Defrost Thermostat Kit 5303918214

I changed the defrost thermostat and the heater.

Repair man wanted a 130.00 service charge plus parts , With the help of YouTube we did the repairs inhouse , couldn't believe it was that easy. Refrigerator is working like a new one ,our maintenance crew has ice cubes were all happy !

PURCHASE:
Buy the terminator from the site because they sell the
terminator (thermostat) separately. Other places have it with the
wiring harness for more money. Changing it with the harness attached
is a very, very involved project. It includes removing the entire inner
liner of the freezer. The one the site sells requires only a simple
crimp splice and shrink tube.

TEST- If you have another freezer, ice or a friend's freezer available,
it is highly recommended that the new part be tested:
You will need an Ohm meter or a continuity tester. You can make one
very easily per instructions found on line.
TEST RESULTS-
a) At room temperature. An Ohm meter should show "Open".
b) After being in a freezer or submerged in ice water for at least an
hour, the Ohm meter should show "Closed".

I have installed hundreds of defrost thermostats. Very occasionally
one is defective. This project is a bit involved, so it is wise to pre-test.

HOW TO INSTALL THE DEFROST TERMINATOR (THERMOSTAT):
A) Prep
Remove Food & Be sure the freezer is warm.
Parts need to be pried upon & cold plastic breaks easily.
Tip: Put the screws in separate cups with labels. This will make
re-installing the many components easier.
Gather tools from the attached list.

B) Unplug Unit (Turning it off is not sufficient protection against shock.)

C) Remove Light Bulb (If it gets broken while working, glass may
get in the eyes.)

D) Remove Drawers (This is a bottom freezer unit with 2 drawers)
1) ) Upper Drawer:
a) Locate the 2 rectangular boxes covering the gears. They are
on each side, toward the rear of the drawer.
b) With a nylon spudger, push in the 2 clips on each box and
lift the boxes 1/4". They will stop at 1/4".
c) At the front of each track, remove 2 hex head screws with a
5/15" nut driver or a 1/4" flat bladed screwdriver.
d) Lift the front of the drawer a small amount while pulling drawer.
Lifting allows the 2 stops on the drawer to clear the track tabs.
e) When near the end of the drawer, lift the gear wheels slightly
to clear the track.
f) Put the drawer out of the way.

2) Lower Drawer With Front Door
*Leaving the door attached makes it easier to align the drawer when
reinstalling it later. It must be straight or the gasket will gap.
a) Put a thick towel on the floor, in front of the unit, so the door
can be laid upon in without scratching the handle or the floor.
b) Pull the drawer out and look at each track about 2/3 of the way
to the back of the freezer. You will see two long, white tabs.
c) Push a tab in while pulling the track slightly forward. Firm pulling
is required. Repeat on the other side.
d) Drag the towel and door out of the way

D) Remove the air grill at the top, rear of the freezer.
1) There is a clip in the center to push with a spudger.
It is easy to see in a photo of a replacement fan bracket.
2) On the right side, in the top row of square holes, is another clip
to press with a spudger while pulling that side of the grill out.
3) On the left, there is an air chute blocking the clip. It can not be
removed. With the right side pulled free, gently wiggle & pull the
left side until the clip clears & the grill is free to leave.

E) Remove the Ice Maker (Water does not have to be turned off)
1) Loosen, but do not remove, 2 screws above the ice mold.
2) Remove the one lower screw & put it aside.
3) Lift the ice maker & store it out of the way.
4) Do Not turn any wheels by hand, nor bend the bail wire.

F) Remove the Thermistor Cover (Upper Right Back Wall)
1) Gently squeeze the sides while pulling. Stop as soon as it's free.
2) Note how the thermistor & wires are installed in the cover &
thread the thermistor free.
3) Set the cover aside.

G) Remove The back Wall
1) Remove all visible hex head screws.
2) The back wall can now be removed.
3) Set it aside where it will not scratch any surfaces, as the edges
are a little sharp

H) De-Ice the evaporator with a heat gun or hair dryer.
Don't hold the heat source in one spot for long or wire insulation
or plastic components will be damaged.

I) Note the permanent ice ball in the upper-right corner.
The defrost thermostat is under this ball. Melt it with heat.

J) Install The New Thermostat
Hint- Take the thermostat to a hardware store to buy the
correct size shrink tube and crimp sleeves (butt connectors)

removed lower panel in freezer, sniped off old defrost thermostat.

Spliced in new part. reconnected power and it's up and running.

First,read "how to" on the internet because the thermostat comes with no instructions and unplug refer. Second, remove food and lower rear panel. Third, pull off thermostat from tube it clips to, unhook wire harness,and cut wires.Fourth,add heat shrink tubing from store(that supplied is way too big) and connect wires with automotive connectors;shrink-seal tubing with flame.Fifth, re-install everything, and replace food.Sixth,use a thermometer to check temp and adjust controls as needed.

Followed install instructions on utube. Once freezer was empty, back panel was easily removed, and defrost thermostat was in plain sight, and easy to replace. Hope that solved my problem. Refrigerator has been plugged in for four days now, and is cooling properly so far.

Installed a new Defrost Thermostat.

after changing all the pieces the evaporator continues to freeze and stops cooling

I followed the instruction video.

I unplugged the refrigerator and removed the back panel in the freezer. Here the coils were covered in a block of heavy frost. The coils needed to defrost, I allowed this to happen of the course of a few hours. Once this was done I used the wire cutters, cutting the two wires to the thermostat. Doing this I checked the continuity & got no reading. Having ordered the part at a more than reasonable price including 2 day delivery, I was ready to complete the repair. Stripping the thermostat wires connected the the freezer unit, I attached the two wires color to color to the new thermostat. Here I needed to insert both ends into the connector (butt end), crimping both sides. Making sure each end I'd secure. Do this for both sets of wires. Placing the new thermostat back on the the cooper coil (on the same one it was removed from), put the freezer back in place. Here I only screwed in two, in case I need to go back in. I plugged the refrigerator back in turn the settings back to default or factory. Allowed the refrigerator to come back up to temperature for 24-48 hours. I did these and I'm glad to say my 12 year refrigerator is working just like before.