This is a 20-year-old KitchenAid Superba but looks fairly new.
Yesterday I removed the bottom front grille and cleaned out tons of
dirt. (The previous owner probably never did it.) Now I notice: (1)
The door edge no longer feels hot. (2) The fridge seems to almost
constantly run. It's still cold inside, though. (3) The warm air at
where the bottom grille is doesn't feel as warm as before.

Did I accidentally turn off the door edge heater (if any)? Why would
that keep the fridge running non-stop? Thanks.

Correction. The fridge is definitely less than 20 years. There're
multiple previous owners. Not sure which one bought it when.

On Mar 29, 10:39*pm, yong321 wrote:
Correction. The fridge is definitely less than 20 years. There're
multiple previous owners. Not sure which one bought it when.

Sounds like the defrost timer motor has failed and the unit is
somehwere in an unknown state. Can you see the timer motor, it
usually can be seen when the front kickplate is removed? You may have
gotten dirt into the mechanism and it no longer is cycling. In the
normal mode, the heater around the door edge is energized to keep
frost from forming on the door edge, and the compressor runs
normally. When in the defrost mode, the compressor is off, the door
heater is offf, and an internal heater energizes to heat the
accumulated frost. This may take 30 - 45 minutes each 24 hour
period. You need to see the timer motor actually cycling thru the
normal/defrost cycle. Do you have a voltmeter to check things out?
If not, find a handy neighbor with one.

Sounds like the defrost timer motor has failed and the unit is
somehwere in an unknown state. *Can you see the timer motor, it
usually can be seen when the front kickplate is removed? *You may have
gotten dirt into the mechanism and it no longer is cycling. *In the

I took a close look today (after removing front grille). There's
really nothing. Just black, metal coils. I can't imagine possibly
getting more dirt into something.

normal mode, the heater around the door edge is energized to keep
frost from forming on the door edge, and the compressor runs
normally. *When in the defrost mode, the compressor is off, the door
heater is offf, and an internal heater energizes to heat the
accumulated frost. *This may take 30 - 45 minutes each 24 hour
period. *You need to see the timer motor actually cycling thru the
normal/defrost cycle. *Do you have a voltmeter to check things out?
If not, find a handy neighbor with one.

What you describe makes good sense. But I can't find the defrost
timer. The model is KSCS25INWH00. So I searched on Google. Can't find
it online. Thanks for help.

On 3/29/2012 11:19 PM, yong321 wrote:
This is a 20-year-old KitchenAid Superba but looks fairly new.
Yesterday I removed the bottom front grille and cleaned out tons of
dirt. (The previous owner probably never did it.) Now I notice: (1)
The door edge no longer feels hot. (2) The fridge seems to almost
constantly run. It's still cold inside, though. (3) The warm air at
where the bottom grille is doesn't feel as warm as before.

Running 'almost' continuously: Most newer fridges run a lot. I used to
have an older KA built in and it was a noted event in our house when it
was completely quiet. Has this changed from the way it was before
cleaning? Also, the air feels cooler because there is more air flow, so
it doesn't have time to get as hot.

Did I accidentally turn off the door edge heater (if any)? Why would
that keep the fridge running non-stop? Thanks.

Thanks Art (and Bob in msg #3). An A/C guy came in to check my A/C. I
asked him to look at the fridge even though he says he doesn't know
too much about it. We find that the noise is not always from the
compressor. Sometimes it's just the fan. I know other refrigerators
are loud when the compressor runs. Mine is almost as quiet as when
only the fan is running. Besides, the freezer is not icing up and both
sides (freezer and fridge) can keep the temperature at what I set to.
So there's nothing wrong. Just my wrong perception. Sorry about that.

On 4/4/2012 1:36 PM, yong321 wrote:
Thanks Art (and Bob in msg #3). An A/C guy came in to check my A/C. I
asked him to look at the fridge even though he says he doesn't know
too much about it. We find that the noise is not always from the
compressor. Sometimes it's just the fan. I know other refrigerators
are loud when the compressor runs. Mine is almost as quiet as when
only the fan is running. Besides, the freezer is not icing up and both
sides (freezer and fridge) can keep the temperature at what I set to.
So there's nothing wrong. Just my wrong perception. Sorry about that.
Yes, I have that same problem. Sometimes I don't specifically listen or
watch something until something else makes me do so. And then I wonder.
BTW, my 3 year old side by side Whirlpool does many strange things. I
hear the compressor shut off and the fan continues for some time. And
then it may shut off, or not, etc. Weird. And the ice maker is a whole
new subject .... really strange clicks and clunks that don't seem to
make any sense. The other night (it's in the kitchen near a bedroom
door) I'm sure I heard it filling and as it was filling, it dumped ice!
I expected to see a frozen, non cube water chunk in the bin, but no,
it was ok. That's not to say that the ice maker itself is ok. It has
many designed in problems.