How to Troubleshoot & Replace Whirlpool AP5985208 / W10822278 Refrigerator Defrost Timer

A word of thanks to AppliancePartsPros - they delivered in one day. Ordered at 4PM CDT and received the part by noon the next day. Also, Alicia in the help department was able to locate an electrical diagram for my old freezer. This was essential for proper setup and her persistence in tracking down the diagram was top notch. Now on to my problem. One day I opened the freezer and found frost and thawing food. I attributed this to the door hitting an item in the freezer and not completely closing. This had happened before, but not as severe. We removed the food and exposed the cooling coils - completely covered with ice. After defrosting with a heat gun, I checked the defrost heater and it was OK. Reassembled the freezer, loaded the food along with some dry ice to start resetting the freezing, checked the gasket and made certain the door was closed. This worked for about a month and then the temperature began to slowly rise. Checked the cooling coils and they were again covered with ice. After reading numerous on line comments, I ordered a defrost timer. The replacement took about 20 minutes and did not require removing the food. I then examined the old timer and found that it was working, thus the timer was not the problem. Now on to the second repair - replace the defrost thermostat. This required removing the food, cutting out the old thermostat and replacing with the new one. This required an hour or so, including removing the food, shelves, etc. exposing the coils, and replacing the thermostat. Unit now works great. Thanks again the the folks at Appliance Parts Pros. 

I was able to discuss the issue with a friend who knows about appliance repair. He instructed me as to what part was needed. I simply went to the website, entered the model # of my refrigerator and ordered the part. When the part came in I viewed the repair video offered on the website and replaced the part. It took longer to remove the old part because of the mounting(not screws) than it did to replace with the new part. I have to add that I am a woman with little knowledge of appliance repair but with the knowledge I do have and the assistance from the video was able to replace the part in very little time. 

Replaced the defrost timer. 

Replaced: condenser fan motor, defrost timer, defrost thermostat (bi-metal), and added a heat probe. Fan motor obviously shot... hard to turn by hand. Defrosted for 48 hours, cleaned & bleached drain tube. Never tried to test the old timer or bi-metal but it now runs perfectly and tightly maintains 39/0 degrees with dry fridge. When reassembled and powered up, compressor did nothing... I advanced the timer knob until condenser started. Hung the heat probe securely on defrost element and cut it short so it was positioned just above the drain (paranoid & over-kill). Could probably do the job (after defrosting) in less than an hour. Pleased (yet again) with result and appliance parts pros. Great resource for the handy homeowner. Thanks!! 

Suddenly one day my 27 years old refrigerator stop running. I put my finger in the defrost timer adjustment slot, and tried to turn and it was running again. I had to do that almost once in 2 or 3 days. My wife told me to trash it, since we have a newer refrigerator in the kitchen. I ordered part from AppliancePartsPros.com, and it arrived in 2 days. I replaced the part, and past 3 days it runs without hitch. The part I ordered was almost same as original part except old part had two back wires to connect to selection terminals (I had to pick one terminal since new one only have 1 wire to terminaln and I pickterminal #2), and also had ground connection since it had metal cover (not like all plastic cover on new one). It was missing two nuts and I had to dig out from my old tool box. (That is why I could not give out 5 stars) Other than that it fits perfectly well and took about 20 minutes to replace the timer including about 5 minutes to find those two pesky nuts.. 20 bucks well spend, and Job well done. 

Replaced heater and defrost timer. All parts fixed perfectly with no modifications. I recevied my parts in 2 days!! Great service, great prices. I will return to your site when i need parts and advice again. Thank you!! 

Installed recommended thermostat and timer 

Following the video from this link. 

Replaced the defrost timer. Make sure the new part is not in the defrost mode before you install it or the refrigerator won't start back up. Simply turn the little button on the bottom of the switch clockwise till you hear it click. 

I ordered a timer, bi-metal module and a heater. I tested the existing heater with a multimeter, and it checked out ok. The test on the bi-metal module was inconclusive, so I replaced it and the timer at the same time. The instructions were clear. The only thing that slowed me down was the lack of a wiring schematic for my model of refrigerator, I had to spend a bit more time eliminating 2 of the 3 hookups for the timer. It would be nice to be able to find an online schematic on your site, but all in all your site is well planned, easy to navigate. Considering the age of the refrigerator I am going to keep the heating element on hand. This was a lot easier than some of my other home repair projects and assembling children's Christmas gifts.