerator and lined up the door put the spring protector and compression fittings back on plastic tubing and reconnected the water supply and electric fitting, turned on water to unit and prayed there were no leaks. Prayer was answered, the water dispenser worked properly and the ice maker filled with water so I then replaced the hinge cover on top of the unit and the grill at the bottom and had a pepsi. A few years ago I had replaced the cams on the other door which had no water/electic connections and was a much simpler job.

The job was fairly easy. Removed 4 screws and removed panel. Disconnected cable assembly, removed 4 more screws holding heater coils. Reconnected cable assembly and replaced screws & panel. Partselect was quick to ship and would do business with them again.

The comments from customers experiences gave me the confidence that the defrost timer was the problem since the compressor was still working and it went just as they all said, four 1/4' hex head screws and I had access to the old timer, unplugged the old ,plugged in the new and put the four screws back in. Nothing happened so after a while I looked a bit harder at the accessable part of the timer after intallation and saw what looked like a dial. I turned the dialclockwise and immediatly the compressor turned on. I have not found any information as to how much or little to turn this dial which obviously is an adjustable cycle setting so I just turned it all the way, so far everything is working alright.

While the switch did last for 9 years, the design is poor due to the failure mode. The failure should be to fail off or not able to turn on the lights which would be inconvenient but would not warm the refrigerator contents. Arcing at the contacts eventually caused the switch to "weld" closed. It is not obvious that this is occurring so it took some time to recognize why the temp inside the ref was high while the freezer was OK. Replacing the switch was easy once it was recognized as the problem. All that was required to replace the switch was to remove the screws holding a fiber cover and then pulling off the aluminum cap which covered the switches. Unplug the switch an squeeze the keeper on the switch to release it and pull down. Pop the replacement switch in place and plug the wires harness back in. All in all it took much less time to replace than it has to write this up. T Pope

Simple job, empty the door shelves, remove top hinge, lift door off bottom hinge, remove bottom hing. The reassembly is the reverse, with a little cleaning along the way and a little white lithium grease on the hinge pins and cams.

Moved all items from door storage into refrigerator shelves. Removed top hinge cover held by single screw and top hinge plate held by two bolts. Lifted up door to clear bottom hinge pin and removed door. Covered open front of refrigerator with plastic wrap to keep cold in refrigerator with door removed. Laid door on kitchen counter top and removed bottom hinge assembly held on by two bolts. Replaced upper cam located on bottom of door and screwed the hinge assembly back on to bottom of door (helps to keep the three plates in same sequence and note the position of cam). Drilled out the rivet that holds the lower cam to the bottom hinge pin. Removed old lower cam and and replaced with new cam and secured to lower hinge assembly with pan head screw and nut (instead of rivet). Replaced door back onto lower hinge pin and secured upper hinge pin with original bolts. Placed cover on upper hinge assembly and secured with original screw. Removed plastic wrap from front of refrigerator and moved the items that originally were stored in the door back to provide weight needed for door to close properly. All done and the door works like new, and all in less than 45 minutes. Would have been a more difficult job without the pioneering of people on this site. Thanks to all!

pretty straight forward,removed threw screws to replace the defrost timer and reverse the procedure. To replace the defrost unit 1st removed metal back plate in freezer. Step 2 defrost freezer. step 3 remove four screws that hold defrost elements in freezer compartment. Step 4 install new defrost elements and secure back in place with four screws. step 5 optional read old defrost heaters with ohm meter to confirm the defective part. step 6 plug back in frig and enjoy a cool brewski ahhhhh. By the way only one defrost element was bad (open) but as mentioned in literature which came with new derost elements I replaced both of them. Thanks again for all the help on this, saved me $2000 on a new frig.

The existing light switch was very hard to remove. I ended up having to grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it out. Once it was out, it was very easy to put in the replacement and it seems to be working fine.

After figuring out how to remove the old broken clip, replacement was easy. Had to use a small putty knife to open the release on the bottom underside of the clip(between the clip & the refrig) . By looking at the replacement piece it was easy to figure out.

I used the same steps as described in other descriptions listed here. Since I was changing the hinge assembly on the freezer side the difference I discovered was that there was a nylon water hose inside the hinge assembly that I did not at first know how to remove. I finally called a repairman I happened to know and following his instruction simply snapped the hose loose where there was a connector and placed a cloth under it to catch the moisture that drained. Having done that, the rest of the assembly went just the same way as the other instructions listed here said that it would. Door now functions like new.

Get 2 "door closing cams" yep. Same as some others here. Found some black plastic pieces on the floor, when door wasn't closing right. I took the door off by taking off the top bracket. Very easy. Bottom bracket has the broken cam riveted to it. Need hacksaw to get this off then punch it through with hammer and a screwdriver. This is the only part that took a little while. Replace the closing cam and find a small nut & bolt or screw to replace the rivet you just sawed in half. Replace the closing cam that is on the bottom the the door as well. Even if yours isn't broken. Replace it anyway. Put door back on and done. Not a diffucult project if you know about the rivet and needing 2 closing cams beforehand. Good luck