My 15 year old Kitchen Aid refrigerator
slowly stopped. This unit has been
trouble from day one. In 2000 it was a
new compressor, twice .... the 1st new
one quit after a week or 2. Anyway, it
has been ok until last week. I first
noticed the refrigerator side was not
cooling enough .... then I noticed the
ice cream in the freezer was a little
softer than usual. And finally, the ice
cubes started getting clearer. The 1st
observation was that there was no air
flow from the freezer side to the frig
..... none! However, I did clean the
condenser coils because, from past
experience, this thing will slow down
with only a minor amount of dirt on the
coils. Anyway, the whole thing
eventually got warm, so it was shut off
and the food transferred to the other
freezer, neighbor's frig and to the RV
frig,which happened to be on the
driveway instead of the paid-for storage
place.

The authorized KA service came out today
and said, "oh, you should have left it
on!" I shut it off because I didn't
want to be blamed for "breaking" it.
So, he said it would be $1500 to put in
a new compressor and evaporator. BTW,
we priced new built-ins for about
$4K-5K. Anyway, I turned it on and low
and behold, there is now airflow to the
fridge. I left it run since this
morning and it is now working, fridge at
39 degrees and freezer at 5 degrees.
Anyone have any ideas of what could have
happened? I would think that maybe the
cool air fan might have stopped,
however, in the freezer, it seemed to be
moving air. Keep in mind, the freezer
eventually didn't work either. So, I'm
baffled!

Art Todesco wrote:

My 15 year old Kitchen Aid refrigerator slowly stopped. This unit has
been trouble from day one. In 2000 it was a new compressor, twice
.... the 1st new one quit after a week or 2. Anyway, it has been ok
until last week. I first noticed the refrigerator side was not
cooling enough .... then I noticed the ice cream in the freezer was a
little softer than usual. And finally, the ice cubes started getting
clearer. The 1st observation was that there was no air flow from the
freezer side to the frig .... none! However, I did clean the
condenser coils because, from past experience, this thing will slow
down with only a minor amount of dirt on the coils. Anyway, the whole
thing eventually got warm, so it was shut off and the food transferred
to the other freezer, neighbor's frig and to the RV frig,which
happened to be on the driveway instead of the paid-for storage place.

The authorized KA service came out today and said, "oh, you should
have left it on!" I shut it off because I didn't want to be blamed
for "breaking" it. So, he said it would be $1500 to put in a new
compressor and evaporator. [Forget him!] BTW, we priced new built-ins
for about $4K-5K. Anyway, I turned it on and low and behold, there is
now airflow to the fridge. I left it run since this morning and it is
now working, fridge at 39 degrees and freezer at 5 degrees. Anyone
have any ideas of what could have happened? I would think that maybe
the cool air fan might have stopped, however, in the freezer, it
seemed to be moving air. Keep in mind, the freezer eventually didn't
work either. So, I'm baffled!

Barely read your post, but it sounds like the evaporator/freezer coil
iced up blocking the airflow,
When you left it unplugged it thawed the ice and therefore it worked
worked again.

Check to see if the evaporator fan is blowing by holding door button in
while frig is running.
Defrost timer could be bad, etc. Find the problem or it will eventually
ice up again. - udarrell

--
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