R22CW10 Frigidaire Freezer - Instructions

We opened our freezer last week only to find the bottom 2/3 was barely cold, while only the rear of the upper shelf was cold. In fact, it was covered in frost, despite being a frost-free model. Our frozen veggies were slushy, not rock hard, and our frozen juices were all liquid. We defrosted the freezer, plugged it back in, but immediately noticed that we didn't hear the 'whhoooooosh' that you typically hear when you close the freezer door. After 30 minutes, the rear upper shelf was frosty again, but the rest was still at room temp. We figured the freezer was a goner, so we started looking at new freezers. I headed online to see if I could fix it, and I eventually found this site. I had learned online that these symptoms can be caused by either a bad capacitor, or a bad controller (which the capacitor plugs in to). I guess you can't necessarily tell which of the two parts is defective, so I chose to order/replace both of them. I ordered the correct parts from partselect.com, and they alerted me that Frigidaire has a new replacement part for the capacitor. When the parts arrived (quickly, ftw!), I unplugged the freezer and snipped the two wires leading to the controller. Next I unplugged the controller from the compressor housing. I spliced the replacement controller's wires into the freezer's wires (using my own wire nuts...as none were included with my order :( ). I snapped the new controller onto the compressor mounting, and then plugged the capacitor in. I plugged the freezer back in, and it was time for the moment of truth. The interior light of the freezer came on, and I could hear the compressor 'humming'. I could hear it humming before the repair, so the big test was to see if it got cold. I was nervous because the freezer DIDN'T make the 'whoooshing' noise right away, but after just an hour, the 'test' mug of water was already turning into ice. It was fixed!!!! If you have these symptoms, you CAN do this!!! Unplug the freezer. Cut two wires. Unplug the controller. Splice two wires. Plug in the new controller. Snap in the new capacitor. DONE!!!

After silencing the alarm, it seemed to be running as normal without any unusual noises, but food was starting to thaw from the top shelf on down and condensation was dripping from the roof. We were able to place most of the food in 2 large ice chests and then the rest in the freezer compartments of 2 fridges we have in the house. I then turned down the temp dial to the coldest setting and let it run for an hour or so; no change.

After researching on the internet, it sounded like our symptoms could be pointing to a defrost timer issue. I pulled the freezer away from the wall, located the timer and used a large screwdriver to slowly advance it. While doing this, at one point I could hear the compressor kick in. I pushed the quick freeze button and let it run for a while. When I checked it in a few hours, the alarm light had gone out and water that I had placed inside was frozen. We took a chance and put the food we placed in the ice chests back in the freezer. Everything was fine several hours later.

I ordered a new defrost timer, it arrived in a couple of days, and replaced the old one with it in a matter of minutes by disconnecting the wire harness from the old timer, removing the 2 screws holding it onto the bracket, screwing the new timer to the bracket, reconnecting the wires harness, and done. It's been a week or so and no problems.

Pulled the fridge from encloser, removed rear cardboard cover and found compressor in rear. The compressor, being very accessable, was easy to find the bad starter/capacitor. I removed the spring retainer, pulled the capacitor off the starter, removed the starter by pulling outward and replaced with new. All went well when the unit started and cooled as new. Some noise at times, but traced to icemaker. As time went by, that noise was gone.

remove the rear cover, and simply pull off harness and replace starter.

slid freezer away from wall - - bottom left hand corner was the frost timer - - removed two philip head screws - - unpluged timer and installed new timer - - turned timer past first click to a little past second click (freeze cycle) - - slid freezer back FINISHED - - YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST WITH YOUR WEB PAGE AND HELP!!!!! Next day freezer was at 0

Bought a new
capacitor.

Watched the defrost timer to see that it wasnt moving, looked the part number up on your site and it even had a picture of it so I knew I was getting what I needed, ordered it when it came I took out the screws holding it in place unplugged old one and plugged in the new one, freezer works like new... :))

One day my freezer's overtemp light/warning came on. I knew the compressor was working properly (as it was still running) and that there were no leaks.

I was able to research about how this freezer worked and learned of this mechanical timer on the back of the freezer. It turns on/off the defrost mode of the freezer.

I manually turned the knob on the back to see if I could get the freezer to defrost. Turns out the timer was no longer working and when I manually ran the defrost, the freezer started to freeze again.

I just replaced this part and my freezer is working like norma.. Simple as all it takes is a few screws and you are done.

This was a simple job. Raised the flap in the back that houses the compressor, removed the wire that holds the relay, pulled out the old relay and pushed the new one on. Replaced wire holder and that was it. Plugged it frig and freezer is at zero and lower compartment at 35. As easy as brushing your teeth!

1. Turned off and unplugged the refrigerator.
2. Removed the lower back panel inside the freezer with a screwdriver.
3. Unplugged the thermostat. (No tool is needed)
4. Ordered a new thermostat from PartSelect and it arrived in 2 business days.
5. Plugged in the new thermostat..
6. Put the lower back panel inside the freezer with screwdriver.
7. Plugged in the Refrigerator and turned the power back on.
8. It is working again!!!

I knew that the problem had to do with the timer so I went online and looked at the schematic diagrams on Partselect and identified the part that should handle the problem. I ordered it and it arrived fairly quickly. It took a Phillips screw driver and about fifteen minutes to remove the old part and replace it with the new one. Very easy repair. It is working as it should now.

I located the part that was the culprit as it had buzzed very much before quitting. This is an easy removal as the part is in a two prong jack and just needs to be carefully removed with the new part inserted back in the jack provided. The refrigerator works fine now, but the run capacitor will still buzz on start up of the compressor. I do hope this is normal in this model? anyway it runs fine mow. Thank you.

Super easy. That was super cool and saved me $500.00.

The retaining wire keeping the starter in place was first removed then the starter was easily removed. Pulling the old wire off was a little difficult because I had to pull harder than I expected. Getting the wire back on was probably the hardest part. I had to compress one part of the plug so I could get it to fit back on then it was simply a matter of placing the starter back in position and replacing the wire that holds it snugly in place. 20 minutes or so start to finish and new starter works well.

Looking on-line at your diagnostic for this problem, I saw the most common part to cause this problem was the start capacitor, so I purchased one & installed it with no positive outcome. I then purchased the next recommended part which was a defrost timer & installed it with no run again. Frustrated, I looked at another diagnostic web site that claimed 90% of the time the problem is caused by the cold control thermostat. I tested mine and it tested bad, so I bought a control elsewhere, since your site did not list a PN for that device. I installed the new control and the freezer started up correctly. Looking at the wiring diagram for these parts, I see the start capacitor and defrost control are downstream of the cold control thermostat, and to my mind should have been the first part recommended for testing versus the parts I bought, so I am somewhat disappointed in the diagnostics on your site, where I spent about $80 for parts that were functional.