- Model Number
- KBFS22ECMS00
- Brand
- KitchenAid
- Age
- 6-10 years
My French door KitchenAid refrigerator does not defrost on its own. The fridge is from 2014 and I bought the house with the fridge a year ago. I didn’t have any issues for the first few months, but then the back of the freezer started frosting up. The frost and ice blocked the vents and caused the fridge to warm up inside and the freezer to cool even more. I defrosted it with a heat gun but eventually it frosted over again.
I called in a local repairman and he took off the panel in the back of the freezer, defrosted everything and determined the main control board needed replacing. The repair seemed to fix the issue for a few months but then it started freezing over again.
I brought the same repairman back and he determined the defrost thermostat needed replacing, and if that didn’t work then the main control board would need replacing again.
Replacing the defrost thermostat is within my abilities so I ordered the part and replaced it.
I also tested the defrost heater resistance and it was 30 ohms. The evaporator fan appeared to be working normally. Within a few weeks of replacing the defrost thermostat the frost came back.
I have tried running the long and short forced defrost but I couldn’t see any evidence of ice melting. I can hear relays engaging and fans turning on when the forced defrost starts, but it stops as soon as the fridge door is closed (or door switch pressed). Does the fridge door need to remain open for the forced defrost cycle?
I have tried running through some tests in the Service Test Mode, but I’m not exactly sure what I should be looking for.
Before ordering another $350 replacement main control board for the second time in less than a year, are there any other tests I should be doing?
Thanks,
Mike
I called in a local repairman and he took off the panel in the back of the freezer, defrosted everything and determined the main control board needed replacing. The repair seemed to fix the issue for a few months but then it started freezing over again.
I brought the same repairman back and he determined the defrost thermostat needed replacing, and if that didn’t work then the main control board would need replacing again.
Replacing the defrost thermostat is within my abilities so I ordered the part and replaced it.
I also tested the defrost heater resistance and it was 30 ohms. The evaporator fan appeared to be working normally. Within a few weeks of replacing the defrost thermostat the frost came back.
I have tried running the long and short forced defrost but I couldn’t see any evidence of ice melting. I can hear relays engaging and fans turning on when the forced defrost starts, but it stops as soon as the fridge door is closed (or door switch pressed). Does the fridge door need to remain open for the forced defrost cycle?
I have tried running through some tests in the Service Test Mode, but I’m not exactly sure what I should be looking for.
Before ordering another $350 replacement main control board for the second time in less than a year, are there any other tests I should be doing?
Thanks,
Mike