It's always good to have spares for these vintage appliances. While it's true that parts can be found or repaired, that doesn't help with the short term inconvenience while waiting.
Very true David. You waste a lot of time finding and ordering a part. And of course, it would be something critical that you would need yesterday.
I suspect the defrost timer was going bad for months. That's the only explanation how it could of developed that amazing amount of ice behind the evaporator fan.
I opened the freezer and it was 36F...there was an odd ticking sound. Refrigerator was 48F. On a hunch, I advanced the defrost timer and the compressor kicked in and it immediately started to cool. It seems it was stuck on the defrost cycle. Temperatures are back to normal now. I can't believe the defrost timer might be failing again....
Are you sure that is the right defrost timer for a hot gas defrost refrigerator? That 330 defrost timer is the common one for an electric defrost refrig. I think that timer has too long of a defrost time, hence the warm temps.
Hello John. The WR9X330 is the correct timer. The refrigerator has been working just fine for the past few weeks. Here is an image of the original defrost timer:
It has been 5 days since the "stuck" incident". The defrost timer is continuing to cycle normally. Freezer temperatures @ #7 vary from below 0F to 4F. Evaporator fan going about it's business normally. Refrigerator section @ #7 varies from 36F to 42F.