9A02C Admiral Refrigerator - Instructions

The video of the repair is a helpful guide, but my refrigerator has the compressor very close to the condenser fan motor. With the compressor comes the copper tubing that is all in the way. I had to carefully bend them now and then to allow me to get my hands in position. The how to is easy, but the working with tools in cramped quarters was difficult. I think my Maytag side by side model makes for this job to be difficult, maybe yours may not be so bad. I took a couple of hours to complete. After the first hour, I covered the bare wires, and plugged the frig back in so it could do some cooling. I placed a small in front on the condenser to blow across it. Had a little break, then finished the job.

First, watched video on Part Select Website. Very good. Pulled Appliance out from wall, Pulled the power plug, and removed the back shield covering the working parts of the unit. Found the fan and it was almost the same setup as on the video except that I could not get to one of the screws holding the motor in place so had to remove the entire bracket with the fan. Not too hard. Cleaned away dust and gunk around the site and noticed that the fan pulled air through a tunnel-like condenser coil that was packed with gunky lint...this is what probably killed the motor. I cleaned out the tunnel with the bottle brushes and vacuum and installed the new motor / bracket assembly. Then replaced the shielding around the fan and the back cover .panel. This is important because these form the channel that guides air flow throughout the condenser coils. This particular refrigerator has a barrier underneath which guides air flow from the front left to the condenser, through the fan, over the evaporator drip pan and out the right front. I cleaned all the lint and gunk from this area as well. I also made an air filter (cut from a furnace filter) and wedged it in front of the air entry section. This should keep the condenser coil cleaner over time but you have to remember to change the filter once a year. Probably should clean the condenser coil every 5 years as well. This unit has been very reliable over 20 years and may well go for another 20. Good luck with your repair.

Removed the old fan; cut the wire and spliced in the new fan and reassembled. A little over one hour. Refrig is working perfectly now with lower settings. It is definitely off much more than on now.

just had to remove the fan motor the hard thing is getting down to it

I folded in half twice! and took the back off the fridge(cardboard) and took one brace off and just took the screws off the fan from the other two braces. Turned the fan enough to get at the wires for the fan and cut them off an inch from the old fan, stripped the insulation and wire nutted them to new fan. Make sure they don't interfere with the new fan and put the new fan in place put the screws in and we're making ice and cold fridge again.

Researched this problem on the web. Disassembled the main refrigeration unit (slide out freezer floor panel). The cooling coils were completely iced up. Thawed overnight. Tested the coil thermostat with a multimeter and discovered it worked. Note that the activation temp on this thermostat is 15 degrees Fahrenheit so the ice-water bath test on many web videos will NOT work. My test was in another refrigerator freezer compartment (everyone has two, right?). When the temperature went below 15 and stayed there for 15 minutes, the thermostat opened the circuit. Further investigation revealed that the defrost heater was burnt and shorted. Replaced the defrost heater only to discover that the defrost timer was also broken. After replacing the defrost timer and testing each component thoroughly, the refrigerator is back in service. Freezer maintains about 8 F and the main refrigerator stays at about 36. The unit cycles off properly and the defrost timer is correctly initiating a defrost cycle. Further, when the defrost heater is cycled on, the thermostat correctly shuts it off once the coils are defrosted. Watch the youtube videos. Find your parts and note their specifications so you can test them properly. And good luck.

Moved fridge out from wall, unplugged power cord. Laid on floor, removed 6 screws from cover. Removed one threaded bolt to allow assembly to slide out. Removed special nut, and took fan off. Removed 3 motor mounting bolts. Unscrewed 2 wire nuts, and untwisted wires. (option 1, no ground) Vacuumed entire area around motor. Used 3 bolts to mount motor to holder assembly, and special nut to install fan. Stripped wires back about 3/4 inch. Twisted two wires together CW, and installed new wire nuts. Slid motor assembly back into slot,(keep wires away from blades) and used one threaded bolt to secure assembly. Reinstalled cover plate with 6 screws. Plugged power cord in to test air flow (out through cover vents). Moved fridge back into place. The loud whirring noise did not stop for a day; then quiet!

It wasn't quite as easy to get to the bolts as the video showed. The lay out of the part wasn't exactly like the video either. However, I managed to put the new part in. Unfortunately, it didn't solve the problem. At first the fridge cycled on and off but after 12 hrs it started to freeze liquids again. Since the appliance was 17 years old we opted to just get a new one.

The old light fixture and socket were easily removed. This was done with the power connected, but I already knew the switch didn't need to be handled. The solderless connectors are all insulated, so I just had to be careful. The new socket would not accept the connector for the "hot" (red) wire in the fridge, due to a design change. This is, of course, why you furnished a loose 3/16 inch crimpon connector. Rather than cutting the red wire (remember, the power is still connected), I obtained an insulated 3/16 connector of the opposite gender, and a short piece of red-insulated wire from an old fluorescent tube ballast, and made a jumper. The connector I provided (male) did not fit tightly in the original fridge connector, so I put a layer of resin-core solder on my male connector. You need tight connections. If the solder layer is too thick, it's easy to file down. Make sure to heat the solder sufficiently that the solidified solder is shiny and not dull gray. I used a 100-watt gun. 20 watts would probably work too. DO NOT USE ACID-CORE SOLDER OR FLUX ON ELECTRICAL WORK! I knew the switch was good, because I had checked for voltage at the socket terminals using my voltmeter, before I ordered the socket. It read 120 volts every time the door switch was open, and zero volts every time the door switch was pushed closed. A simple voltage tester would work here, too. Be very careful if you do this test or this repair with the power connected to the fridge; there is considerable potential to find yourself touching 120 volts with one hand while your other hand is touching a perfect "ground". There doesn't seem to be any choice if you want to test the switch. You do have a choice with the socket replacement - - the jumper described above. If you're not going to use the jumper approach, cut the power! If you are going to make a jumper and are not comfortable working on a "live" circuit, cut the power.

The kit I recieved was perfect. All parts fit and where a perfect match. I will give you an A+ in handling my order and shocked by speed of your delivery.

I tried to remove the old light switch using a putty knife and a hammer. It was hard to compress the plastic tabs to pull it back through the hole, but all of a sudden, the lights came on. I guess banging on the switch freed-up the contacts. The new switch is now a spare part in case I need it.

My husband put in in, no problem and all is well. My husband is a mechanic for large machinery/motors so installation was no problem. Thanks, better than buying a new fridge!!!

I watched the video and thought "I can do this". Made some notes and then proceeded to remove the old switch and replace with the new one. Thank you.

Received the part the day after ordering. Appreciated the quick service and repair took less than a minute.

Well the repair was not bad the package came in real fast thank you very much. Doing the work was real hard took about an hour to do and then putting it on I do not think it stayed on good still using some duck tape to hold it and the top and bottom are real fat and will not sink on in. I do not know what to do or what I did wrong. I am kind of afraid to take it off because it might rip. Some of it ripped as I was putting it on too. Do you have any ideas of what I can do or what might be my problem? Thanks.

Sincerley,


Dustin Takla