Kenmore Refrigerator not restarting after Manual Defrost

[Dan S.]

Hi. I have a 2004 Kenmore (model #25363732304) and the auto-defrost has been dead for years, so I've been manually defrosting once a month since (at least) '08, probably before.

Last year (February), I was away for several weeks, disconnected the refrigerator and voila! Problem solved. (I guess the ice *completely* melted out of the evaporator/condenser that time.)

Until recently, when I found frost forming on the back panel of the freezer. No problem, one more manual defrost…but now it won't restart. What did I do wrong, that I didn't do all those times before? (I'm out of practice, but I can't think of anything I did differently.)

How do I get the fridge to restart? Thanks in advance.

[Dan O.]

Clarification needed

one more manual defrost…but now it won't restart.

Are neither the compressor nor fan(s) running?? (They should run together)

If so, both being stopped could be caused by a problem with the thermostat or the defrost timer (see the following links) or the timer just being in defrost mode. The timer should normally come out of defrost on its own in 30 minutes or less while plugged in.

LINK > Kenmore 253.63732304 Defrost Timer

LINK > Kenmore 253.63732304 Thermostat

You can read how a common defrost system works on a refrigerator at the following link.

LINK > How does a frost free refrigerator's defrost system work?


If either the compressor or the fan(s) DO operate but not it the other, different causes would be responsible.

JFYI

Dan O.
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