Frigidaire 215846602 Refrigerator Defrost Timer OEM Part

My problem first showed up as varying temperature in both sections of my old mid 1970’s Frigidaire model FPCI-170T-7 refrigerator, which is not listed on most appliance repair databases. Running on the warm side from time to time, as well as sudden fan noise (probably the fan blade hitting ice build-up on the evaporator coil) alerted me to a possible defrost system problem, since the compressor was cooling. The evaporator fan eventually failed after a day or so, and a major repair was needed. My evaporator coil is located on the bottom of the freezer, which seems more difficult to access than modern coils mounted on the back of the freezer wall. With the evaporator coil exposed (by sliding off the freezer bottom floor, following a day or so of being shut off) I could see that the coil was getting cold when I ran it for a few minutes, so the compressor seemed to be working. I found that the fan was burned out, as well as the drain heater wires located under the evaporator pan (not the separate defrost heater under the evaporator coil.) I am not sure if the drain heater recently failed or not, but water must have leaked through spaces in the evaporator pan to create a short circuit. The defrost heater had about 30-40 ohms which looked normal. I replaced the evaporator fan (P/N AP2592778), the defrost thermostat (P/N AP2592702) which probably caused the original failure, and the defrost timer (P/N AP2111929) just to make sure, since it was reasonably priced. The drain heater wires were expensive (if I could even obtain the correct ones) so I used the old repair trick sometimes called a “shepherds hook” which consists of wrapping copper wires (10, 12, or 14 gauge) carefully (since it was glass) around the evaporator coil heater and running one down the drain a couple of inches as well as two more wires sitting on the bottom of the pan to prevent freezing. I used 14 gauge wire, but would have used 10 gauge wire if my heater was not glass. I removed the evaporator pan assembly (with fan and defrost thermostat) leaving the evaporator coil in place. I also removed the defrost heater to install my copper wire modification. After replacing the evaporator fan and defrost thermostat, I also used plumbers putty to seal all holes and openings at corners of the pan to prevent any future water leakage. The repair seems to be successful and the refrigerator is working fine now. I am going to wait several weeks to make sure that the defrost cycle works properly, especially under different humidity conditions which may occur during normal door opening and closing. AppliancePartsPros.com was the only site I found that had the parts I needed and was more helpful than any other site I visited.

FIrst, I removed the cardboard cover on the back, exposing the compressor compartment. I noticed the fan was not moving. I touched the blade and it immediately started spinning, but not very fast. The compressor was getting hot, and I think prob. overheating. The fan stopped after a few hours and then "froze" solid the next day. I got the parts and I followed the process in the video to replace the fan. VIdeo was right on the money. but there were some difficulties. The retention clip on the wire connector was brittle and it broke off. The kit had an adapter plug, but without the retention clip it was not secure, I simply put a tie-wrap around it and held it tightly. I noticed there was some ice in the freezer so I assumed the defrost timer was bad and I got one of those too. I first noticed that there was no cold air blowing from the top-back of the frig compartment. That was a big tip-off that the coils were iced up. I took off the light housing in the frig compartment and quickly saw that the back vent opening to the freezer compartment was 100% iced-up and blocked (no cold air getting to the frig).. I took the four screws off the back panel of the freezer, but it was frozen solid at the bottom where it sticks through to the frig compartment. Not wanting to break the plastic back panel part, I wisely used a fan to defrost the the frig, and after a couple hours the back panel came right off. The cooling coils were like a solid block of ice. It took a few more hours with the fan to defrost it. I put in the new defrost timer (easy) following the video. The new fan assembly is plastic and looks different, but fit exactly. It was a bit difficult getting it in because the cooling tubing was in the way, but after a bit of a struggle, I got it in. The hint in the video to put in the back screw first was a lot of help. Strangely, when I turned the frig back on after the 6 hours of defrosting, nothing happened. The light came on in the frig but no compressor noise and no cooling. I unplugged it and I left it overnight, and then plugged it in in the morning and everything started right up and it is working perfectly now, both frig and freezer. I recommend replacing both the fan and the defrost timer, even if you are not sure.

This was a 2000 model so rather than just replace the defrost timer which was visibly burnt on the terminals, we just did everything. The cold control, defrost timer, thermostat, defrost heater and the compressor capacitor were all replaced. I had the same issue on my older unit and tore it apart replacing one item at a time over a three month period so on an older one i suggest do it all while it is apart.

Ordered up the timer, took about 5 minutes to swap out. Video was for a different model, but the procedure was nearly identical.

Not sure as to which was bad but for less than $40.00 dollars for the parts and about 30 minutes of my time I was able to replace them both. I watched both how to videos and they explained everything thoroughly and completely. I ordered the parts on Monday got them shipped to my door on Wednesday afternoon and within 45 minutes after I got them my freezer was backup and running. All for much less than the price of a service call would have been. Appliance Parts Rocks!!! In my book.