Hotpoint HSS25IFMCC / HSS25IFMWW Side by Side Refrigerator Logo
Richard Bure Posted on Jun 10, 2007
Answered by a Fixya Expert

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Freezer won't defrost

Main board, heater and thermostat have been replaced. Both doors have been replaced as a recall. Unit does not go into defrost when light switch is tripped 5 times. Old heater that was taken out lit up when 120 vac was applied. New and old thermostat check closed at room temperature. Have defrosted unit once per week for last 6 weeks via hair dryer. Seems like defrost timer but have been assured that the main board controls this. Same symtoms a year ago and new board fixed problem. Model is 6 year old Hotpoint HSS25IFMB WW Home Depot special.

  • 3 more comments 
  • OtisBane Nov 06, 2007

    my problem is similar, with a hss22fimc, (different, but similar enough) but i have replaced the defrost thermostat, the one that clips to the top of the coils. I tested the one that I removed, and it gave complete conductance when at room temperature, no conductance at >140F and then conductance again after submersing the sensor in a cup of ice. So, I assume that the the defrost thermostat was working fine, and that the one I put in is also functional. how do I test the thermistors? and what else might be the issue to check.



    Thanks

    otisbane

  • OtisBane Nov 06, 2007

    so I tried the steps you described and got 0 ohms when connecting the blue wire and the orange wire, so I checked the freezer thermistor with ~22 ohms and the evaporator thermistor ~5 ohms with the assumption that the coils are already frozen up. I know the defrost safety thermostat is fine. The evaporator fan seems to be running everytime I am near the fridge. I should mention that every time I remove the back panel to defrost the coils, the lower section of the coils, although by design are more spaced out, are usually free of a thick layer of ice, and only the upper 2/3rds of the coils are iced over.

  • OtisBane Nov 06, 2007

    I jumped the line and defrost and the heater came on no problem, what woudl be broken that would keep the cycle from happening by itself?

    otis

  • Richard Bure Nov 29, 2007

    I have fixed the deforst problem by turning down the temperature control dial for the freezer found in the refrigerator compartment. I realize now I started having the no-defrost problem after I had turned the temperature up several months before. The freezer is on #3 and the refrigerator is on #4.

  • Anonymous Dec 14, 2007

    Frost Free Fridge has iced up behind and in front of the rear panel in the freezer compartment/ The fridge has been turned off....the ice has thawed alittle and could be removed but the grill behind th white panel is still very icy...after 6 hours. Hair dryer used to melt what was accessible. This has happened a number of times....Can it be salvaged..or do I need a new fridge?

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  • Expert 42 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 24, 2007
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savey73,
I think I know what is wrong. First the defrost thermostat you are talking about I believe is the round metal type with possibly a pink and an orange wire coming out of it. That is not the defrost thermostat as most people know it. That is a defrost overheat termination thermostat that opens only over 140 degrees F, that is why your old good one and your new good one show closed at room temp. If you read on the outside of the metal cover you will find it has a L140 indicating the limit of 140 deg.
Now to what should be causing your problem. You should find on the evaporator coil at the top left side of the evaporator coil a part that has 2 white wires going into what looks like about a 1" long X 1/4" round plastic thing. That little white plastic thing is a THERMISTOR. If it is bad your defrost will not work. Sounds like that is the only thing you have not replaced. There is no polarization of the wires That should FixYa
supertechks

  • Anonymous Nov 24, 2007

    OOPS I ANSWERED TO WRONG POST

    supertechks

  • Anonymous Nov 29, 2007

    savey73 Thank you for your response and I will keep the information you just provided in mind. I am surprised that turning the temp too cold could cause a defrost problem like you had. Ofton improper settings can cause problem but I have never seen it like this problem. For some reason I still think you may have a bad thermistor. If you find you need help in the future just add to this post and If I still am getting alerts from fixya I will try to respond and help you any way I am able. Merry Christmas, supertechks

    I may be slow but I am trying. Please rate what you feel it is worth, Thanks!

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WHERE CAN I FIND THE THERMOSTAT DEFORT ON A WHIRLPOOL?

