Defrost Timer

Removed housing around timer. Unpluged and
replaced timer. Defrosted freezer witk small portable heater. Freezer has worked greater since.
Saved a lot on service call.

First i unplugged the refridgerator.Then i removed the freezer shelves and the 4 screws that hold the rear panel in the freezer.Next use a heat gun or hair dryer to melt the ice from the coils making sure not to overheat anything.Be sure to place something in the bottom of the freezer to catch the water and block the hole with something to keep screws from falling in there.
Next,look how the heater element wires are routed so you can get them back the same way or close.Take a picture if you want.Now remove the 2 screws on the end of each element and remove the elements.Replace both even if only one looks bad.The element wire plugs in near the top of the freezer and the thermostat clips onto a metal tube.

After a little research I realized my problem could be one or possibly two components of three that caused the problem. Instead of changing one at a time, I took another approach. I just bought and changed all three to save time and prevent having to do the job all over again. Each time I would have to melt the ice off of the cooling coils and this is time consuming and annoying having to melt the ice repeatedly. I put a very accurate thermometer in the fridge and have been monitoring it since I changed the components. After one week it seems to be working fine keeping the fridge at 34-38 degree F.

cleared top shelf removed box containing timer, installed new timer, reinstalled box.

Once you see pictures of what your looking for its SIMPLE . First turn the breaker off for the regrigerator (this way you don't have to slide nor unplug the unit). In the side by side model remove the four screws and the slide the back panel off. upon removal you will find the coils--make sure the unit is defrosted--plug the drain hole in the bottom of the unit. On either side of the coils you should see a blue on left and red on right wire going from the top to the bottom pluging into the heater brackett asm. Take the two screws out holding the bracket and slide out. Pull the connectors off. Look at the element and IF it is black thats your problem. The new heater bracket may have two tubes instead of one. If so no problem. Upon replacing the NEW heater bracket take the red and blue wire and slowly and carefully pull them out from the side of the coils til you reach the top of the unit where they plug in. Now take both wires together and run them down the right side of the coils back to the bottom where the heater bracket is. As taking the wires down the side of the coils take out any slack to have enough wire to plug the connectors back into brackett. Turn breaker back on and notice how the coils will start to chill while not OVER FROSTING. Once you have confirmed that unit is working 4-6 hours replace back panel and be happly as to HOW much you have saved by doing a VERY simple job.

The refrigerator was no longer cooling and it was suggested by my father that it could be our defrost timer as he has owned many Hotpoint refrigerators in his lifetime and he said the defrost timer was always the problem he had with them when they were not cooling properly. I removed the cover and unplugged the defrost timer, ordered a new timer through this website and installed it by plugging it where the old timer was, replaced the cover and plugged the refrigerator back in. The refrigerator is now cooling again and just in time for Christmas.

I knew that the compressor was cooling because the freezer was half-working. The back wall was frozen-up and found that the iced-up coils where blocking the air circulation. So even if the fan was running, there was no air circulation. Hence the deforst cycle was not working.

ordered defrost timer and heater/sensor kit which came on time......removed temp selector panel at top of fridge side by removing top screw and slid unit out of slot. replaced defrost timer and reassembled. replaced heaters and sensor located behind rear panel in freezer. reassembled and presto...all good total time 30 minutes

First I diagnosed the problem being a defrost timer as the symtoms are the same as the heater elements. I installed the timer and it worked great for about a week until the frost build up on the evaporator became too much again and then the symtoms returned. I then checked the heater elements and found that both were bad PLUS two clips to the elements were corroded. I then ordered the 2 heater elements. There is more than 1 heater element. Make sure you measure the length of each and then use the graph picture with "Parts Select" on the new ones before you order. There is about a 2" in length difference. Also one comes in a kit with thermostat and wires. Wrong for me. I really wanted that unit as I needed the harness for the bad terminals but it was the wrong heaters and it also came with a new thermostat. Luckly I did not order that one but did order a new thermostat to make sure I did not have to go through this ordeal again. When the parts came I had already replaced the terminals and was ready to go when FedX came. Just make sure you check your heaters before just buying the defrost timer as it may keep you from going back to redo your repair. Just doing your home work before ordering may save you much time in your repair. "PARTS SELECT" was one day on both orders and I just ordered standard shipping. They are great to do business with.

I first googled the problem, then narrowed down the parts that could cause the problem (if failed), then took out the parts and determined that they had indeed failed. I then ordered said parts and installed them. It was easy because they are "plug and play" parts. The hardest part was removing (and then replacing) the back panel inside the freezer just because it was awkward to reach the screws.

first i entered the symptoms into your site and the culprit was gonna be the defrost timer or defrost heater-thermostat. I ordered the parts and they arrived the next day even though I didn't pay for next day. Defrosting the freezer was what took the time.After it was thawed it only took about 15 minutes to install the heater and timer. Am happy to say I have all the ice I need and your diagnosis was right on.

I viewed the online video, which really is helpful.

Most of my "repair" time was defrosting the freezer coils (about 1 hour).

After removing the freezer shelves and access cover the thermostate and heater were in plain sight.

The heater is held in place with two phillips head screws and two wires that unplug (one on either side of heater).

The other tools came into play when removing and replacing the thermostate. Cut the two wires and strip for wire nuts, same with new thermostate. Wires color coded. I use electrical tape after appling wire nuts to seal the nuts.

I ordered a timer but found out, after research, that my model has the timer interagrated on the motherboard (main electrical board) (like in a home computer). So I returned the time for refund.

Super fast delivery of ordered parts. I ordered one evening, they arrived the next day.

This actually was a part of a thermostat problem. I bought a thermostat one week earlier and that fixed the problem. I bought the thermostat thinking that was part of the warming of the fresh food and freezer section. I installed the defrost timer anyway with the thermostat and it is working well. I didn't know that the freezer got above 15 degrees on the defrost cycle every 16 hours.
One 1/4 hex screw at the top of the housing removes the entire assembly. Be careful not to damage the foam on the left side removing the housing. There is a tab on the bottom right on the back panel that lifts up to remove. Unplug that whole assembly from the fridge wiring harness and the rest is obvious.

repaired and replaced the thermostat timmer, defrost thermostat and the defrost heater. The frig is 10 years old and the real culprit to this problem was the defrost heater.

Vacummed out coils but compressor still ran continuously, yet refer compartment never really cooled. Removed the defrost timer - timer window showed the timer motor was indeed spinning, but timer would only enter defrost mode when I manually spun the small black shaft (of course, that helped immensely by thawing out a winter's worth of evap coil ice!). Ordered a new timer, removed two screws to replace and we have cold beer again.