FIXED KitchenAid KRFC704FSS00 Refrigerator warm, freezer almost cold enough

[blakeblackshear]

Model Number

KRFC704FSS00

Brand

KitchenAid

Age

1-5 years

Appliance repair company says its a freon leak. Fridge reading 60 and freezer reading ~10 with a separate temperature gauge. Here are the readings during diagnostic tests.

Service Test - 01 RC Thermistor	53
Service Test - 02 FC Thermistor	22
Service Test - 03 RC Evaporator Thermistor	32
Service Test - 04 First FC Evaporator Thermistor	32
Service Test - 05 Pantry Thermistor	53
Service Test - 14 Door Ice Box Thermistor	31
Service Test - 16 Door Ice Maker Tray Thermistor	OP

I can hear the fan when running FC Fan Test (56) and RC Fan Test (57) and I can feel air moving in the RC.

Running 128, I get a version number of 4.0.0.

I appreciate any advice.

 

[Jake]

Ok, you'll need to check the frost pattern on the evaporator coil.

Rick details it here with photos:

KRFC704FSS00 KitchenAid Refrigerator - RC & FC wont drop below 45 degrees after thaw.

I have a KRFC704FSS00 and the RC & FC wont drop below 45 degrees RC T-Stat @ 37 FC T-Stat @ 0 This issue was first noticed when I ran out of ice. I use ice maker daily. Ran Test 97 - Ice Maker Valve Test, water filled the tray. Ran Test 120 - Ice Maker Test about 2 hours later and found it...

www.applianceblog.com

Jake

 

[blakeblackshear]

The RC or FC evaporator?

 

[Jake]

FC(freezer compartment) evaporator coil.

Jake

 

[blakeblackshear]

I left the door closed for 24 hours and the temp actually dropped down to near 0. Then I removed the door, drawer, brackets, and cover so I could see the coils. The FC coils didn't have much if any frost on them.

The post you linked said to look at the RC coils, should I see what those look like?

 

[Jake]

Yes, then check the RC(Refrigerator Compartment) evaporator coil.

Here's the RC evaporator cover, which includes the RC fan motor for your model: Refrigerator Evaporator Cover W11167902

I located a service bulletin for this model for certain serial numbers--->Serial Numbers: K600*- K740*

What is the serial number of your refrigerator?

Here's that service bulletin:

Service Pointer - W11033419B.pdf

drive.google.com

It's very extensive, you will need to take some time to go through everything it says to check for.

Look on page 6 of that service bulletin--->Check the Refrigerator section evaporator thermistor for proper contact with the tubing.

This video gives you the general idea of how to get access to the RC(refrigerator compartment) evaporator coil.

Jake

 

[blakeblackshear]

Serial number is K64922143

 

[blakeblackshear]

128 shows 4.0.0, so I think that means I definitely need to replace the control board, right?

 

[blakeblackshear]

There is so much ice on the RC evaporator that I can't even get the styrofoam off without letting it defrost for a while. I already broke the existing styrofoam.

 

[blakeblackshear]

A solid block of ice.

 

[blakeblackshear]

I glued the old styrofoam back together so I could re-install the evap-cover. The gasket was in fairly good condition. It has been running overnight and the temperatures have returned to normal. Going to wait a full 24 hours and see what the frost pattern looks like. Also, when I defrosted the coils, I noticed a perfectly sized ball of what looks like spray insulation in the drain pan hole.

 

[Jake]

Look on page 6 of that service bulletin--->Check the Refrigerator section evaporator thermistor for proper contact with the tubing.

Ok, per your serial number your model is included in that service bulletin I posted above in post #6.

Look on page 6 of that service bulletin--->Did you check the Refrigerator section evaporator thermistor for proper contact with the tubing?

Jake

 

[blakeblackshear]

I didn't pay attention to where it was when I took it off, but I did make sure to put it in the right position when putting it back on.

 

[Jake]

Good, then that should fix it hopefully, fingers crossed. 🤞

Jake

 

[blakeblackshear]

It's been 36 hours and everything is holding normal temperatures. No ice on the RC evaporator. Blows my mind that it worked fine for 5 years that way. 🤔

 

[Jake]

It's been 36 hours and everything is holding normal temperatures. No ice on the RC evaporator.

Excellent, I'm certainly glad to hear that.

Thanks for the update!

Jake

 

[silvermullet]

Hey Jake,

I have a similar problem that we've been trying to hunt down and i told my service tech about the evap cover... he ordered it and even came to my house with it but the whirlpool tech on the phone told him to run some test to check the 3 way valve so then they concluded it was the 3 way valve. this was in early June. fast forward to last week when a different service tech came out bc the one who was coming retired and said the 3 way valves very rarely go bad and re-ordered the evap cover. so that is where we are right now. i will update you when that gets changed next monday.

in the meanwhile, he set something to make the fridge go into defrost cycle more often. now the control panel reads 'extend-freeze' where as before it showed 'energy saver' the manual says press the energy saver button for 3 secs but that doesnt seem to work. is there a way to reset all the settings to factory? my model is KRFC704FSS04. thanks!

 

[blakeblackshear]

Here is the full service manual that might help: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iRRnn103aeGMfrJwdW0Qoazg6S6k2qho&authuser=0

Mine is still running ok. I also realized you can remove the very bottom drawer to see the long vent that leads to the evap coils. I would have been able to see/feel the ice through that opening.

 

[silvermullet]

glad to hear things are fixed for you. thanks for the manual. yea.. looked there and it says to move the temp from the lowest set point to get it out of extend-freeze but that doesnt seem to work as the freezer is set at 0F.