New Kitchenaid Fridge with huge fluctuations in temperature and humidity

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
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1

Brand: KitchenAid
Model Number: KRSC703HPS
Main Symptom: Huge fluctuations in temperature with doors kept closed.
What happens & when:

Error Code (if any): None
Parts or tests already tried: Brand new fridge
Photos / video link:

This is going to be a question about the normal behavior of a KitchenAid side by side refrigerator and its ability to hold its setpoint temperature. Model is KRSC703HPS. it was installed 6 days ago. Freezer set to 0, fridge set to 36. I placed a good Wi-Fi thermometer in there that sends data to my phone app every 10 minutes. What I am seeing is NOT something I would have expected to happen. Keep in mind this is with the doors kept shut for 3 days.

There is a definite pattern here of “spikes” (dip way down followed by a rise; repeating every 1.5-2 hours). However, there seems to be some dips followed by a rising temperature over a 4-hour period! See the attached. Notice what happens at 3:10 am, marked in RED. See there is no cooling again until 7:30am. That seems crazy for the compressor to be off for 4 hours, doesn’t it? Also, these dips in temperature are accompanied by a dramatic dip and rise in humidity also shown in the attached. Could this 4-hour period of no cooling be the defrost cycle?

I just want to know if this is normal and working as designed, but I have yet to find anything that confirms that. Doesn’t seem normal to me.

fridge-cooling
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Tim,

Based on the readings that you are getting, this would be normal operation and the unit is in the defrost cycle at the time that it goes up to 42 degress.
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OK so let me make real sure I understand. You are saying that the sudden dip in temperature followed by a slow rise every 1.5 to 2 hours is normal, and then the slow rise (no cooling) over a 4 hour period is also normal for a defrost cycle? When I google how long a typical defrost cycle lasts it says 20 min to 1 hour! I guess you can’t have too many 4 hour defrost cycles in one day. This seems very long.

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So with the defrost, the fact that it is a slow increase in temperature, over this period of time will be correct. The doors are not being opened so it will be correct. It is really not in the defrost for 4 hours, just appears to be.

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So, here I am. I did the probe test in a glass of water and the temp still fluctuated significanlty. There were times when it got to 43 degrees and stayed there for a while. I can set the fridge at 34, 35, 36, or 37 and it makes no difference. Setting the temp on the fridge lower you would think makes it colder.

Kitchenaid can’t be this horrible. Discussions about air temperature, thermal mass, liquid temperature, is not making sense, and here is why. With the thermostat in the Kitchenaid fridge, the temperature fluctuation has a distinct, and concerning, pattern (every 1.5 hours down to 32 degrees or so and then goes up to 43 degrees, then repeats the cycle). Also, even more concerning is a 4 hour period each day where there is NO cooling at all. The temperature goes to well into the 40’s and stay there for over 3 hours and the humidity is over 60. That stinks IMO

So, I put the thermostat sensor in my 15 yr old Kenmore fridge in the garage, and as I expected it maintained a temp of 36 degrees and 25% humidity the entire time for 24 hours. See the attached. The dramatic change in the graph at 12:00 is when I moved the sensor to the old fridge. You can see around 12 when I moved the sensor to the old fridge and how the line stabilizes.

So, guys what gives. Is there something wrong with this fridge, or is this just the new strange cooling strategy? Are all fridges this way now? How would I know? If I send this thing back and get a GE, will the GE do the same thing? Bottom line is that the FDA says food should not be above 40 for more than 2 hours. This Kitchenaid keeps the food well above 40 multiple times per day, and once per day it is above 40 for nearly 3 hours.

I am very frustrated that I cannot find anyone that confirms this is by design. I also read that the invertor compressor is suppose to keep temps stable. If this fridge has one of those, it is not working.

See the attached. These two refrigerators have very different cooling strategies. One of them seems dangerous, per the FDA. The other one (the older one), seems to be working like it should. Are all new residential refrigerators cooling now like this new one? There is a definitive answer to this, but I can’t seem to find anyone who will provide it.

fridge-cooling1
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6

KitchenAid is no help and the service tech they sent out is no help. Blindly just starting to replace parts and guessing at the issue doesn’t not seem like a good plan to me.
So, let’s troubleshoot this a bit with the data I have. Every 1.5 hours the temp dips way down taking about 30 min. to reach 30 degrees. Then immediately it starts a climb to mid 40s over the next hour, then it dips down again starting the cycle over. This is the normal cycle. Side note, if you open the door for about 15 seconds, it really screws up the cycle.

During the rise in temperature, there is also a rise in humidity. This thing averages >65% humidity and often reaches 80% for no reason. That can’t be good/safe!

Is that rise in humidity telling us something? Now I am going to get out of my area of expertise here, but humidity is moisture in the air. I was told, and I don’t know if this is true, that this KitchenAid fridge has dual evaporators and fans, but they only put a heater on the freezer side.

So, my troubleshooting question is this. Is something freezing up during each one of these cycles, and then the thawing out is putting all this moisture in the air accounting for the dramatic rise in humidity? I don’t see any condensation building up, but the fridge spending a lot of its time in 70 to 80% humidity is not right and it should be telling us something, right?

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Hi Tim,

I’m another consumer with the same model KRSC703HPS purchased in June 2025. I have exactly the same experience and concern you have. I expected this fridge, with its variable speed compressor and separate evaporators for freezer and fridge, to maintain a much more stable temperature. Like you, I also have an older, cheap, garage fridge that hold its temp more consistently than this Kitchenaid. Have you learned anything new since your last post in Sep 2025? Besides the fridge temp, I’ve also tracked the freezer. Freezer temp is set for -3 but it fluctuates between -3 and +10 (avg temp is about +2F), not including defrost cycles.