Kenmore Fridge sorta cool, freezer very cold.

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

Hi to all,

This Kenmore branded top-freezer fridge (79569972902) is (I think) made by LG.

A few weeks ago, the refrigerator got warm, but freezer was still cold – I took off the cover that houses the vent between the fridge and freezer and discovered ice had built-up in the opening – I emptied it completely and shut it down for a whole day, letting it defrost and dry out – and then powered it back up. It seemed to work normally for a while, except that the freezer seemed MUCH colder than before – now the refrigerator is getting a bit warm again (sometimes up as high as 50 deg F) while the freezer is still very cold, and it seems like the same problem may be happening again (ice blocking the vents). The coils on this fridge are not exposed in the back, there’s a solid metal cover, so I’m not quite sure how to examine them without taking the entire back of the fridge off.

It does seem to make sense that it’s the defrost system that’s malfunctioning, though one observation is that there’s a fan that runs in the freezer compartment, which (normally) stops when either door is open. This fan is (sometimes) stopping and starting every few seconds, when both doors are closed. It seems like I can get it to run continuously (like I think it’s supposed to when the fridge compartment needs to be cooled) by fiddling with the door switch, but it’s hard to tell if that’s real or if the phenomenon is just random. Is it possible that the issue is being caused by a faulty door switch? Would it make sense to just replace that, or should I just do a complete diagnostic on the defrost system?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

2

Uh-oh, it’s getting worse. The refrigerator is really warm now, and I notice that the freezer has a thick layer of ice at the bottom – so it seems that the freezer is going through dramatic temperature swings, or water is condensing in there somehow… Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

3

I’ve just re-read the “standard blurb” for this problem for like the fourth time – and it finally makes total sense to me (I guess I’m a bit dense at times) that my issue is most likely a defrost system problem – I’m gonna pull the thing apart tomorrow :slight_smile: Will update with results.