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  • Master 878 Answers
  • Posted on Jun 10, 2007
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Savey, this is for the HSS model. The unit will not go into defrost by pressing the light switch 5 times. It is not programmed to do this. The defrost is controlled by length of time the doors were open since the last defrost. Length of time the compressor has run since the last defrost and the amount of time the defrost heaters were on during the last defrost cycle. Unplug the refer, on the main board unplug the blue connector. Measure the resistance between the blue wire on the connector and the nuetral orange wire on main board J7, pin 9. It should read approx 22 ohms. If it doesn't, check the heaters and the defrost safety thermostat. The defrost safety themostat is a back up to the evaportator thermistor. If that checks ok, verify that the evaporator thermistor and freezer thermistor is in proper range. At 15 degrees, they should ohm at approx 27K ohms. The higher the temp, the lower the resistance. If that checks ok, then you have a board problem. You can send 120V to the heaters by jumping Line to defrost on the 3 pronged blue harness. See if the heaters come on. Catriver.

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Freezer is not defrosting properly , I already change the thermostat, my refigerator model is TBX74UL01 OR TBX74UB01.

If the thermostat is replaced, but still its not defrosting, then two possibilities, either weak defrost heater,Heater is the part which heats and it defrosts, if the heater gets weak, then unit will not defrost properly.And it will take more time to defrost, and till that time, again frost gets collected.---------- But if defrost heater is ok, then problem is defrost board.The defrost board is the part, which controls both thermostat and defrost heater.-----------
This problem is called defrost problem.-------------

So first thing you try is , perform, manual defrost reset procedure.---------

The manual defrost reset procedure is as follows : ----
First unplug the unit from main power outlet. Then empty whole unit completely. Then keep both the doors open. Wait for 24 hours. All the ice collected on the coils and in the freezer section will get melted. Clean the water from the sections. Then Connect the power cord of the unit to main power outlet after 24 hours/.Then set the temperature to normal in both fridge and freezer section. Then check,if same frost is getting collected, then its defrost problem,. If it's again building up ice that means the unit is not defrosting. It's starting the cooling procedure, and then while defrosting, it's not working. The defrost assembly consists of three main parts. The defrost thermostat, the defrost heater and defrost board. Any of the one is not functioning. When thermostat sense the maximum cooling, it triggers the defrost heater to start heating and this defrosts the ice collected on the coils and the system works. Both thermostat and heater are controlled by defrost board. First the thermostat and defrost heater to be checked, if both check ok by meter and visually, then its defrost board causing the problem. IN YOUR case, defrost thermostat is already got replaced, so ignore thermostat, but other two possibilities needs to be checked.----------You can get required parts from from online sites like: --- www.repairclinic.com or from searspartsdirect online site. --------- This should help.Thanks.Helpmech.

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Its defrost problem.---------- The unit is not defrosting on time.--------. First try manual defrost reset procedure. The procedure is as follows: ----
First unplug the unit from main power outlet. Then empty whole unit completely. Then keep both the doors open. Wait for 24 hours. All the ice collected on the coils and in the freezer section will get melted. Clean the water from the sections. Then Connect the power cord of the unit to main power outlet after 24 hours/.Then set the temperature to normal in both fridge and freezer section. It will take near to 4 hours to get run in its proper cooling cycle. Then check, if the problem returns again. Then its defrost board problem. -------------
If it's again building up ice that means the unit is not defrosting. It's starting the cooling procedure, and then while defrosting, it's not working. The defrost assembly consists of three main parts. The defrost thermostat, the defrost heater and defrost board. Any of the one is not functioning. When thermostat sense the maximum cooling, it triggers the defrost heater to start heating and this defrosts the ice collected on the coils and the system works. Both thermostat and heater are controlled by defrost board. First the thermostat and defrost heater to be checked, if both check ok by meter and visually, then its defrost board causing the problem. You can get required parts from from online sites like: --- www.repairclinic.com or from searspartsdirect online site.-------------
This will help.Thanks.Helpmech.


