Ok- I have been trying to diagnose and repair my Magic Chef 480w which has a different timer than the 1010w.
I ordered a timer for the 480w and of course got the timer for the 1010w.
If I use it, I can make it work by cutting the plug off and crimping individual connectors onto the wires. I will have to go to the harness and find the white wire which should be common power for both the heating and cooling cycles these terminals are reversed (2 and 4) on the different timers.
I have read that you can just hook up the wires to match the original numbered tabs but for these two timers this does not seem correct.
After checking the new timer I'm now thinking my original timer is OK.
After doing more reading- There seems to be another possibility.
I find that Terminals 1 and 3 on both timers are open. I read that for some timer models these would supply power for the timer motor itself. Since there is no continuity between 1 and 3 on either of these magic chef timers in any position, the power for the timer motor could be supplied by all the peripheral components- The coil thermostat and the heater elements (if working, they complete a power circuit to the timer motor). If either of these are not working (open) there would be no power supply to the timer motor and it will stop rotating when it switches onto the faulty component. This seems to make sense since I have 6 or 7 wires going into the 4 terminal harness. So if the compressor runs and the timer roates for one cycle then stops, I'm deducing the thermostat or heating element need replacement. Use a multi meter in the timer plug- Unplug the refrigerator first.
The heater should show continuance (closed circuit) all the time. The thermostat should show continuance (closed) at 30 degrees F. There are some how to test these components examples on the internet. I'm on my way to check these now.
I have not been able to locate an electrical schematic for this refrigerator.
still looking............MCBR480W
