# kenmore fridge too warm, freezer iced up



## tarbash11 (Jun 29, 2011)

I have a kenmore fridge.
model# 10653564201
After defrosting it works ok for a few days. Then the freezer side starts icing up and the fridge side starts warming.
I defrost element never has ice on it. The drain hole to the bottom of the freezer gets clogged with ice too. Ice also clogs the return vent from the fridge side, which is probably causing the warming up.
After the latest defrost I turned the freezer setting to 1 and fridge to 6.
The freezer did cool to below freezing but the fridge side was not cooling down enough. But the ice buildup was not happening. So I turned up the freezer side to 2 and eventually to 3. Now the fridge side did cool down but ice buildup has started in the freezer.
I am not sure it is the defrost thermostat. The heating element seems ok and the coils in the back of the freezer also do not looked clogged with ice.
I have seen couple of posts regarding this issue but am not sure which part or parts have gone bad.


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## hardwareman (Oct 9, 2010)

when you say ice, is it really ice or is it heavy frost. Figuring out if it is ice or frost will be the only way to give you the correct way to proceed. How many days between build up? Temps in both compartments? How many people using refrig.?


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## Jacques (Jul 9, 2008)

The air return is in the partion wall. they have about a zillion fix's for this problem [starting with air leaks in FF section]. none of which i've found effective. you solve it let us know.


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## Jessidog (Jun 21, 2011)

tarbash11 said:


> I have a kenmore fridge.
> model# 10653564201
> After defrosting it works ok for a few days. Then the freezer side starts icing up and the fridge side starts warming.
> I defrost element never has ice on it. The drain hole to the bottom of the freezer gets clogged with ice too. Ice also clogs the return vent from the fridge side, which is probably causing the warming up.
> ...


I have a side-by-side Kenmore refrigerator that behaves very much like you have described. Occasionally, the coils in the freezer completely ice over and the temperature starts warming. It is most noticeable in the refrigerator compartment. I usually end up removing the metal covering over the coils and melting the ice with a hair dryer. I also blow the warm air through the vents in the partition wall since it sometimes has an ice blockage. Then the refrigerator works fine. This used to happen about once every six months, but now that I think about it, the problem has not happened for probably over a year. Most of the time, the defrost heater seems to work fine.

The refrigerator side seems to have a problem staying cold when it has more than the usual amount of food, such as around a holiday. I did remove the regulator from the top vent that is used to control the refrigerator temperature. The refrigerator side has never gotten too cold.

I wish I could be more helpful.

David


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## tarbash11 (Jun 29, 2011)

hardwareman said:


> when you say ice, is it really ice or is it heavy frost. Figuring out if it is ice or frost will be the only way to give you the correct way to proceed. How many days between build up? Temps in both compartments? How many people using refrig.?


There is this white stuff on the evaporator coils which looks like frost.
But on the bottom pan there is definitely ice. Solid lumps, almost translucent.
I did not measure the temps, but the freezer side is below freezing as items in it are frozen. It takes about 3 to 4 days for the fridge side to start heating up. about 6 people using the fridge.
I spoke with an appliance repair person. He advised to wrap an AWG 14 copper wire around the defrost heater and then stick it into the drain hole.
The purpose would be to keep the drain hole open and let the moisture escape. In his opinion this might be the root cause for all the symptoms.
I will try it and post results. Ofcourse, it will take at least a week from when I do this to know for sure that it works.


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## hardwareman (Oct 9, 2010)

the wire will keep the drain tube open but the drain tube being frozen is not what is causing your frost build up, you need to figure out what part of the defrost cycle has failed. Either the main board, the defrost terminator or the defrost heater. In this case a picture would be very helpful


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