CRB21EY-3A Refrigerator - Instructions

The video of the repair is a helpful guide, but my refrigerator has the compressor very close to the condenser fan motor. With the compressor comes the copper tubing that is all in the way. I had to carefully bend them now and then to allow me to get my hands in position. The how to is easy, but the working with tools in cramped quarters was difficult. I think my Maytag side by side model makes for this job to be difficult, maybe yours may not be so bad. I took a couple of hours to complete. After the first hour, I covered the bare wires, and plugged the frig back in so it could do some cooling. I placed a small in front on the condenser to blow across it. Had a little break, then finished the job.

I unpluged the refrig, removed the shelves and the back panel on the freezer side of the unit. This exposed the fan motor and fan blade. I removed two screws holding the fan unit in place, unpluged the wires connecting the fan unit to power, and then removed two other screws securing the fan motor to the bracket. I removed the fan motor blade from the old unit and installed it on the new fam motor. I replaced the fan unit into the bracket, pluged the wires back into the fan motor and secured the motor to the refrig. Replaced the back panel and shelves, pluged the refrig into the wall.....easy.

I have an Amana freeze and I followed the procedure in the video. Which is very good! However on the Amana Model there two slight differences in the procedure that I felt I needed to do. The first one is, the condenser fan bracket is attached to the Freezer chassis with 4 screws, not three. The removal and installation of the back screw by the fan is a bear. I removed the other three and it allowed me to rotate the fan slightly to get more access to the fourth and did same on installation by just starting the 4th screw and then tightening it later. The second issue was my new fan hit the housing when I spun the fan. When I looked at the old one. It had a phenolic washer, between the fan and motor which spaces the fan out about a washer thickness from the motor. When I tried to remove the old one it broke in four pieces due to age. So, I made my own with a washer that I super glued to the motor housing after carefully centering it on and clearing the motor shaft . Seemed to work with out any more noise or balance issues...Thanks, your delivery was blindly fast and video was great!

The old light fixture and socket were easily removed. This was done with the power connected, but I already knew the switch didn't need to be handled. The solderless connectors are all insulated, so I just had to be careful. The new socket would not accept the connector for the "hot" (red) wire in the fridge, due to a design change. This is, of course, why you furnished a loose 3/16 inch crimpon connector. Rather than cutting the red wire (remember, the power is still connected), I obtained an insulated 3/16 connector of the opposite gender, and a short piece of red-insulated wire from an old fluorescent tube ballast, and made a jumper. The connector I provided (male) did not fit tightly in the original fridge connector, so I put a layer of resin-core solder on my male connector. You need tight connections. If the solder layer is too thick, it's easy to file down. Make sure to heat the solder sufficiently that the solidified solder is shiny and not dull gray. I used a 100-watt gun. 20 watts would probably work too. DO NOT USE ACID-CORE SOLDER OR FLUX ON ELECTRICAL WORK! I knew the switch was good, because I had checked for voltage at the socket terminals using my voltmeter, before I ordered the socket. It read 120 volts every time the door switch was open, and zero volts every time the door switch was pushed closed. A simple voltage tester would work here, too. Be very careful if you do this test or this repair with the power connected to the fridge; there is considerable potential to find yourself touching 120 volts with one hand while your other hand is touching a perfect "ground". There doesn't seem to be any choice if you want to test the switch. You do have a choice with the socket replacement - - the jumper described above. If you're not going to use the jumper approach, cut the power! If you are going to make a jumper and are not comfortable working on a "live" circuit, cut the power.

First, watched video on Part Select Website. Very good. Pulled Appliance out from wall, Pulled the power plug, and removed the back shield covering the working parts of the unit. Found the fan and it was almost the same setup as on the video except that I could not get to one of the screws holding the motor in place so had to remove the entire bracket with the fan. Not too hard. Cleaned away dust and gunk around the site and noticed that the fan pulled air through a tunnel-like condenser coil that was packed with gunky lint...this is what probably killed the motor. I cleaned out the tunnel with the bottle brushes and vacuum and installed the new motor / bracket assembly. Then replaced the shielding around the fan and the back cover .panel. This is important because these form the channel that guides air flow throughout the condenser coils. This particular refrigerator has a barrier underneath which guides air flow from the front left to the condenser, through the fan, over the evaporator drip pan and out the right front. I cleaned all the lint and gunk from this area as well. I also made an air filter (cut from a furnace filter) and wedged it in front of the air entry section. This should keep the condenser coil cleaner over time but you have to remember to change the filter once a year. Probably should clean the condenser coil every 5 years as well. This unit has been very reliable over 20 years and may well go for another 20. Good luck with your repair.

Viewed the viedo - it showed what to do

Researched this problem on the web. Disassembled the main refrigeration unit (slide out freezer floor panel). The cooling coils were completely iced up. Thawed overnight. Tested the coil thermostat with a multimeter and discovered it worked. Note that the activation temp on this thermostat is 15 degrees Fahrenheit so the ice-water bath test on many web videos will NOT work. My test was in another refrigerator freezer compartment (everyone has two, right?). When the temperature went below 15 and stayed there for 15 minutes, the thermostat opened the circuit. Further investigation revealed that the defrost heater was burnt and shorted. Replaced the defrost heater only to discover that the defrost timer was also broken. After replacing the defrost timer and testing each component thoroughly, the refrigerator is back in service. Freezer maintains about 8 F and the main refrigerator stays at about 36. The unit cycles off properly and the defrost timer is correctly initiating a defrost cycle. Further, when the defrost heater is cycled on, the thermostat correctly shuts it off once the coils are defrosted. Watch the youtube videos. Find your parts and note their specifications so you can test them properly. And good luck.

Removed bad motor with socket set and pliers then removed the connectors from the old motor and soldered them on the new one. Then installed new motor. Works like new! Problem Solved! Easy fix!

Pulled the fridge out, Took bottom panel off. Removed 3 screws holding motor. Unplugged connector, cut wires, attached old connector on new motor. put blade on new motor.installed in fridge, put cover back on.

The kit I recieved was perfect. All parts fit and where a perfect match. I will give you an A+ in handling my order and shocked by speed of your delivery.

Unscrewed the right control knob. Removed the left temperature control knob (there is no screw holding it), removed one screw to rear of small panel then pried open from the rear of the small panel, there are two plastic tabs in front of the small panel holding it in place. Unscrewed the failed control unit and replaced it with the new one. Replaced the small panel and screw then the left side control knob, making sure of the alignment in the "off" position as the knob has to be pressured into a clamp arrangement on the cold control thermostat. Re-screwed the right knob into place, as well.