HSS22BDMCWH Hotpoint Refrigerator - Instructions

Unplugged refrigerator, removed cover, defrosted with heat gun, replaced Defrost Thermostat, and replaced single element with double element Defrost Heater. All went very well with minimal difficulty, and instructions that accompanied parts along with the instructional video on your site, made the repair quite easy. The repair is going on the 4th week now, and no freeze up yet.

I followed the instructions found on this website. I removed the control panel by inserting a small Phillips screwdriver in the three holes at its bottom. I used the same screwdriver to pull the dispenser assembly down but could have used a larger one. The microswitch could be seen in the assembly at that point and was easily removed by opening the "fingers" that held it in place. I attempted to pull one of the terminals off without using a pair of needle-nosed pliers and ripped the wires right out of the terminal(I was able to find a replacement at Radio Shack). Low and behold after reinstalling the new part, it did not take care of the problem.

My problem is the water dispenser does work intermittently. When we place the glass in position and hit the lever, the lights in the control panel go off and no water is dispensed. My next guess may be the water valve or the control panel. The icemaker makes ice but I have had problems with it dispensing for nearly a year now.

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.

First I removed the two screws that hold the element in place. I then pulled the element out about 3 inches and disconnected the two wires, it was really simple. I conected the new element & defrost themostat (instuctions were included with the parts). I replaced the cover pluged the fridge in everything was woking fine. I placed a themometer in the fridge & have been watching it for 2+ weeks now it is working fine. To anyone who is looking to do this repair, on thier own, I reccomend it. It was very simple & required little to no skill. No reasopn to throw away money to call a repair man.

First I removed the two screws that hold the tank in place. I then pulled the tank out about 3 inches and cut the water tubes to tank. Replaced new tank using 5/16 quick connects for water tubes.

After mopping up the floor - the whole freezer that was iced up melted - that's how I found out about the problem...

Disconnected the power, emptied the freezer, removed the shelves. Under the ice maker was the light cover - I removed that first, then the two screws holding the back panel in place - The light panel was covering the top screw.

With the screws removed, I pulled out the back panel - which needs to be jiggled around a bit to get it past the shelf brackets.

With the cover off, I could see the mostly de-iced coil at the back of the unit. The defrost heater was visible at the bottom of the coil frame. To remove the bracket/heater, I removed the two cross head screws (one on each side) holding the bracket to the coil frame. I then twisted the side tabs of the bracket assembly and pulled the entire bracket/heater/wiring from the coil frame.

With better access tot he bracket/heater I was able to disconnect the wires. I grabbed the new bracket/heater, reattached the wires and pushed the bracket/heater back onto the coil frame and closed the side tabs firmly attaching the bracket to the frame. I then screwed the tabs back onto the frame.

Replaced the back panel, screwed it in place. Put back the light cover and then the shelves. Turned the appliance back on and left it for a few hours - before checking to see if there was any drop in temperature. There was, so after 24 hours or so I reloaded all the food...

NOTE: I was certain that the heater had failed! When I pulled the OLD one out it was obviously burned out - the glass tube was blackened and pieces of the element could be seen in the bottom of the tube.

Followed previous instructions from a previous post. Inserted small screwdriver in the 2 outer holes up under the face plate to remove it then removed 4 screws holding the inner assembly which allowed access to the flapper assembly. Replaced it and reassembled everything. Problem solved

We couldn't get the other connector loose from one end of the tubing so he said just cut it and so we did and attached the connector. I now have water again in my fridge and took the sticky note down "don't use the water" as it had leaked for a year...... Thanks!

So I replaced a burnt out defrost heater; replaced the thermostat for good measure and STILL the freezer compartment was freezing up. WHY didn't I look more closely at the ice making system sooner!!?? Thought about it for a while and decided that it had to be that the solenoid in the water valve was NOT shutting off water flow to ice maker (overflowing the icemaker and running over & down interior of freezer compartment making an icberg).

Took off about 4-5 backcover screws with one size nut driver. Moved to a size larger driver to remove 1 screw holding on the water valve. And what some people don't realize is that you can push in the connectors (push them down) and THEN pull the water lines out as long as you're careful and someone hasn't already tugged on the waterlines with some force. You don't have to cut the lines off at the valve. Put the water lines in the new valve and put one screw back in it; then 4-5 backcover screws and you're done!!! At most 15 minutes...that is if you want to clean the condensor unit located behind the backcover (on the newer models within the last 4-6 years).

