OT: Fridg (icemaker?) Crapping out (UA)

yet another ot post to my favorite ng's, the 'UA' is my idea of: 'mia culpa' = 'usual appologies', and for the usual accolades (which are spot-on).

does anyone have advice as to how to find email addresses of long lost friends or relatives? i have tried a few things but w/o _any_ success except for my own name and one nephew.

i _know_ some of these folks are 'computer literate' and have been for decades. why can't i find them? thanks! --Loren

I don't think the problem has anything to do with your icemaker. You need to find and replace your defrost timer. Your unit is old enough that it may have a mechanical timer, if so, you can temporarily put your unit back in service by turning the shaft with a screwdriver until the defrost heaters go off.

Look for information & diagrams on the web. You might be surprised what you will find if you google you unit's model number, if no results, leave off the last few characters.

Vaughn

thanks! --Loren

Loren, There probably is a schematic somewhere on the back of the unit that may help. I have replaced the defrost "timer" on mine as there is a little motor that gear drives a cam to close a set of contacts for the defrost cycle every so many hours, then goes back into the fridge mode. The little motor "stalls" and causes similar problems to what you are experiencing. This little motorized timer was located up inside the thermo covers in the upper part of the refrigerator compartment. Most of the little timers are junky, but can be repaired. Maybe the contacts are just stuck together. HTH Ken.

Remove the grill (if there is one) from the kick panel at the very bottom of the fridge, below the door. You will likely find that defrost timer down there. Look for a sheetmetal bracket with a very small electric motor looking doodad and a wiring harness. You will find a round hole, with a screw driver slot in it, usually made from black plastic. Stick in a screw driver and turn this until you hear a click, then turn it a bit past that. The click is the defrost position usually. mark the screw driver slot and check it again an hour later. If its not moved..replace the motor/unit.

They run about $35USD at applience shops, or less

Gunner

Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.

thanks to you three responders, i probably can take it from here (if i can actually find the device). the pressure is off a bit, since it seems to hold a reasonable temp inside both sides. probably will wake up tommorrow and discover the a) box shutdown completely -or- b) the door seals have all welded to the frame. they do get hot, especially the center one. --Loren

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

yes, this turns out to be the location, one of the recommended web sites has a neat interactive drawing, and it also lists the most common location of the part. it seems like everyone who responded were actually correct.

the rear panel is completly blank, save for a icemaker kit info sticker. this leads me to the file cabinet where, to my suprise, the original doc's practically jump out (a minor advantage to being a 'collector' ;-).

the symptom/s changed as of this am, the evaporator fan started squawking and is running slow. this is too coincidental, so that likely is the orig problem. it fits, as i found after my first post that the strips do turn off, any screwing around i did really had no effect (like moving the icemaker arm or beating on the housing).

it is unplugged now while i go web surfing for dissassembly tips, looks like i just take the back panel off, which requires a major effort to create space to do it. hopefully i caught this soon enough that the compressor isn't trashed.

finally, the man who said the icemaker would not be the problem is correct, the schematic bears this out, and i seem to remember nailing down the salesman on this point, too.

Best Regards to the best NG extent, your replys really got me going on this, and that web site was a great review. --Loren

^^^^^^^^^^ i mis-speak here, it is the condenser fan.........., _much easier to access. --Loren

8pm, Sat, the refer is happily chugging along since about 11am. i dis- connect the fan and placed a 12" portable fan behind, so far, so good.

the strips are _not_ hot, even tho the box has not cycled off, so that is an unknown. i tried some 'Break-Free' on the front bearing w/no help. the rear bearing is sealed. i plan to diagnose the compressor before ordering the part (35.00 or so), just need to find the data and remember the procedure: a simple current measurement.

in any case, this is a big confirmation of the diys 'philosopy', all experience adds. the frustration experienced doing something for the first (often _only_) time is rewarded, eventually, sometimes with just satisfaction, often in decent $$$ savings. thanks again to you four responders, that web site is _great_(!), it has three views of this fan at decent size and good resolution. --Loren