Kenmore upright freezer repair
 

I'm working on my mom's 9 yr old Kenmore freezer and need some help with troubleshooting. I replaced the evaporator fan motor because it seemed to be somewhat "flaky". Right now I can plug the unit in, turn it on and it works fine. If, after it has run, I turn it off and then back on using the thermostat the evap fan motor does not come back on within a couple/few minutes. I have not hung around long enough to see if it ever comes back on so I'm not sure. Evap fan motor runs all the time, when it is running, no matter the position of the door switch. Should the fan motor shut off when I open the door?

With all that said she may have actually left the door open too so keep that in mind.

model number is: 253.26432100

My homes HVAC unit behaves in a similar manner. If the unit has run and then cycles off when the setting has been reached, I cannot then lower the temp and have it kick on immediately like older R22 units would. My HVAC tech told me this was designed into newer units. Mine was installed in 2001.

I wonder if your moms freezer has this same feature built into it?

What is the symptom of the freezer?

LOL, sorry about that. First freezer I have ever worked on. Went up there one evening when they had reported it being inoperative and it looked like it had gone through a defrost cycle because of all the water on the floor. Mom said it was not working is all:eek:. Probably my first problem was listening to her:D.

I have resistance through the evap heater. The sensor that controls the defrost heater shows open circuit at room temp. Have not checked it at freezing. I've got it plugged in and running right now and will check it again later. Seems to be working fine so far.

Lt the unit reach temp. When the unit cycles off, turn the thermostat all the way up until the unit cycles on again.

Find the defrost timer (hopefully its a standard mechanical style) and rotate it clockwise until it clicks in to defrost. It's a bit tricky, because the defrost cycle is only about 3-5 clicks on the timer. Rotate the timer slowly.

If the heater turns on, then the timer is faulty. If the heater does not, then the defrost limiter is bad. You already eliminated the heater because it has continuity.

The defrost limiter looks like a silver "button", typically with a blue back and has two wires coming out. It should cut out at around 50 degrees to prevent the freezer from turning in to an oven.

Let me know if you need any other help, or if you need parts, as I get them very cheap.

I turned it to hotter and then turned it back up to full cold and the evap fan did come back on later. It has some kind of little circuit board so I'm not sure about the defrost timer. I will see what is going on with it tomorrow after it has run through the night.

Your unit has an adaptive defrost control. I can't read the picture very well but there is usually a way to force the defrost mode. The directions could be on that sticker that you posted. You can try this, or, just check the limiter for continuity tomorrow. If it is closed, then it is working.

If the unit acts up again, change out the computer control.