How to Troubleshoot & Replace Frigidaire AP4455011 / 5303918410 Defrost Heater

Fingers are crossed...second time I have been in the freezer compartment on my Frigidaire Gallery refrigerator. Take about 10 minutes to strip the baskets, door and top shelf to get to the back panel. Took 30 minutes with a hairdryer to clear the frost/ice from the cold and 2 minutes to change out the thermistor. Because I have tested the defrost coil using manual activation, I did not change out the coil. The fan has always worked. Will know in two weeks if the defrost problem is solved or the control board (defrost timer) needs o be replaced. 

With help from the videos, we replaced the two parts that control the temperature and keep the frost off of it. 

After calling a repair person and after two visits, he was unable to fix the problem. Not to mention we paid over $120 for his expertise. How disappointing. We will never call them again. We went online and after a couple of utube videos my husband figured out what was needed. We ordered the parts from appliance parts pros and they arrived within 24 hours. My husband installed the parts and our refrigerator is working better than before. We thank you because you saved us from spending money on a new refrigerator. The parts we ordered was evaporator coil heater and a thermostat. 

I replaced the defrost heater and thermostat and it seems like everything is working fine now. The defrost heater was not working and the fresh section of my refrigerator was getting hot, it wouldn’t cool. Thanks 

Replaced defrost heater. Part was an exact fit replacement. 

Replaced main board. The defrost heater and thermostat. 

I knew it was the heater element because I have replaced a few over the years. This was the first one I replaced on a french door fridge, It was very difficult because of everything I had to take apart to get to it at the heater. Overall it took me 5 hours. The stand-up freezer has not been done yet, but that should be a lot easier because I have done it before. The problem I had is that the parts diagrams on your website made my work more difficult because when I tried to magnify the image large boxes would block the image so I could not get good pictures of what was there. 

I had a swollen thermostat an went ahead replaced heater along with it while I was there. The plugs for both made it a snap. Easy DIY saving $300 on labor and have a super clean appliance again.