[bagadonitz]

I have a 5.5 year old Kitchen Aid kbfa25erbl01.

Overnight it has stopped working.

The fridge and the trays contained no water.

The condenser coil on the bottom was severely clogged with dust. Now spotless with compressed air and vacuuming.

The evaporator coil is not iced up. There is zero frost building up on it when the fridge is run. None of the lines coming from the compressor or going into or coming out of the evaporator are particularly cold, even after a few hours running.

The condensor fan is running. The tube coming from the evaporator tray down into the condensor tray doesn't appear to be plugged.

The compressor runs very quietly and smoothly but I can tell it is definitely on. There is 120 volts going to the starter relay when the fridge is on. It is warm to the touch but I wouldn't describe it as being hot either but then I don't have any sense of what the baseline feels like either.

With the starter relay removed there is no continuity between any of the three prongs for the relay and the ground or freshly scratched paint of the compressor.

The pins on this have one on top, two on bottom.
Between the two bottom pins, 9.2 ohms.
Between the top and the left pin, 4.2 ohms.
Between the top and the right pin, 5.1 ohms.

Based on that it seems the compressor is fine.

Based on the fact that it starts the compressor it seems the relay is fine.

What is the most likely issue here? Is it possible that there is something wrong with the compressor or relay or is this a refrigerant issue?

If it is a refrigerant issue, what can I expect it is going to cost to have that resolved?

If it is a faulty compressor and not a refrigerant issue, am I better off cutting my losses and purchasing new? Parts seem to be expensive and a compressor replacement doesn't seem like a DIY job.

Thank you for your time.

[ApplianceJunk]

Sounds like the refrigerant has leaked out or a faulty compressor.

Neither one is a DIY type of job and my not be worth the cost of repair.

[J fenner]

I had the same problem with my side by side, to make sure it wasnt a compressor issue I went to M A r c o n E and picked up a $3.00 piercing valve, put it on the charge port, vacuumed it down and gradually charged it to a 5# running charge on the 134a scale getting below 0 temps in the freezer and 40* and lower in the refer side, I am having defrost issues and have to tackle that but need to empty the fridge of groceries first. Keeping the rugrats from standing at the open doors helps.