We had a lot of lighting strikes and power surges a couple of weeks ago and since then our Maytag side by side has been playing up.

First I discovered that the freezer was not getting cold, but had frost built up all over the back of the unit. I took the back off and discovered the coils were a solid block of ice.

I manually defrosted the coils and advanced the defrost timer to check its operation. The defrost timer did not shut off the condensor and the fridge continued to run in cooling mode.

I bought a replacement timer and plugged it in. I tested its operation by advancing to the next setting, this resulted in the condensor shutting off, however the heating coils did not get hot.

I tested the defrost thermostat which showed a resistance of 0.00 and checked for continuity along the coils. The bottom one was not passing current so I ordered a replacement set.

I installed the replacement set and checked the operation, again the coils did not get hot. I rechecked the timer and thermostat and both showed correct operation. I then checked the new coils and the bottom one was not passing current. I then visually inspected both sets of coils, and both the old and new coil set had broken apart in exactly the same place on the bottom coil.

Is this just bad luck or is there a problem elsewhere (too much current reaching the heaters?). What should I check next?

Many thanks,
Tom