EASY!!! Do it yourself and save a BUNCH of money. If you're getting a flooded freezer compartment or icebergs created in there then check whenever you hear the icemaker drawing in water and see if water is running down the interior.....problem solved!

First, I removed all the shelves and the light guard. Second, I removed the nuts that held the fan guard and the freezer back in place (2 just under the fan guard and removed the freezer back. Third, lifted fan guard out of way (being very careful not to crack it..... cold plastic). Fourth, unpugged fan from pug then removed nuts that held fan bracket in place...removed fan. fifth, then removed fan blade and remove fan motor from bracket, removed two wires that went to freezer light (pay attention to where they go) and installed them into the new wireing harness. Sixth, installed fan blade on new motor, bolted new assembly in fan bracket, plugged in and reistalled fan into the freezer, replaced fan guard and freezer back (reverse order of above) and then replaced freezer racks. works beautiful.

Pull plastic trim piece off refridgerator door,unclip printed circuit board and remove wires unscrew dispenser housing,and remove. Transfer Ice funnel to new dispenser housing with old spring. Reinstall dispenser housing and printed circuit board.

I had taken the noise long enough and wanted to get this repaired. I didn't want to pay a repair man hundreds of dollars to do it so i decided to do it myself. I went on to YouTube and found a few videos that showed me how easy it was to do (very helpful).

I wasn't so sure all that noise would come from the Evaporator Fan motor so i ordered it and took the chance. For the small cost, it was worth the try.

All went well accessing the unit and removing the old part. Very fast indeed. However, the snag came when i went to plug in the new part electrical to the existing electrical adapters. The old part had 4 lead connections. The new part had 6. and the wires on the new part were different colors than the existing. I had to use some logic and courage to cut the wires on the new part and rewire the old adapter to this piece. Luckily, i wired everything correctly.

Calling Part Select got me a phone number for the parts manufacturer to help with the splicing but i opted to do it on my own.

The result is i have a noiseless refrigerator again. What should have taken 10 to 15 minutes took half an hour because of the wiring but overall, very easy.

My refrigerator's initial problem was as follows:

1. Freezer fan stopped circulating the cooled air. Causing food to thaw at the top of the freezer, and freeze solid at the bottom. Ice in the icemaker thawed.

2. Water dripped from the freezer door gasket when the freezer was in defrost mode & water dispenser would not dispense water.

--FIX (the easy one first..):
2. I removed the inner freezer door panel and found ice filling every void of the freezer door panel-approx 5 lbs of ice dammed in the panel. I thawed the insulation and removed the ice. Also there is a styrofoam insulating surround around the inside of the dispenser panel. The styrofoam had become saturated with water and was freezing, allowing the drinking water tube to freeze, not allowing the refrigerator to dispense water...
THE CAUSE:
2. Overflowing of water from the in-door ice/water dispenser compartment reservoir (just under the grill where your glass sits, when it's dispensing water) was draining into the freezer door panel.
PREVENTION:
2. Check the reservoir more frequently to make sure water does not build up and overflow into the door.

FIX (now the trickier one..)
1. I initially thought it was the main circuit board. I replaced the board. Access is by removing the 3 hex nut screws holding door in place at the rear of the freezer. Disconnect connectors & using a needle nose pliers, squeezed the plastic catches that hold the board in place. Connect the new board (being careful not to touch the components or traces on the board) to the connectors, then snap into place using the white plastic catches.
Close everything up.

NOTE: This may, may not have contributed to the problem, but my refrigerator light went out. I replaced it with a small flouresent bulb. That bulb did not last, and became inop. Shortly afterward, the freezer started malfunctioning. I replaced the board, and the freezer was still somewhat intermittent. I replaced the bulb with an appliance 60 watt. The freezer has been perfect since...

Note: I first ordered the main circuit board, when that didn't immediately fix the problem, I ordered the above parts. I did not need the parts and am returning them. The web page is forcing me to select at least one of the parts needed for the repair, when I used neither.

First my wife and i took the panel off the back, unscrewed the old mainboard, unplugged all the switches from it and prayed that the new one would work. We were without a fridge for 2 weeks beginning 2 days before Christmas!!!!! Gingerly, we put the new board in place, screwed it into the fridge, connected the switches, attached the ground wire, and held our breath as we plugged it back in. Within seconds, the familiar sound of water filling the icemaker was hear and there were cheers all around!!!

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