Appliance Repair Blog

Model #TBX14DRGRWH, this top mount (freezer on top) unit would cool intermittently for the customer, but didn’t seem to have any specific pattern. Sometimes the unit worked, and other times it didn’t. I had but one question for them to determine which direction I was going to start looking for the failure. Are the fans always running?

This style refrigerator usually consists of a fairly basic control and wiring system and that is the reason for my question. Because if the fans are always running, that tells me the defrost timer and cold control are both functioning, where as if they were off, well one of them is causing the problem. The customer knew from recent experience that when the fans were on, the unit was cooling, but when it would start to get warm, the fans were off. I knew power was going to the unit since the fresh food light was on, which leaves one of the two components above as the likely problem.

A quick look at the wiring diagram shows the relative simplicity of the circuit and how the fan and cooling portion goes through the cold control and defrost timer. Both are located inside the fresh food section near the interior light bulb and can be easily checked by verifying voltage is present using a multimeter.

When I arrived, the unit was not cooling and both fans had been off for several hours according to the customer. Figuring I had either a defrost or cold control failure, I resorted to an old trick to test which one was at fault. My test is to tap the front of the temperature selector rather hard with my finger. In doing so, if the cold control switch contacts have become stuck open, the contact with my finger will snap them closed and the unit will start to operate. And happily the quick tap started the unit running along with both fans and the compressor. It seems the intermittent operation was due to the cold control sticking open, but the occasional slamming of the door was enough to snap the contacts closed again. Had the tap not worked, I could have verified voltage to the control. If voltage goes in but does not come out, well it is broken.

With the cold control in a state of intermittent operation, I installed a new part that doesn’t require any external vibration to help keep it working. The unit is back up and cooling better than before.

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The topic for this post came from an email I received recently from someone that was finding water leaking from her side by side refrigerator. Not to spoil the fun, here is what Diana had to say in the email.

My freezer compartment floor is filling up with water and freezing, the ice maker is disconnected at this time so I am not sure where the water is coming from and how to fix it. My model number is 363.9550921. If you can help please reply. Thank you in advance!

Water in the freezer is not a good thing not only because it turns to ice, but it can turn to ice in places we don’t want it to. Here is my take on the problem Diana is having, and how easily the problem can be resolved.

Frost free refrigerators and freezers (like Diana’s) use a defrosting mechanism to removed unwanted moisture in the form of frost that has accumulated on the evaporators cooling coils. This moisture enters the unit each time we open the doors and let in the warm moist air from kitchen. Because an excessive amount of frost will disrupt airflow in the unit and ultimately reduce it’s cooling capabilities, we must get rid of it. To do this, the refrigerator will enter a defrosting cycle at predetermined times of the units operation. During these cycles, heat will be applied to the evaporator coils to melt any frost or ice from these cooling coils and allow the water to run out a drain below and into a pan under the cabinet. Here the water will evaporate into the surrounding room to start the cycle all over again. Everything works very well until the drain gets plugged.

The drains located in the back of the freezer sections are usually just small openings to allow water to flow, but not large enough to allow large amounts of air to enter our cold freezer section. It is possible, however, for objects such as wrappers, butcher paper, peas, corn, or any other small item to find it’s way to the drain and get lodged inside the hose leading to the pan below. When this happens, the water that is defrosted from the evaporator has no place to go and then refreezes in the form of a sheet of ice when the cooling process continues. After several days and many defrost cycles, the drain area is completely frozen and the water has no place else to get but into the bottom of the freezer (or into the fresh food section of a freezer on top model). If the cycle of thawing and freezing is allowed to continue, water will start leaking out the front of the freezer door, but I assure you, the bottom of the freezer will be a block of ice well before that happens. How do we solve this problem? Well here is the advice I gave to Diana.

Chip out as much ice as you can, then using warm water, melt the rest you cannot chip away at. Have plenty of towels handy because it is going to get wet. Once you have all the ice melted, you will need to locate the drain opening to get it cleared. This may require removing a few screws and a panel cover, but it will be much easier once you have. After locating the drain opening, again pour warm water to melt the ice and use something flexible yet stiff to snake the drain hose. I prefer 1/4″ water line, but that’s because I have it handy. Continue the process until you can get water to drain into the pan below without any bubbling or gurgling from the drain. If you are the adventurous type, removed the front grill or rear cover so you can get to the pan below and see what it was that was creating the blockage. Don’t be sad if you don’t find anything exciting because oftentimes you won’t. Dry off the inside of the freezer the best you can, reassembly anything you took apart and put everything back in the freezer. It’s just that easy. Then sit back and glow in your success.

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Model #ET12DCXMWR0, this rather old Whirlpool top mount refrigerator had developed a tear in the lower hinge corner of the fresh food door. The customer didn’t indicate any problems associated with the tear other than it started small and has been getting worse with time. Not ready for a replacement, they simply wanted the seal replaced.

Door gasket seals on refrigerator and freezer doors are used to seal the cabinet preventing the warmer moisture laden air from entering. This is done with a pliable rubber seal that sits flush against the front of the cabinet. Inside the seal is a magnetic strip that further insures a tight fit between each door and the cabinet, along with helping keep the doors closed. When the magnetic strip breaks, or the gasket itself tears, the seal becomes compromised increasing the potential of air infiltration in the cabinet.

Many of these seals are simple enough to change and are usually only held in place by fitting into a channel in the door. Others like the one on this unit require the door to be removed because the seal is captured between the inner and outer parts of the door which are held together with screws. Whichever type you are dealing with, the seals will often be a bit deformed when it arrives due to the time spent in the packaging. But this can be easily corrected by applying heat from a hair dryer once installed on the door.

The door seal on this unit only had a small tear in it, but the customer wanted it repaired just to be safe. I removed the door and installed a new door gasket being careful to get all the screws back in place. A little heat and the new seal was forming a good seal with the cabinet. I guess it’s now ready for another 20+ years.

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Looking for a repair service manual for your washer or dryer? Maybe it’s your refrigerator or dishwasher that you need a service manual for?

You will find lots of places online that will be happy to sell you a service manual for your washer, but why buy a service manual if you can download it for free?

Not all service manuals can be found online for free, but I can tell you that there are hundreds and maybe even thousands of appliance repair service manuals that can be found online and downloaded for free!

We have put together a very small collection of some very popular service manuals on our Appliance Repair Forum.

Every time we add a new service manual to our collection a new post is created in the Appliance Repair Service Manual Board to let you know about it.

Of coarse we are not the only place online that has service manuals that can be downloaded for free. There are also a number of appliance manufacture sites that have service manuals that can be downloaded for free.

You can find a list of the manufactures in a previous blog post I made back in June.

Free Appliance Repair Service Manuals

Are you still having trouble finding the service manual that you need?

If so feel free to Contact Us and I will see if one can be located.

Be sure to include the make and model number of your appliance when contacting us for a service manual.

For a even faster way to find a service manual Join our forum and ask us, its free! Simply Start a New Topic and ask for the manuals you need.