Fridge keeps running ?

[2tone]

Hey there ..

We have this Domestic fridge . It is a dual hinged Sharp Fresco and the freezer compartment below pulls out as a drawer . Its a great unit .

Thing is its staying on all the time now and not cycling into defrost mode at all . This means the unit gets real cold and the temp of the fridge unit gets quite low (near freezing) and then after 7 days or so days the cooling tapers off and the fridge compartment begins to warm up .

Taking the shelving and other stuff off the insides reveals that the radiator grill is well frozen over . We generally pour water over the ice and then the unit goes back to its 100% cooling cycle again .

Looking to replace an electrical part but simply dont yet know which part to replace ..

There is a heater unit below the radiator plates that is never working when we strip the unit to manually defrost the ice , but it looks in excellent condition .

Any advice for finding the faulty electrical part ?

Cheers
Cameron
(auckland, nz) .


p.s. there is a suspicious rusty component behind the fridge panel .. photo attached . - could this be the part for replacement ?

[Brian_UK]

Hi Cameron and welcome.

I don't know your particular fridge but yes that rusty bit is a motor that looks like it is deceased.

It may be a motor that should run a fan or similar however it could be a timer of some sort.

Whichever it is a replacement may well cure your problems (we hope anyway).

[tbirdtbird]

This is a classic faulty defrost timer, which is what is in the picture. They will get stuck in either compressor mode or defrost mode. If defrost mode the heating element which triggers the defrost is on constantly and the compressor never. So you have a warm box.
If compressor mode (your situation), the compressor runs and runs and everything gets really cold until there is so much ice build up (this greatly hinders efficiency) that the box starts to warm up. Usually the defrost circuit is on for about 20-30 min either once or twice a day.
Just replace the timer (get the right one), done!!! Many a new fridge has been sold to a customer by unscrupulous retailers when this happens. The compressor in a domestic unit will last for many many years.