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The defrost problem.The unit is not defrosting on time.--------

. First try manual defrost reset procedure. The procedure is as follows: ----

First unplug the unit from main power outlet. Then empty whole unit completely. Then keep both the doors open. Wait for 24 hours. All the ice collected on the coils and in the freezer section will get melted. Clean the water from the sections. Then Connect the power cord of the unit to main power outlet after 24 hours/.Then set the temperature to normal in both fridge and freezer section. It will take near to 4 hours to get run in its proper cooling cycle. Then check, if the problem returns again. Then its defrost board problem. -------------

If it's again building up ice that means the unit is not defrosting. It's starting the cooling procedure, and then while defrosting, it's not working. The defrost assembly consists of three main parts. The defrost thermostat, the defrost heater and defrost board. Any of the one is not functioning. When thermostat sense the maximum cooling, it triggers the defrost heater to start heating and this defrosts the ice collected on the coils and the system works. Both thermostat and heater are controlled by defrost board. First the thermostat and defrost heater to be checked, if both check ok by meter and visually, then its defrost board causing the problem. You can get required parts from from online sites like: --- www.repairclinic.com or from searspartsdirect online site. --------- This should help.Thanks.Helpmech.

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Its defrost problem.

The defrost is not working,.The evaporator coil in the inner section of freezer is got blocked by ice .

Try manual defrost reset procedure: ----
First unplug the unit from main power outlet. Then empty whole unit completely. Then keep both the doors open. Wait for 24 hours. All the ice collected on the coils and in the freezer section will get melted. Clean the water from the sections. Then Connect the power cord of the unit to main power outlet after 24 hours/.Then set the temperature to normal in both fridge and freezer section. It will take near to 4 hours to get run in its proper cooling cycle. Then check, if the problem returns again. If the same problem occurs then it's defrost problem. The defrost board and the defrost thermostat/heater is not functioning properly and it has to be checked and replaced. -------

If it's again building up ice that means the unit is not defrosting. It's starting the cooling procedure, and then while defrosting, it's not working. The defrost assembly consists of three main parts. The defrost thermostat, the defrost heater and defrost board. Any of the one is not functioning. When thermostat sense the maximum cooling, it triggers the defrost heater to start heating and this defrosts the ice collected on the coils and the system works. Both thermostat and heater are controlled by defrost board. First the thermostat and defrost heater to be checked, if both check ok by meter and visually, then its defrost board causing the problem. You can get required parts from online sites like: --- www.repairclinic.com or from searspartsdirect online site.--------- This should help.Thanks.Helpmech.

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First unplug the unit from main power outlet. Then empty whole unit completely. Then keep both the doors open. Wait for 24 hours. All the ice collected on the coils and in the freezer section will get melted. Clean the water from the sections. Then Connect the power cord of the unit to main power outlet after 24 hours/.Then set the temperature to normal in both fridge and freezer section. It will take near to 4 hours to get run in its proper cooling cycle. Then check, if the problem returns again. Then its defrost board problem. -------------

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It can be defrost issue.First try manual defrost reset procedure. The procedure is as follows: ----
First unplug the unit from main power outlet. Then empty whole unit completely. Then keep both the doors open. Wait for 24 hours. All the ice collected on the coils and in the freezer section will get melted. Clean the water from the sections. Then Connect the power cord of the unit to main power outlet after 24 hours/.Then set the temperature to normal in both fridge and freezer section. It will take near to 4 hours to get run in its proper cooling cycle. Then check, if the problem returns again. Then its defrost board problem. -------------The procedure of this unit is as follows: --- The compressor starts then it cools the freezer section. When the freezer reaches its cooling level the defrost cycle starts functioning. In this cycle the fan in the freezer section starts running and the cool air in the freezer section is passed to the fridge section and the fridge section gets cold. The air from freezer to refrigerator passes from the section, in that section the damper is located.----------- The defrost assembly consists of three main parts. The defrost thermostat, the defrost heater and defrost board. Any of the one is not functioning. When thermostat sense the maximum cooling, it triggers the defrost heater to start heating and this defrosts the ice collected on the coils and the system works. Both thermostat and heater are controlled by defrost board. First the thermostat and defrost heater to be checked, if both check ok by meter and visually, then its defrost board causing the problem. You can get required parts from online sites like: --- www.repairclinic.com or from searspartsdirect online site.


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