I performed the repair to my own refrigerator, after watching multiple YouTube videos. I installed a secondary heater for the defrost coils and replaced the defrost sensor. The defrost sensor was actually bad. Today, 1/27/2024 I rechecked the fix from last week. All seems to be good so far.
If I get any build up of any ice on the bottom tray of the recessed panel where the drain port is located. I suspect I will also need a new Defrost Heater as well. For now the refrigerator is operating as expected. There is a small amount of ice build up as of today.
Also, I had recently replaced the drain tubes, added a longer heater element part to fit the drain hole, and cleaned the fins in the back of the refrigerator. Thank you.
Refrigerator side wasn't cooling properly. Was staying at 55 degrees.
Took off the plastic panel in the interior. As usual, the evaporator was completely iced up. Took most of the time to de-ice it with a heat gun. Tested the components and the temperature sensor was bad which is on the top end of the evaporator fins. The ohms test wasn't any different whether hot or cold. I keep a spare sensor on hand because this is the third time one of the sensors have failed. The proper readings are available by doing some internet searching. Its been two weeks since I worked on it and everything is working fine.
Fridge side no longer cooled, freezer still workekd fine.
A couple of blogs said the freezer defrost sensor should be replaced, so I ordered one. Did not fix it. I did, however find a service manual online and one of the blog sites and it showed me how to remove the inside duct work. I discovered the fan the recirculates the air across the evaporator coil was not working. Ordered a new fan motor and installed it, fridge works perfectly now.
Watched YouTube video. The one where the repair guy took the entire assembly out of the door and worked on a flat surface. Went exactly as shown in the video.
I removed all of the internal shelves from the refrigerator side. I then removed the cooling panels from the bottom area. this exposed the fan assembly and cooler. I found ice all over the unit. I had to unplug the refrigerator and used a hair dryer to melt the ice away. I then found the sensor and replace it. After putting the refrigerator back together, I plugged it in and let it cool overnight. I also put a thermometer to validate that cooling was stable. it has been a week with the new sensor and the refrigerator has not frozen over and has been very stable.
We misplaced the mounting screws for our handles while moving.
It was easy! I just used an alan wrench to losen the side bolt, then slid the handle into the new mounting screws that I had hand-screwed and then tightened it all up.
