Thanks so much, sir. Yeah it had been a very humid day due to rain showers. I tried melting the ice with a hair dryer off and on for maybe an hour or so with the AC unplugged. Less than two hours later I tried plugging it back in but would immediately freeze up. It did this with the temp setting now changed to warmest temperature possible. So I kept unplugging it long enough to let it thaw out each time. And again it would begin freezing up once plugged back in.
Not sure if it’s a coincidence or not, but I finally took the front and top off the control panel this evening. The shiny, cylindrical shaped part is what I repeatedly tapped on with a screwdriver. Put everything back together and now it’s working correctly. Hope it stays this way.