Defrost Thermostat Kit 12001937

Thermostat kit it only had one connector. Fortunately I had a small wire nut that I used on the other wires.

Once I figured out where the part was located it was quite simple. I thawed out the freezer first. Using a nut driver, I removed all the screws to the back panel of freezer. Squeezed the clips on the ice maker attachment to release the panel. Once I opened the panel the thermostat was visible and accessible. The failed thermostat was obvious by its bulging appearance. By following the instructions found on Partselect.com, I cut the two connecting wires and removed the failed part. I then striped some insulator from the wires to connect the new part. I used electrical tape to ensure connection and insulation as the white wire connectors did not work well (too big) for my application. Closed everything back up, plugged in refer and all was good. A little time and a $20 part saved me $150. Thanks Part Select!

Removed timer. Tested timer with a continuity tester-seemed ok. Checked heater element-30 ohms-checked ok. Defrost thermostat measured 53k ohms when it was cold or warm. Should be open at room temperature and closed when cold. Part Select recommended changing the heater when you replace the thermostat. I was not able to slide the heating element out of freezer coils without removing coils. Put the old element back in. Seems to work ok. Thanks.

For the timer, I removed the upper light panel in the refrigerator with a screwdriver and the defrost timer is just plugged in. Easy fix, however most websites were saying it was located down by the kickplate. The thermostat was I think was te real culprit of my problem. I removed the back plate of the freezer after removing the pullout drawers. It just took four screws. The vent/grill just pops out if squeeze it to one side and slide out the other. Then swivel out door. Note that I do not have the ice maker installed in mine so yours may have a another step. I unplugged the refrigerator at this point and grabbed my blow dryer. I melted all the ice that had formed on condenser. The thermostat is located to the right of the fan. Unclip old thermostat and snip wires with enough slack to attach new one. Attach with wire nuts, reclip and start moving in reverse back to the beginning. 7days and no problems!

To remove freezer door, push white tabs, inside rail toward back, remove door and rails as one unit. Unscrew plastic rail support on one side, remove ice maker, then back panel. Cut off thermostat, strip old leads, match colors, twist copper wires together, then crimp on new part using connectors provided. Reassemble, hardest part was figuring out how to remove freezer door. Check for continuity between heater lead and white terminal of icemaker plug just to make sure the heater is good while everything is apart.

There were three parts in question, the defrost timer (inside the casing near the control dial at the top of the refridgerator), the defrost thermostat (behind the back wall of the freezer), and the heater coil (ditto). We tested the defrost timer by opening it up, advancing it to the defrost cycle, and waiting for the compressor to start up again, showing that the timer was working. Then we replaced the defrost thermostat and found that the heater coil worked.

The hardest part was figuring out how to open the casing and get to the timer. If I do it over again I will replace the $20 thermostat first and then deal with the timer if necessary. To get to the thermostat you can easily take the freezer door off by removing two screws in the door tracks. There was even an arrow pointing to one of the screws! Take out the food trays and then unscrew the back wall with a nut driver. The thermostat was clipped to one of the copper freezer tubes. I unplugged one end of the thermostat circuit at the lead to the heater coil and then cut the thermostat out of the circuit and used wire nuts to connect the new thermostat.

I got on the web blog and saw a conversation on here that sounded just like the problems i have been having with my unit. After reading every thing about it i ordered the part needed and installed it. I let the fridge thaw out over night and started it up the next morning. Its been two month since i installed the part and it is working great!!!

(FYI, Amana model is re-labeled Maytag with similar model number)I earlier replaced the defrost timer but that didn't solve the problem, so I purchased a new thermostat and evaporator heater. The hardest part was figuring out how to remove the slide out freezer door to access the back panel. Simple once figured out: There is one small screw on each slide rail, facing outward, near the door. Remove each screw and the door section will pivot up and disconnect from the rail.

The next thing you have to do is remove one of the slide rail supports so you can remove the back panel. Slide the track all the way out and you will see three small machine screws securing the track to the side of the freezer wall. Remove. Then push in the plastic clasp (near the back of the compartment) and slide the plastic assembly forward and out of the compartment. Now you can unscrew and remove the back panel to access the thermostat and heater.

I checked the resistance of the existing heater and measured 300 ohms (it would have been an open circuit if it was burned out). When I saw the resistance was OK on the heater, I left it in place and only changed out the thermostat. The defrost has worked fine since. Good luck.

Removed shelf drawer. Then removed plastic coverings from back panel of freezer. Squeezed tabs of ice maker connector to push it behind the back panel. With nut driver, removed the four screws holding the panel and removed the panel. Used a hair dryer to remove frost from upper right area that contains the defrost thermostat. Cut out the thermostat and removed the connector on the right from the defrost heater. Removed brown wire from a few of the clips. Attached orange wire from new thermostat to orange wire leading to connector removed from defrost heater and the brown wires to each other using the pliers and supplied crimpable wire nuts. Wrapped the connections with self fusing tape. Reconnected the wiring to the defrost heater and clipped the new defrost thermostat to where the defective one was removed. Used the hair dryer to melt the ice that was covering the drain, then a turkey baster to unclogg the drain. Put everything back together.

My Freezer would only auto defrost occasionally and I first thought it was the defrost timer. But after reading posts on this website I looked deeper and found that my Defrost thermostat was bulging out. That didn't seem right just by looking at it. I read an earlier post and figured that must be it. I received the part and did the repair in about 15 minutes just had to cut two wires and reconnect with wire nuts and clip thermostat back onto the copper tube. Works perfectly now!