Brand: KitchenAid
Model Number: KTRP19KRWH00
Main Symptom: Irregular compressor cycles
What happens & when:
Error Code (if any):
Parts or tests already tried:
Photos / video link:
20 year old fridge: I’m still seeing irregular compressor cycles (varying run times, off times, see the attached picture), as commanded by its mechanical thermostat.. The compressor is not overheating.
My fridge has an Air Tower, Air Diffuser, Damper, Air Separator. I suspect one of these things is aged and confusing the sensing bulb. Thermostat (and bulb) was replaced last month.
My understanding is that the damper assembly feeds cool air from the freezer to the sensing bulb, which is biased to the fridge compartment’s temperature, considered a constant from a temperature control point of view, at least for a compressor cycle timeframe. I believe the sensing bulb then uses that freezer cool-air contribution from the damper assembly to establish a regular compressor duty cycle. I suspect there could be undesirable parasitic thermal paths in the above parts due to age/wear. Any small modifications inside the control box seem to impact the duty cycle of the compressor.
I was wondering if anyone had a link to a fridge thermodynamics article in general that could help me apply the appropriate corrective action to eliminate this irregular cycling.
Any comments appreciated.
