Got a 5 year old Kenmore Side by Side refrigerator that is acting the fool :) (or at least trying to fool me). So, like this story normally starts we left the fridge door open for a day or two cracked and it frosted over. We defrosted it by clearing it out and leaving it open for a day and making sure all the ice was gone. Worked for a week or so and developed the typical warming of the fridge and freezer getting frozen problems. So, my defrost cycle is not working properly from what I can gather.

I investigate a bit and open up the panel in the back of the fridge. Nothing out of the ordinary from what I can see besides a boatload of ice on the coils. I put my voltmeter to the heater contacts and manually spin the timer to put it into defrost cycle. Fans cut off and the compressor kicks off. So, I look for the heater to turn on and melt the ice. Here's where it confuses me. The first time I tried this, I saw some sparking at the connection between the heater and the power supply and the heater turned on, got red hot, and worked... but only the one time. I tried to duplicate it a bit and moved the wires by hand a little, but it hasn't turned on since. I assume if the heater worked seemlessly that the timer was bad, but it only worked once. Timer seems to be working fine because I can hear the compressor kick off every so often from the fridge (correct me if I'm wrong). Ok, I check to see what kind of juice is coming into the connections to the heater. Put my voltmeter on Ohms and I read 6.25M after I put it manually into defrost cycle. Getting power but does this reading sound off? Ok, maybe it's the thermostat I think to myself and I cut the wires off and put it in a cup with icewater to see if it does anything. Put my voltmeter to Ohms and I get 55.6k after a couple minutes which I assume is showing continuity? So, it is not the problem. Again, correct me if I am wrong my electrical skills are only elementary at best. Scratching my head now... Not sure what to replace. Could it be a loose wire or maybe a short somewhere caused by the first freeze over. Might explain the arcing I saw in the heater connection the first time and the non repeatable heater working situation. Sorry to be so long winded... just rambling my thoughts here. Any ideas on what to do next would be greatly appreciated. I got another week before I got the defrost that sucker manually again.

Ok, I check to see what kind of juice is coming into the connections to the heater. Put my voltmeter on Ohms and I read 6.25M after I put it manually into defrost cycle. Getting power but does this reading sound off

That is not how to check for power. Check for power with voltage meter. If you want to measure current use clamp on Amp meter.

Do not put an Ohm meter on any circuit that has current. You will blow the meter. Be surprised if your Ohm meter still works.


The first time I tried this, I saw some sparking at the connection between the heater and the power supply

That sounds like a bad connection.

Your defrost terminator should read zero ohms when in ice and water (add salt) and the heater should read about 300 ohms, not in the kilo-ohms or higher. Never use ohms on a live circuit. Download the book below to learn how to use the meter.