KRMF706ESS01 fridge compartment not cold enough some days, fine on other days

[fridgeman69]

Model Number

KRMF706ESS01

Brand

KitchenAid

Age

1-5 years

Howdy. I can't seem to figure out why, but my KRMF706ESS01 fridge compartment is not consistently at temp. It seems like every couple of days it can't cool below 55ish degrees, but then it will suddenly go back to keeping the temp below 40 (as it should) for a day or two. No amount of "resetting" the control board (power cycling and/or power off for 1+ hour then powering back on) fixes anything. A tech replaced a bad thermistor last year and made sure to put the new one in the correct location (per the attached service bulletin), so it shouldn't be that issue.

I have two known issues but I don't see how either would be the culprit:

1. The evaporator drain pan (in the produce compartment) is bowed in the middle a little bit. I do have some water in the produce drawer compartment as a result, although it's not much. A month ago I had to clear a large amount of water out but I assumed that water had come from the ice maker, which I've since shut off completely (no sense in making ice that just melts right away). Clearing said amount of water fixed the fridge for about a week. The problem then returned, despite there being zero or very little amounts of water present again.
2. The pantry door control panel wires are not connected to anything. When the tech replaced the thermistor last year they did something to pull the wires out. See attached picture; based on the wires being clean cut I don't see how to possibly reconnect them. Regardless, I have no idea if this matters at all; I personally don't care what setting the produce drawer is set to. I only care if it being disconnected is somehow causing the inconsistent cooling issue.

Possibly a coincidence, but today I soaked up the tiny bit of water in the produce compartment, and as I was doing so the compressor and fans kicked on. They then stayed on until the fridge reached the desired temp. Usually, on days the fridge isn't working correctly, the compressor will kick on but then turn off a short amount of time later, while the fans will stay on for hours at a time.

 

[Jake]

The pantry door control panel wires are not connected to anything. When the tech replaced the thermistor last year they did something to pull the wires out. See attached picture; based on the wires being clean cut I don't see how to possibly reconnect them. Regardless, I have no idea if this matters at all; I personally don't care what setting the produce drawer is set to. I only care if it being disconnected is somehow causing the inconsistent cooling issue.

That's possibly the problem right now.

Here's the wire harness to it:
Pantry Drawer Wire Harness W11170612


Here's the video to replace it:

KitchenAid 5 Door Refrigerator Pantry Drawer Wire Harness Replace | Repair Clinic

This video provides step-by-step repair instructions for replacing the pantry drawer wire harness on a KitchenAid 5 Door Refrigerator (Model KRMF706ESS01). Learn more from the experts at Repair Clinic.

www.anrdoezrs.net

Jake

 

[fridgeman69]

Thanks Jake. Doesn’t look too bad.

Out of curiosity, why would the broken harness cause inconsistent cooling? I figured all it did was tell the control board how to handle desired change in humidity in the pantry door, meaning that if the harness is disconnected there just isn’t ever any change requested. I’m curious why/how the scope of the harness’s influence goes beyond that.

 

[Jake]

Out of curiosity, why would the broken harness cause inconsistent cooling?

Its possibly shorting out where its broken off at, remove the broken wires that the tech left broken, from the broken wire harness, and see if the compressor runs and stays on longer.

Jake

 

[fridgeman69]

Two weeks ago I replaced the wire harness and the drip pan (I figured if I was going to open the whole thing up, I might as well knock that out, even if it was overkill). Since then, the issue popped up only twice, and it seems like it only happens when the pantry drawer temp control is set to the "meat/fish" setting (the coldest setting).

I'm guessing that setting causes the fridge to direct too much effort into cooling the pantry drawer vs. the fridge compartment but I don't really know for sure. Regardless, once I set the pantry drawer temp to a warmer setting, the issue went away again. The fridge has been cold and moisture-free since then! Thanks for the tips, @Jake !

 

[Jake]

Yes, then you will also possibly need the new Pantry Board as well, to solve this issue completely.

Here it is for your model:
User Control and Display Board WPW10769076

For others following your thread--->There is a video in the part link that shows you how to access it.

Its in-stock here: WPW10769076

Jake

 

[fridgeman69]

Thanks Jake! I opted to wait a bit longer to see if anything else weird happened. Everything continued to work well until two days ago, when the fridge compartment again was 50 degrees. Since then, nothing I do seems to work. The only temporary fix I can make is to turn the fridge power off and then back on - only then does it start cooling the fridge compartment. Unfortunately, that only works for an hour or so.

I noticed that the freezer is also now a lot colder than expected. I have the temp set at 0 degrees, but food in the freezer is anywhere between -6 and -10 degrees.

Food in the pantry drawer is the same as the fridge compartment - around 50 degrees.

The fridge continues to blow air into the top compartment, but it's anywhere between 45-48 degrees. After a power cycle, it's 30-32 degrees, but again, that only lasts for a few hours before it "gives up".

Speaking of giving up: unless there's a surprisingly cheap and easy fix for whatever this is, I'm at the point where I want this thing out of my house. If anyone has any suggestions for how to sell an insanely expensive but only-somewhat-working refrigerator, I'm all ears!

 

[Jake]

The only temporary fix I can make is to turn the fridge power off and then back on - only then does it start cooling the fridge compartment. Unfortunately, that only works for an hour or so.

That's usually caused by a bad main control board.

Here's another thread of this same thing happening:

FIXED - KitchenAid KRMF706ESS01 occasionally stops cooling

We have a 2 year old KitchenAid KRMF706ESS01. Every few of days the fridge will stop cooling. After unplugging it, it will recover and seem to be humming along. Below are the symptoms after it fails: Cycles through this sequence: 1. Refrigerator valve clicks every second for a couple of...

www.applianceblog.com

Here's the main control board for your model:
Refrigerator Control Board WPW10675033


Unfortunately its not a cheap fix for that main control board.

 

[fridgeman69]

Honestly, a few hundred bucks isn't terrible (I swear those boards were $600 a year ago), but in any case this fridge has me sketched out. Feels like even if a new control board fixes it something else will break in a few months.

For now, it's working again - I reset the power a few times a week ago, and after that didn't work, I set the fridge compartment temp to 34. Since then it's been cooling just fine. Hopefully it holds on a few more weeks until its replacement gets here

That thread you linked is pretty helpful, by the way. I can say that when my fridge stopped working again a week ago, it was also making loud clicking noises. Now that it's working better, I'll still here clicks every once in a while, but they aren't as loud, don't last as long, and don't happen as frequently.

 

[Jake]

Yes, the control boards have come down a great deal since last year.

That thread you linked is pretty helpful, by the way.

Thanks!

Yes, keep us posted.

Jake