Evap coil freezing up&heater strips aren't coming on in defrost

Hello,

The heater is supposed to be on the inside of your drain line.

The only possible source of water to freeze on the coils in such a short time is from the outside atmosphere. Check the door seals.

ohm out the defrost heater , if continuity, replace defrost timer or defrost control. always defrost all ice on evap. coil before returning to service.

Replace the heater if the end is damaged. The defrost is timed rather than temperature initiated.

HELLO,

Since you did not give brand or model number i cannot give you spefic direcetions on your refrig. However all defrost systems regarelass of brand work exactly and ill tell ya what to check
The defrost system is comprised of 3 parts

Defrost heater-- it usually is at bottom of the evap. coil, to check it remove wires to it ,use a meter set to the lowest ohms setting and check for somewhere between 10-50 ohms if that is what yours is its good if meter reads OL replace defrost heater

Defrost thermostat-- if clips to the top of the evap. coil and is metallic,round , about the diameter of a quarter with a plastic side with 2 wires coming from it(do not confuse it w.thermister),remove wires and check for ZERO ohms WHEN TESTING IT MUST BE COLD so check it when frost is built up,IF meter reading is OL (WHEN COLD) its the problem

Defrost timer or defrost control if has digital display to show tempature
check timer(it could be anywhere except in freezer) by turning till you hear a click,the deforst heater should come on within 5 minutes if its good,if defrost doesn't come on its either the of the above parts (heater/t-stat)
defrost control is hard for unskilled lay persons to check so if heater and defrost t-stat are good replace control

Hope this helps,

Gene

when the evap ( the coil inside the freezer freezes up it blocks the coil causing no cold air to flow to the fresh food side. . the thermo is ok but the aditive defrost control or the heater or defrost terminator is or has failed .. mm ( you do have a defrost problem .. mm

You did not clarify , if the board was changed or not . You only have 2 parts to the defrost system , as the defrost heater AND bimetal , come togather . I would start with the heater/bimetal part first .
Pt number 61006198 Heater and bimetal
Pt number 61005988 Adaptive defrost board

The bimetal , is the 1" cylinder , clipped to the top of the coils , and heater , at the bottom of the coils .

this is a problem that is no stranger to most GE side by sides; GE has used a glass type defrost heater in the freezer which often fails. If you manually defrost your appliance (unplug and leave doors open for 24 hrs) then plug back in, it will appear to work normally for a few days and gradually build up frost on the evap panel (back panel in the freezer) and eventually the refrigerator side will seem to loose cooling due to frosted damper, or lack of cold air transfer over the evap coil. The fix for this is to replace the defrost heaters (s). While not as common, defrost thermostats can open causing the unit to skip defrost, and even less likely is the defrost control (either mechanical timer or adaptive defrost). First, defrost your appliance, then remove the evap panel and ohm out the heater(s), if open, replace. If they check ok, check your defrost thermostat (small disc like object attached by a clip on the evap. coil itself) for signs of popping open or open ohm readings at normally closed temperatures. Its a good idea to change this anyway when replacing defrost heaters as the two work hand in hand. Last, check the defrost timer by manually advancing the screw advance clockwise until you hear the first click, then check voltage to the defrost heater and thermostat, if no voltage present replace timer. If your appliance is equipped with a adaptive defrost board, refer to the schematic for proper diagnostics.

If ice/frost is building up on the back wall of the freezer then you have a defrost system failure.

Defrost system; Evap Fan, Heater, Thermo disk, Timer.

Evap Fan - this should be running all the time except when it goes into defrost mode.

Defrost Timer - This part is hard to locate on some models, a call to a parts place with the model number can help you find it and tell you if this is the type you can mannualy turn to put in the defrost mode. If you can do this, take the back panel off in the freezer so you can see the cooling coils. The heater should be red hot and melting the ice. If so, replace the timer. If not, you need an OHM meter to check the heater and therma disk.

Un plug the Ref, locate the heater, usually looks like a heating element in an oven and runs across the bottom of the coils. Touch the meter leads to each end of the heater. If no reading, replace.

Therma Disk - located close to where the coils enter the freezer, small round disk clipped to the coils. Check the same as the heater but, you won't get a good reading unless the temp is below freezing. Any doubt, just replace, it's not that expensive.

This is a lot to do, hope this helps.