Every four or five days the freezer gets warm (fridge too). By simply turning fridge temperature control setting to OFF and then back ON, compressor starts immediately and everything runs great for another five days. Is this a cold-control thermostat problem, defrost thermostat problem, defrost timer problem, or other? Appreciate any suggestions.

Who makes this refrigerator and how old is it?

Sorry - Whirlpool, built 1999. Thanks

What I want you to do is to pull out the refrigerator from the wall and remove rear cover after unplugging unit. Then, wash out the coils and drain pan. You will have to remove front kick plate. Then plug back in and see if it works. I think that it is so dirty that it cannot recover from defrost cycle. Clean it well with spray cleaner and sprayer on water hose, then vacuum up with wet-vac. Clean fan well, too. Let me know what happens.

I have always made a habit of keeping coils clean (at least yearly) and since problem first occurred, have vacuumed coils and wiped down (using wet cloth wrapped around a fly-swatter so they look pretty good), though have never moved fridge outside to wash them with water.

Fridge gets plenty cool / freezer plenty cold, it just needs "re-started." My first thought was that the cool control was failing (either thermocouple or contacts), but I haven't changed it yet because I don't understand the defrost cycle control logic [How often defrost comes on; Does defrost "interrupt" the cooling cycle thereby rendering the cool control thermostat unworkable while it's defrosting and then defrost somehow stays in "defrost-mode" (either defrost thermostat sticking or defrost timer staying ON); or something completely different?]

I also have no idea how the freezer temp-control works (mechanical arm connection to the back). If I had some idea about this control and the defrost question above, I'd take a chance and buy the most likely parts to start swapping out; however, if I start with everything that I suspect now, I'll be a few hundred bucks in on 12 year old fridge... (and the appliance parts store near me hits you with 20% restocking fees on all of it even if it was returnable, but these electrical parts wouldn't be).

When the defrost timer kicks in it shuts off power to thermostat which shuts off compressor. It also turns off the freezer fan and turns on power to defrost heater which gets power after it goes through the defrost t-stat. The defrost timer on every refrigerator I have ever seen has either a twice a day cycle (rare) or a cycle every 24 hours. When the freezer is warm is the fan off in freezer? The defrost timer would keep fan turned off if it is stuck in defrost mode. It does not make sense that it will work after you unplug it and plug it back in unless it's an electronic control. If you can find a manual with a wiring diagram and send it via email to me at [email protected] I will look at it and see if I can tell you what is wrong.

Let me make a correction: I found a parts list and see that you have a standard timer. See: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8010163/Whirlpool%20parts.docx
It still makes no sense to me that unplugging it will make it work again. The only time that works is if the refrigerator compressor overload is tripping due to short-cycling, and then you have to unplug it for a few minutes. You can know if the defrost timer has it shut off by checking the fan in the freezer and if it's off then most likely the timer has it shut off. One thing I noticed is that the compressor has an electronic start device. I would think it's more likely that this is what has failed, and you can get one that is universal at an appliance parts store or HVAC supply house (cheaper there). You would want one with a start capacitor that will work for compressors from 1/5 HP to 1/2 HP. You simply put the two wires supplying power to compressor on the black and white wires on device and hook the other three wires to common, start, and run terminals on compressor. Write me at [email protected] and I will help you out.

That's a great explanation on the controls. Based on your description, sounds like the defrost t-stat controlled contacts are normally closed (potentially passing power to the heater) when freezer is cold, ultimately giving the heater power when the defrost timer kicks ON, so the timer may more likely be the intermittently failing component, in that I'm failing warm instead of frosting up (otherwise both would have had to fail around the same time, because if either one were working properly, it would cancel out the other's failure).

I'll be looking for the freezer fan status the next time it fails (I'm assuming any day now - How about that? When you need something to fail, sure enough it keeps working).

One point of clarification that may or may not be significant... I'm not unplugging the fridge to reset or restart it; I'm turning the cool control t-stat to the OFF position, then back to ON / normal setting. Seems pretty straight forward, but I can't tell when things stopped (I just notice in the morning when I wake up that something happened, but I don't know what occurred while I wasn't looking).

I'll search for manual online to find out about your electronic control inquiry.

Many thanks for you advice and interest in helping others...

I found the parts list that showed me that it's not electronic, but analog. If you are moving the t-stat then it could be a thermostat problem. That makes more sense now. You could have a bad thermostat if that is happening because the contacts may not be closing. A new universal t-stat will cost about $15-20 from an HVAC supply house.

All right - it finally failed again; just replaced t-stat as you said. Fridge started back up - just don't know if it's truly fixed or just a repeat of my intermittent "need to restart it" problem. Only regret is that I bought t-stat at appliance store a couple weeks ago for $80 instead of the $20 you said HVAC distributor may be able to offer. Am guessing that if it lasts for more than two weeks this time, then maybe I'm out of the woods..
I'll be sure to post if that's the case (I guess I'll post if it doesn't, too). Thanks again for your interest in helping others, DrTom4444 - very much appreciated.

I'm glad to help. You must have purchased an original equipment T-stat which is a good thing if you have never replaced one with a universal replacement. On the universal replacements you have to make sure to have the same length of capillary tube exposed as the old t-stat and coil up the rest and place behind it which can be hard to do sometimes. Most likely you fixed the problem. Problems like that can be hard to diagnose, but it should do well. Let us know in a couple of weeks if the problem is cured, please. We can all learn.

We were having the same type of problem with our Whirlpool fridge. Model ED25RFXFW01. It seemed to be stuck in defrost mode. I searched the internet and saw that some people could get it to turn back on by tapping or gently hitting the temperature control knob. I tried it and sure enough it would kick back on when I tapped it. It eventually stopped working. I couldn't get it to come back on at all. I bought a new temperature control unit and installed it myself. It worked great. Now a couple of years later I'm having the same trouble all over again and am thinking about buying a new control unit again.

That sounds like a good idea, but this time I would get a universal thermostat and make sure the same amount of cap tube from t-stat is exposed and rest tucked behind t-stat. Make sure you clean coils under unit, too.

I know that part number of the thermostat I need. It's 2198202. There are quite a few places to buy one online. I'd rather not spend top dollar to get one if I don't have to. Last time I picked one from a place that had a good low price and seemed to have a good reputation.

Do you have any preferred suppliers or ideas about who to buy one from? I just checked and our fridge is now dead and everything is melting so I'll need to order a new part tonight.

Luckily we're low on groceries so the casualties will be low but the next day or two isn't going to be fun.

There are several brands of thermostats you can buy. They all have differrent part numbers based on who sells it, not the brand of the t-stat.