Kenmore side by side defrost problem!! Need help

[vanstelp]

am in need of some advice for my kenmore side by side refrigerator. I just noticed the other day that the fridge portion of the refrigerator was not cold but freezer section was. Turning the unit off and letting the thing defrost to see if there was some ice buildup. This has not seemd to help out at all. The model off of sears website was 55203. I have only had it for 18 months and this is crap! I can't belive that this is happening. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[vanstelp]

To add a little more here is some more information.
I found out that the reason my fridge was not cooling was because of the ice buildup of frost on the defrost element. I took everything out of the fridge and let the fridge manually defrost for about 8 hours. I placed everyting back in the fridge and it seemed to be working. It has been a few days now and the ice is building back up on the defrost heater. The service technician came by to take a look at the refrigerator but was of not much use. He basically told me that it was either going to be a $22 part called the bi-metal or it was going to be the computer module which cost over $300. He placed the computer in diagnostic mode by holding both the on/off button with the filter status reset(i have a digital readout) and placed it through diagnostic modes 1-6. Everything tested just fine. Once he got to step 6, testinig the defrost heater/bi-metal, the element heats up just fine and removes all of the frost. Now I noticed that during this test though that the bi-metal is by passed so it really is not testing that component. So that is still a possibility. I know the basic principal and can read the wiring schematic. If someone could please answer these questions.

-what tells the computer to place the freezer into defrost mode?
-does the freezer thermostat have anything to do with the defrost mode, or only the bi-metal?

I also have the actual model number. It is 106-55203400. It is made by whirlpool with a Kenmore badge on it. If ANYONE can help me out with this I would greatly appreciate it.

[chillin out]

Is this the kind where the defrost element looks like a heater bar from an electric fire? (glass tube that glows red).

You say the unit is digital?
Then defrost is controled by the pcb and temperture probes. It will be programed to defrost maybe every 4 hours. Or it could have ine of them "intelligent" defost systems on it that alters the defrost timings to suit itself.

If the bi-metal strip thing is open circuit and the power to the heaters goes thought it, then the chances are that that part is faulty.

Chillin:) :)

[vanstelp]

The defrost element looks exactly like the one you would have in an electric oven. After looking at the wiring schematic more, you can see two wires coming from the pcb. One of the wires connects to the defrost element through the bimetal, and the other one(which is the exact same color) bi-passes the bi-metal and goes directly to the defrost element. When placing the unit in diagnostic mode enable the wire to bi-pass the bi-metal; or does the defrost element require both wires to be energized in order to work? The service technician said that this defrost unit would automatically adjust the defrosting phase. I am going to tear it apart this weekend to test the bi-metal. I know that the bi-metal should be closed at temperatures below 50 degrees F and open at any degree over that. I can easily check to see if that is working. Any more thoughts? I really hate for it to be the pcb due to it being $162 for a new one. ugh That's what I get for going digital. hah