Kitchen Aid KRFF707ESS01 Freezer Cabinet evaporator fan not running causing multiple issues with unit

[desertsmitty]

Model Number

KRFF707ESS01

Brand

KitchenAid

Age

1-5 years

Hello,
I have the same issue that many of the people who have posted about this unit have with the refrigerator evap fan compartment freezing up and needing to be defrosted many times a year. I bought this unit new from Spencers Appliances and the problems started about 13 months after I bought it, without the extended warranty.

All of the diagnostic tests come back as passing or no errors, and I too set the system defrost to every 8 hours to hopefully assist with this issue. Unfortunately, I have learned to live with this and have gotten my breakdown and thaw process down to about 45 minutes from unplug to plug in.

After my most recent empty, defrost, and putback, I noticed that the freezer was only holding around 20 degrees in the bottom drawers, but some frozen drink pops on the top shelf were liquid. I have never had a real problem with the freezer before, but the ice maker did stop making Ice, and I chalked it up to being a horrendous piece of junk and started buying a bag of ice every couple of days.

After emptying the freezer and taking the shelf rails and back panel off, I noticed that the freezer evap fan does not function, the freezer cabinet lights do not come on, and the fan does not come on in diagnostic test 3 selection 4 which should have forced both the fridge and freezer fans to run. The fridge evap fan works and cools the fridge back down to 37, and with the cover off and no food in the freezer, it seems to be holding in the single digits, except when it goes into defrost mode when it goes up into the high 20's that I have seen when I am paying attention.

I noted the tube on the left side of the freezer, which runs up to the icemaker, and I am assuming that is why I am not getting ice. I also think I read that the freezer defrost cycle utilizes the evap fan to also help heat the fridge evaporator cavity just above the freezer.

The top and side LED lights in the fridge cabinet are dim when they do work, but the 2 lit up shelf lights work as designed.

I read someone else's post about a similar sounding problem with a KA fridge and their troubles checked all of my boxes, so I bought a new main control board in the hopes that it would solve all of my problems. Well, I am here still asking for help with this money pit, so as you can imagine, it did not work. Everything is cold and "working" in the sense that it can keep things cold for now, but the freezer fan is still not working, the cabinet lights in both the fridge and the freezer do not work, and the ice machine cavity is not receiving the blown air from below that it needs to cool the ice compartment for ice.

I will add a little bit more to my story and say that this KA fridge was purchased after my LG fridge went out after 2 years, and the 2 compressor unit was not able to be fixed due to a lack of parts. After replacing the fridge, I also replaced all of the appliances to match this KA piece of steel. Needless to say, I am a little bit frustrated.

I just ordered the aurora board to hopefully fix the LED problems, but I am so done throwing money at this thing that I am hoping someone on here might have some insight into my problem.

Thank you to all of the previous posters and to the helpers on here that have provided service bulletins, schematics, and fixes for the stubborn folks like me that don't want to pay someone to tell me that I bought a piece of junk.

 

[Jake]

Another person had this issue, Unplug your refrigerator first, then remove all the electrical connectors to the LED light board then plug the refrigerator back in and see if everything starts working again.

This is the LED light board for your model:

Whirlpool W10830288 Led Control Board (AP6004427) - AppliancePartsPros.com

This is an LED control board for refrigerators. This part manages the operation of the refrigerator's interior LED lights. A sign that the LED control board is not working properly is that only some of the lights illuminate. For example, the top lights may be working fine, but the lights on the...

click.linksynergy.com

Here's the photo of it:
Control Board W10830288

That board is located in the back of the refrigerator on the back exterior wall. Pull the refrigerator out from the wall, then Unplug the refrigerator, then you will see a cover over it, just remove that cover and remove the electrical connectors on that LED light board.

If that doesn't resolve it, unplug the refrigerator then remove the Pantry UI Board and plug the refrigerator back in and see if everything starts working again.

Here's the Pantry UI Board for your model:

Whirlpool W11048824 Cover - AppliancePartsPros.com

COVER W11048824 / AP6047977 made by Whirlpool

click.linksynergy.com

This video should give you the general idea of how to access it:

Jake

 

[desertsmitty]

Thank you for your response, Jake.

I tried disconnecting the aurora board as you mentioned, but aside from relay clicks during startup, nothing changed with the function of the freezer evap fan after I plugged the fridge back in. I have a new one in the mail and it should be here by Saturday, but now I am less optimistic about that being the cause after having unplugged and tested it without luck.

I started in on the pantry UI board, but mine is the 3 door fridge and the control board is held down by 2 screws which need to be turned from underneath the board which also secures the light for the drawer. Doing this also requires the two drawers and lowest glass shelf to be removed so that the cords can be disconnected like when you go to defrost the fridge evap motor. Since the wife just bought groceries, I am going to wait to try that when I am replacing the LED board and hope that..........well, I am hopeful.

Can you tell me if the freezer motor is 14V or 115V? The schematic makes it look like it is 14v, but I have read other posts where people have hooked the motor leads up to 115V to test the motor function. The lower fan blade seems to turn without restriction when I spin it by hand, but a power test would confirm it for me and I could test it easily on my 12-16V dial control power supply for my amateur radio.

I can tell you that before I replaced the main control board, I disconnected the harness plug from the freezer compartment and connected my multimeter leads to the white and blue wire ports to see if I was getting any voltage. After plugging the fridge back in and checking, I did not get a significant voltage reading and that was the other deciding factor in replacing the main board.

Of the fridge cabinet LEDs, none of the side ones light up, and the top front left LED closest to the icemaker is out, but the remaining 5 are dim. I don't know if one is related to the other, but I wanted to offer all that I know to help you help me. =)

Last question, while I don't think I have a coolant or sealed system issue since the fridge is at 35-37 degrees and the freezer again fluctuates between 0 and 20, would a low coolant issue affect the function of the lower fan? I feel like I am grasping here, but I don't know what else to do.

Thank you again,

Dan

 

[Jake]

Yes Dan, the freezer fan motor is 14 Volts DC.

I'm attaching your tech data sheet below, look at the very bottom in that chart where it says MAIN CONTROL see P14-1 and 14-2--->14VDC--->FC FAN MOTOR OUTPUT ACTIVATE SERVICE TEST 3, STEP 2. Do that SERVICE TEST 3, STEP 2 and that will activate 14VDC on those pins.

Here's the evaporator(freezer) fan motor for your model:
W11032800 Motor-Evap

Of the fridge cabinet LEDs, none of the side ones light up, and the top front left LED closest to the icemaker is out, but the remaining 5 are dim.

Usually when the top ceiling ones are out or dim in the refrigerator section and the freezer LED is working, then the problem is the LEFT TOP FRONT/BACK one in the refrigerator section.

Here's the LEFT TOP FRONT/BACK one in the refrigerator section:
LED Light W11462342

Last question, while I don't think I have a coolant or sealed system issue since the fridge is at 35-37 degrees and the freezer again fluctuates between 0 and 20, would a low coolant issue affect the function of the lower fan?

No it wouldn't on your model.

Jake