The ticket read: a Maytag refrigerator in north Edmonton stops cooling, and the customer can see ice building up inside. A reasonable guess at that point is a failed compressor or a refrigerant problem — the expensive end of refrigeration repair. What TechVill technician Kim found was neither.
What the customer reported
Ice accumulation and a fridge that gradually stops holding temperature. That pairing is a recognizable signature. A refrigerator’s evaporator coil frosts up in normal operation, and several times a day the control board interrupts cooling to run a defrost cycle that melts the frost off. When defrost stops happening, frost never leaves — it compounds with every cooling cycle until it physically blocks the airflow that carries cold air into the compartments. The fridge is still making cold; the cold just can’t get anywhere.
What the diagnostic showed
Kim ran a full diagnostic on the Maytag ABB1924DEB and confirmed exactly that: the defrost function on the control board is non-functional — the unit will not enter a defrost cycle. The root cause is electronic, not mechanical: the main electronic control board needs replacement.
The same diagnostic surfaced a second, unrelated fault: the air damper — the motorized flap that meters cold air between the freezer and fresh-food sections — was noisy and hesitating as it opened and closed. Rather than fixing the headline complaint and leaving the damper to become next month’s service call, both confirmed faults went into a single quote.
Components quoted for replacement:
- Electronic control board (part #WPW10503278) — runs the compressor, fans, and the defrost timing logic; the failed defrost circuit lives here
- Damper control assembly (part #WP67003903) — regulates airflow between the freezer and refrigerator compartments
Both are Whirlpool Corporation OEM service parts — Maytag has been part of the Whirlpool family since 2006, which is why genuine Maytag replacement parts carry WP-prefix numbering.
Why the unusual instruction: unplug it and wait
Here is the part of this case worth knowing about as a homeowner. Before the repair visit, the customer was asked to unplug the refrigerator for a few days and let the accumulated ice melt completely. That is not a stalling tactic. With the defrost system dead, the evaporator compartment is entombed in ice — and a technician cannot safely access or verify components that are frozen inside a block of it. Melting it out in advance turns the repair visit into a clean board-and-damper swap instead of a chipping expedition, and it gives the customer time to plan alternative food storage rather than being surprised mid-repair.
The quote
The comprehensive two-fault repair was quoted at $691.50 + GST = $726.08 CAD, with the quote held for 30 days and the $169 service call fee credited toward the repair if the customer proceeds within that window — TechVill’s standard structure.
A fridge that “stops cooling with ice buildup” rarely needs the expensive guess. It needs someone to check whether defrost is actually running. Book online to schedule a Maytag refrigerator diagnostic with our team in Edmonton.
