Our Maytag MBF2556KEB (2 1/2 yrs.) stop cooling the top frig part last month. Bottom freezer was fine but top just stopped cooling. I've seen in other posts here that talk about a small fan that sends air to the top frig part and fails easily. I've also seen posts that talk about a control board for defrosting that must be replaced. The frost build up in the back of the freezer seems to be common to both failures. The first time it did this I unplugged it, waited for the defrost and water spill, then plugged it back in. Started working fine, lasted for about 3 1/2 weeks then went down again. Any advice would be appreciated, I hate calling repair guys for something that could be fixed by just plugging in a new part.

Thanks
Mike

Hi Mike,

What you'll need to do is take out all your food from the freezer, then take off your back panel inside your freezer, then check to see if your fan is turning, its located just above your evaporator coil. Your fan should be running when your refrigerator is running, some models have the fan going through the door switch, so if the fan isn't running push the freezer door switch and see if it starts running.

Your freezer back panel is #4, your evaporator coil is #12, your fan motor is #18 and fan blade is #21 here:



Report back what you find.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances

Schematic was very helpful. I have removed all doors, panels, ice maker, and air diffusers. The fan looks brand new, no damage. When I started it again the fan started just fine, but with door still off, the top layer of coils, nearest the fan, started to frost over right away. I put the door back on and will check in an hour or so. I saw no little circuit board or defrost control. The fan has a number on it : '10449515' and the serial # for my
unit is '10201676JG' if that helps ID the parts.
Do I have to put the ice maker back in? We have no water feed on that side of the kitchen and don't use a lot ice anyway.
All of the parts looked like the drawings.

#5 is your electronic control board, Part#W10165748 that controls the defrost cycle as well:


Press refrigerator light switch five times in six seconds to initiate defrost cycle. Pressing five more times within six seconds will cancel defrost and go straight into the run mode. Similar operation on both bottom mount and SxS refrigerators. After the defrost terminator/thermostat opens, six minutes of dwell time occurs before the compressor and condenser fan motor will operate. After defrost terminator/thermostat open, 10 minutes of dwell time occurs before the evaporator fan motor will operate.

Courtesy of www.applianceaid.com

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances

I now have the same problem, the fridge is always warm, but the freezer works fine. The baffle seems to be working. I traced it down to the control board. I put the fridge in service mode and tried to manually turn on and off the compressor and compressor fan. They were both stuck on all the time. I thought it was a bad relay. But after I unplug the unit and plug it back in, now I can controll it manually just fine. I have read about other bolgs where people have replaced their controll board, and a couple of weeks later it fails again. What should I do?

Hi,

Do you have the exact same model# as Mike?

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances