WRT5B1EW4 Westinghouse Refrigerator - Instructions

My unit was not defrosting. Defrost heater was not functioning. Defrost heater tested good with a meter. Thermostat (cold) tested bad with a meter. Defrost timer was working properly. I replaced the thermostat but I had to buy red crimp connectors because the blue ones that came with the thermostat are designed for wire bigger than 18 AWG wire. The thermostat leads as well as the wire in my unit were 18 AWG. The crimp was not tight enough for my liking with the blue butt connectors. I also purchased smaller heat shrink tubing. After replacement, the defrost heater started working. I could see it glowing. Unfortunately immediately after getting the heater working the contacts in the defrost timer arced and stuck together thus preventing the timer from exiting defrost mode. The heater went off at this point indicating that the thermostat was now working. I then purchased and replaced the defrost timer and now the fridge is functioning properly. I noticed both replacement parts, even though I looked up my fridge model, were different part numbers than the originals. I'm guessing the new parts are improved? I also noticed the timer was an 8/30 rather than a 10/30 like the original. The fridge is working better than when it was new so evidently defrosting every 8 as opposed to every 10 hours is better for my unit.

Long story short:

Buy the correct crimp/butt connectors before beginning replacement of the thermostat and proactively replace the defrost timer since it is rather inexpensive.

I followed the instructions in the video associated with the part that I ordered. The video was perfect and described everything I needed to do clearly. Repair is 100% successful!

just followed the instructions from part select website - everyone is a repair man with the easy to follow and attention to detail the videos provided - time will tell I replaced the defrost timer and thermostat at the same time - the refrigerated was running a lot and the freezer was icing up on the back right of the freezer compartment mostly - " it has been doing this since the day we bought it from sears - we had a repair man over more than once but still had the same problem and had to max out the controls to keep things close to were they were suppose to be temperature wise. we also purchased a few extended warranties The freezer was running around 15 degrees and running all the time. The heating element checked out at 35 ohms so it must be ok. Will let you know in a few days. One serviceman even tried to say it was frosting up because we didn't have ac lol

remove food, then the shelf, then use a hot air gun to defrost and loosen the back panel, then remove the panel, then defrost the coil and thermostat area. using wire tools, replaced the defrost thermostat,and re-assembled freezwr and test

I hesitate to say anything since I did exactly what their video told me to do, and it fixed the problem. Couldn't be happier. Was positive I was looking at 1000$ for a new fridge. Love being able to fix it by installing 15$ part myself. Thanks guys.

The freezer was still making ice, but the fridge portion was barely cooler than room temp. I came to the website and saw that the defrost thermostat cured this problem over half the time. I was quite dubious because I don't see how that would affect the non-freezer part of the compartment, but since it was a cheap and easy-looking repair, I figured what the heck, lets see if that's it. Sure enough, it's like new again. I still don't understand it, but I'll take it. The repair itself is simple, just cutting out the old switch and splicing in the new. Two wires, and clip it to the copper tubing where the old one was. The switch is accessed easily after taking out four screws in the back of the freezer compartment. The only hard part was removing the ice-maker, and that's just because the two screws that hold it in are a little hard to get a good grip on. Alas, you have to get the ice-maker out to pull out the back panel, so there's nothing for it but to wheedle those screws out.

I check why not defrost, y test element and tha problem is defrost timer, i ordered and change, that is it. Your intructions that is very nice.Thanks Ben

I watched the step-by-step installation video and followed the instructions therein.

My husband watched the video on your website and found it very easy to do the repair. The repair company that diagnosed the problem wanted $210 to do it. The part I ordered was under $20, and after he installed it the refrigerator has been working great. We would highly recommend your site to anyone who needs to fix anything!

bottom left cornerof fridge defrost timer replaced two bolts and a wire

first I replaced the timer control hoping thats the problem,unfortunately situation the same ice build up on the freezer.so I replaced the defrost thermostat.right now I'll still observing the condition if still the same.may be in couple days.so far its good.and to replace the parts is not difficult and easy.

I literally just watched the video while I was repairing it at home. This is coming from a very girly girl who was desperate because she did not want to spend money on a new fridge while risking everything to fix it. If I can fix it...anybody can do it! I didn't even use the fancy melting machine, I used regular old wire tape and it is as good as new!

I watched the video you had on-line and it was simple. Thank you so much

When my side by side Kenmore refrigerator quit keeping the top half of my freezer and refrigerator cold I called Sears to see how much it would cost to get it checked out and fixed. Bottom line it was going to cost minimum $65 (which was just for him to come out) to $250 on up depending on what the problem was. So i decided to "do it myself"! I took it apart and within a few minutes figured out that it was my evaporator fan. So I went to sears to order the part based on the part number and with shipping and handling it was going to cost $125. While at sears I got on one of their computers and quickly looked up Kenmore parts and partselect.com came up and I quickly found the part for $62 and I chose overnight delivery and spent a total of like $83. When my part arrived I realized that the wiring/plug ins didn't quite match up. So I got online and went to their website and found a video for "do it yourself'ers" like me on how to splice the wiring to make it match. It took me about 20 min to splice the wire and put my refrigerator back together and IT WORKED! Easy easy easy and I saved moocho bucks! Ill never pay a repairman again. Oh and by the way, I am blond! :-)

Removed the lower trim panel from front of fridg. and loosened two screws enough to turn it about 1/4 inch so the screw heads were in the larger holes. Pulled it out disconnected the wire connector and transfered the heat shield and screws to the new clock, connected the wire connector and aligned the screws. tightened them and job done. Has worked like new sense. Thanks Roger