[Viper65]

Hi

I am hoping someone here can point me in the correct direction. I have a 7 yr old Maytag refer/freezer. Recently it has given me problems. The fridge is working fine, it is the freezer thats giving me fits.

Heres the problem. In the last 2 weeks ice cream hasnt been freezing, been really soft, I can put a bottle of water on the bottom shelf at 9pm, when i go to work at 5am and get the bottle its only 25% frozen. If it leave it in there for 2 days its frozen.. Bread in the freezer isnt freezing ect.... Wasnt making ice for a bit.

The temp in the freezer was about 12 deg.. When we defrosted it it has ice on the back vents. After we plugged it back in the freezer went down to zero then now back up to 10.. As far as the settings we have always kept them on number 5.

We vacuumed out the coils and blew them out with a air compressor so everything is clean in the back. We normally do this once a year. We also just defrosted out he freezer also. Let it set open for a few hrs...

I just checked the temp and it is about 10 deg. and set on number 7..

IK can slide the freezer switch to zero and the fan will shut off, and slide it up to 6 and it will turn on.. I can hear the fan turn on and the switch in the fridge click at the same time.

I just noticed on the right ride on the inside of the freezer i have some ice forming. it is a patch about the size of a small dinner plate and is about 3/16 thick.

The freezer fan seems to run all the time now.. Fridge is cooling proper but the freezer isnt. Havent tried bumping the number up to 8 yet.. Dont think I should have to. House has central air and is cool inside..


Other then that no other weird noises or anything out of the ordinary..

What could be wrong here?



From the research I have tried to do I figure it is one of a few things. mY money in on the stat...

Defrost switch Timer,
Thermostat (in the freezer compartment)
Defrost heater (also in the freezer compartment)

Also, i was looking at the back of the freezer inside. How do you get to the stat and defrost heater?

Thanks to the pros in advance

In my profile it states i am into riding 4 wheelers. I am a moderator on a atv forum and try to help out all the guys and gals that need help with problems. It is really nice to have a forum like this as well and people that can help you out as well.

Thanks so much.. If you need additional info to diagnose this let me know



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[PS Staff - Sheila]

Locate the defrost timer in the control panel in the fridge section.

Manual turn the defrost timer while the compressor is running until the compressor shut off.

Watch and see if the ice on the coils melt.

The freezer has to be cold or the thermostat will be open and the heater will not heat.

If the coil do not defrost check the thermostat for continuity.

The heater should have between 14 and 20 ohms resistance.

Here is a link to your fridge model MTF 2455 er.

Here is the defrost timer.



Here is the defrost heater.



Here is the defrost thermostat.

[Viper65]

Hi Shelia.

Hey thanks for the reply. Heres what I did. I tore it apart and defrosted the coils with a hairdryer. Kicked the fridge back on. This was all on 8-2-07. Weill the freezer started working for about a week. Now the temp has rose in the freezer again to 10 deg and in the fridge to about 40 deg. Ice crystals are forming on the back of the freezer wall in front of the coils. The coils now look about the same as they did in the previous picture.

I rotated the timer ahead and the compressor kicked off. I waited about 5 minutes and could see a orange glow in the back, reached back with my hand and could feel the heat from the element heating the ice. So we know the element is working and i would assume the defrost timer is working as well..

Could the reason the temp isnt holding correct would it be the stat is bad?

Thats the only other thing that would make sence that is wrong..

I Just checked the coils again and the ice is almost 50% melted. The heater is definately working.

Thanks again for all your help on this... This forum is awsome..

[PS Staff - Sheila]

It is the timer that is causing your problem.

The motor to the timer is not running so it is not advancing to the defrost cycle.

Or the gear in the timer is stripped.

[Viper65]

Ok cool.. I can hear the timer clicking... Just now the timer kicked the compressor back on so it is cooling again.

From when I defrosted the coils before it seems like the freezer still runs alot. The timer has also kicked the compressor off in the past..

So possibly the timer is on the way out.. IE Gears are stripped or wore out.

So if that was the case sometimes the timer would let the heater kick on and sometimes not. So thats why the coilds are icing up so much therefor not allowing it to cool proper??

[PS Staff - Sheila]

You are right.

[Viper65]

Hi Shelia... Its me again...

Here is the update..

After I talked to you in the end of August or so. I replaced the defrost timer and defrosted the coils.. The freezer started working again. It ran fine for about 9 days and started in on its old tricks again.. Back panel frosting up with ice. Freezer temps rising, (15 deg) fan inside the freezer running all the time....


I thought I may have a faulty timer so I took it back to the shop i got it from, he replaced it with a different timer.. (sorry i didnt get it from you folks, the local shop has one in stock and the wife wanted it done now, she didnt want the fridge to fail and to lose the food. I am not going to argue with her ) The original timer had 'burn' marks in it so he said it was on its way out.

Yes a bunch of time has passed here.. LOL Busy at work ect LOL...

on 10-1-07. After replacing the timer again i defrosted the coils.. They were in the same shape as the pics above. Iced over bad.

Well now on 10-9-07 the fridge is still icing up again. I have frost on the back panel and its running all the time. With the new defrost timer in it..

THe first replacement timer was a Maytag exact replacement.. The second one wasnt a maytag one. It was something different. The guy said it would work and to try it, the other one may be defective.

I did verify when I put in the second timer that the defrost was working.. THe coil glowed orange ( not alot of orange mind you) It was really hot to the touch, as if you touched it it would burn you. But it wasnt glowing like a stove element)

When I replaced the second defrost timer the freezer was cycleing off like normal. It wasnt running all the time but since the coils iced up its going all the time now.

So im back to the changing the Stat or the heating element?

Thanks

[PS Staff - Sheila]

If when you advance the timer to the defrost mode, when the coils are frosted over,and the heater comes on then your heater and thermostat are good and there is no need to replace them.

The thermostat is hook in series with the heater so if the thermostat was bad the heater would not come on at all.

The heater is either good or bad like a light bulb.

Are the numbers on the back of your timer in the same order as the ones in the picture?

It may be a problem with the way it is wired.