[jennifer426]

Hi. I have an Amana ARB2107AW in which the automatic defrost mechanism is not working. I thought it was caused by a faulty heater which I purchased from you and replaced yesterday but my coils are still freezing up. I am manually defrosting the freezer about once a week because the temperature in my fridge drops when the coils in the freezer are thickly froze up. I have tested the defrost with the new heater in place by turning the timer until the condenser shuts off and then checking the coils which are not thawing at all. Would my next step to be to replace the timer or to replace the thermostat? Please help! Thanks!

[PS Staff - Sheila]

If the freezer is warm when you are testing the heater the thermostat will not sense that the coils need to be defrosted so the heater will not come on.

You will have to wait until the freezer has cool down to proper temperature to check the thermostat.

If the heater come on after doing this then it would be your timer causing your trouble.

[jennifer426]

I have allowed the freezer to go through about 20 hours without doing anything to it and the coils are frosted completely with very little airspace in between each coil and some being connected completely to the surrounding ones with frost, so the heater must not be kicking on at all. Would that lead me to replace the timer next or the thermostat next since I have already replaced the heater? When I slowly turn the timer it does make the condenser shut off but I suppose that doesn't automatically mean that the part works correctly? Thanks for all your help!

[PS Staff - Sheila]

When you turned the timer manually in to defrost does the heater come on?

If there is a lot of ice on the coils it will take a few minutes for them to defrost.

If the ice starts to melt then it is your timer that is causing your problem.

[jennifer426]

No, it did not come on when I turned it. I can turn it until the compressor turns off but the coils never defrost. Does that mean it is the thermostat?

[PS Staff - Sheila]

It still could be your timer.

You would have to see if power is getting to the thermostat to make sure that it is not the timer.