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Kenmore Refrigerator evaporator coils not cooling 253.70722410

todder007

Premium Member
Joined
May 1, 2022
Messages
2
Location
38125
Model Number
253.70722410
Brand
Sears Kenmore
Age
1-5 years
Hello All!
We just moved across the country and brought our Kenmore garage fridge with us. It is fairly new, manufactured in 6/2017. This is a refrigerator that is designed for the garage, so it has no freezer compartment.
We had been using it for a few months and it worked perfectly. We then decided to move it to a different garage wall so we could park the car in there. When I scooted it side to side and back and forth to move it 10 feet, I must have done something to it. It now doesn't get colder than about 50 degrees.

Condenser motor works well. It gets pretty hot, but it seems to be doing its best.
The coolant line coming into the evaporator gets nice and cold, right up to the location of the defrost thermostat. From then on, the evaporator coils are not getting cold. The copper line had ice on it when I opened up the back panel this morning. I unplugged it and let it thaw for several hours and plugged it back in. That section of line got cold and had a nice even coverage of frost. Nothing else got cold. The circulating fan in the back is working great.

Any ideas of why it won't cool down? It is odd to me that the line going into the evaporator is cold, but nothing else. Maybe a pressure leak somewhere?
First photo is the entire coil after unplugged for a couple hours.
Second Photo is a close-up of the thawed incoming coolant line.
Third Photo is the line after being plugged in for 30 minutes. Frosted up nicely, but no cold gets beyond the defrost thermostat.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Todd

Coils1.jpg
Thawed Incoming Line.jpg
30 minutes Plugged in.jpg
 
Hi,

System leak, restriction, inefficient compressor or any combination of these = BIG$ repair.
An appliance tech can access the system to see which it is and what is required to correct your problem.

jeff sr.
 
That would make sense. What is the life expectancy of this type of fridge?
Do you think its worth fixing or should i get a new one for $900 plus tax?
 
We see 8-10 years or so as an average life span.

Evaporator, heat exchanger, drier and labour should be $500-600 easy, which may be worth it.
If the compressor is damaged and must be done at the same time = happy shopping time.

jeff sr.
 

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