Frequently Asked Questions About Domestic Refrigerator Repair:
Fridge stopped altogether then started when advancing the timer
We have a 20 year old Hot Point side-by-side refrigerator that quit on us yesterday. Nothing like coming home from church to a defrosted fridge. After reviewing the wiring diagram, I located the defrost controller under the front of the fridge. By turning a shaft on the front of the timer with a screwdriver the compressor and evaporator fan turned on. The fridge seems to be working just fine now. What did I do by advancing the timer? Do I need to worry about the problem happening again? Any help would be great. We'd like to fix it with minimal -- no cost -- if possible. Just need to keep it going for a short period of time. Thanks,
It seems your defrost timer got stuck on the defrost cycle. This happens often when the part wears out, as getting out of the defrost cycle into the run cycle is the largest hump the mechanism encounters.
What may happen now is that the evaporator will plug with frost if the timer does not advance to the defrost cycle which may cause a lot of stress on your 20 year old compressor. (and you don't need compressor problems) or the timer may stick in the same place sometime soon.
Even though money may be tight you should replace it with a new one. It's not at all difficult. Take the part with you to an appliance parts store and they will fix you up. In Canada here where I live, timers cost about $30.00.
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