Defrost Thermostat

Had to remove inside panels to expose coils in freezer. Used hair dryer and towels to de-ice. Reading online learned about defrost heater (long thin glass tube with wire coil in it I could not see b/c up under the inside of the coils). Who would have guessed freezers have heaters in them!! And learned the defrost timer (inside the fridge) is just a continuous clock turning on and off the defrost heater. Anyways I used a screwdriver to turn the timer to defrost mode and by disconnecting the wires from each end of the heater and measuring the voltage, I found 70 volts there. Hmmm. I didn't know what was the right volt amount.
Reading online I also found out the defrost Thermostat is basically a temp actuated on/off switch for that heater, so that while the timer is sending *120* volts to the heater (which gets red hot by the way) the therm switches the heater off when the temp gets high in the freezer.
I eyeballed the therm ( it looks like a little can) and I saw that it was coming apart. The key at this moment is you can cut out and bypass the therm to see if the heater works. If it does you know the therm is the bad boy. But only do this as a momentary test or the heater will probably set your fridge on fire after a while!

Always remember to unplug the fridge when you are messing with the wires! And dry it up inside before putting your hands and tools in there!

So I ordered a therm using the model # of the fridge. Had to cut the old out and strip / wire nut the new one in.

Took too long b/c I was hung up on the heater being bad (after all it didn't heat up when I put the timer in defrost) and not knowing about the rights volts to the heater.

PartSelect helped out great! Thanks!

Based on the relatively young age of refrigerator, I suspected the defroster electrical circuit. The evaporator core in the freezer was frozen solid, which confirms that the defrost heater circuit is not working. Thawed out (with a hot air gun) and disassembled the freezer section to access the evaporator core and defrost heater. If you have an ice maker, you will have to remove it to disassemble the freezer section. Confirmed with a voltmeter and ammeter that the defrost heater was not getting voltage. When the defrost heater is working, it will glow with an orange color. Also confirmed with a voltmeter that the defrost timer, located in the refrigerator section was working correctly. You can use a common blade screwdriver to rotate the timer through the cold and defrost cycles. Finally, I determined with a voltmeter and ammeter that the defrost thermostat, located on the evaporator core was not switching the defrost heater voltage. Ordered a new thermostat ($12) from this website and installed it. Refrigerator is as good as new. Be careful, there are many electrical hazards during the troubleshooting phase. Safety first.

Replaced the defrost timer . It plugged in under the cover for the lights and controls in the refrigerator area. Replaced the deforst thermosat, took the rear cover off (at the back of the freezer) , cut the two wires and relaced the thermosat using wire nuts. Total repair time 30 minutes.

i took the backing off with a screwdriver, cut the wires and put the 2 wires on that came with the thermostat. p.s. make sure you pull the power plug before you start.

Unplugged fridge and removed back panel inside freezer compartment . Unclipped defrost thermostat and snipped off with wire cutters . Installed new defrost thermostat with wire nuts , clipped back on , re-installed back panel , turned on fridge and within a couple hours food compartment began cooling down . Thermostat looks like a small metal can clipped onto the heating coils with 2 wires attached . Also noticed excess ice build up on coils melted and drained into pan under fridge once unit started working .

The part i received fit perfect, i just removed the old part and put the new part in with the screw driver.Really easy