Hi guys,

I am hoping you can help me with my kenmore fridge, 106.71203100. A few days ago, the freezer started to not keep ice cream frozen and a few other things. But the main fridge was fine.. So I cleaned the condensor fan/grill, made sure the fan worked while I wqas under the fridge.. I also checked the drain for airflow, seemed to be ok.

I also took apart the freezer as I noticed snowy ice build up on the back of the evaporator. The evap. was running constrantly. I cleaned off the snow, ran warm water through the holes on the bottom.. Close the freezer and fridge. Everything seemed to be working. Ice started to produce in the ice tray again.

Until today, now the freezer is freezing but the fridge part is warm. Once again the freezer has snow, evap is running constantly. I ran warm water through the holes as they were frozen shut.

Do you think the defrost timer is broken? The defrost heater thingy? Is this a common issue? Help!

Thanks,

David

Hi David,

I would test the defrost thermostat and heater before replacing the ADC. Here is a link:
http://www.applianceaid.com/defrost_cycle.html

Look for the Whirlpool one:
http://www.applianceaid.com/adaptive_defrost.html

Jake

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Jake,

I took off the back panel for the evap in the freezer to take a look.. the whole thing is caked in ice.. i took off the ice maker, opened it up to see if the gear moved... it seemed to be fine as it was producing ice cubes. i had an old book that told me in whirpool/kenmores that the defrost switch was in the ice maker housing, but it wasnt there - i assume this is now in the ADC.

Regardless, i followed the link you gave me to throw the fridge into test mode/to force the defroster/heat element on but visually I couldnt see anything happen nor did I hear the clicks the hyperlink mentioned i shoudl hear. I'm a bit stuck now.. I want to test the thermostat but i cant see it under the ice.. and id like to test the heater but its also ice bound.

Can you let me know what you think?

Thanks,

David

Can you get to the wire connections on the defrost heater and defrost thermostat? If not, then use a hair dryer to defrost just the wiring connections so you can use your ohm meter to check for continuity on them with your refrigerator unplugged.

Your defrost thermostat should read 0 ohms while its frosty, and your defrost heater should read between 11-30 ohms.

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

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Jake,

I think ive figured out where to test everything.. and actually defrosting the wires for the heater (which was under 1 inch of ice) helped me to see what I think are the 2 problems.. 1, the little drain hole on the bottom of the evap tray was frozen over. 2, the molex connection forh the heater was no longer connected. Before I get too happy, I tested the heater which comes in at about 32 ohms, and the thermostat tests at .01. Now to plug it all back in ..

I think I should also defrost the whole ice cake mess .. I dont know how/if the heater could deal with all the ice without some help.. the plug must have gotten stopped up , then the ice backed over everything and it unplugged itself.. I think.. more to come!

-David

Ok David,

Yes, then the defrost heater and defrost thermostat are good with those tests you made, so that only leaves the Adaptive defrost control the problem, if the loose molex connector doesn't fix it.

Here's the one for your model you can order if you need to:
Manufacturer's Number: 2304099



Yes, you should clear all the frost/ice from the evaporator coil.

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

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Jake,

Thank you for all your help and for pointing me to the part. The fridge has been running happily all night. It's producing icecubes and the main. compartment is now cold. That being said it's very cold.

If in a few days I see frost begin to form on the back wall of the freezer compartment, should assume its the ADC? I think that's correct but I want to make sure.

In regard to the ADC, in my repair to this point, I never saw/found the ADC. Where is it ?

Thanks,

David

Excellent David.
Yes.

Your ADC is located in the console control panel#12 that mounts on your refrigerator section ceiling, its #4 here:
http://c.searspartsdirect.com/lis_pn...3003-00002.png
If you ever need to replace it, you just remove the console control panel#12 and the whole assembly drops down abit, then you can access the ADC and the cold control thermostat#13.

The console control panel has 2 screws on each side of it that mounts up into the ceiling.

Keep us posted in the coming days on hows its doing.

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

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Jake,

Sorry about the delayed update. Just wanted to let you know that the fridge is humming along happily *knock on wood* and works fine. As for my washing machine, well.. that'll be up on another post

-David

Excellent, good job fixing it David.

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