# Kenmore Elite bottom freezer burning smell



## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

Hello all,

I just happened to be walking thru the kitchen on the way to bed and noticed a burning smell. I thought I had left the oven on or something but it turns out that the smell is coming from the refrigerator. I opened the refrigerator door and the smell was really strong. The freezer was even worse. The interior was cold and the compressor was running and sounded nice and smooth with no strange noises. This is a Kenmore Elite bottom freezer model #596.76063701. Any ideas if this is a common problem and is it fixable, or should I just buy a new one. If I remember correctly I bought this one about 10 years ago. Thanks


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## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

Don't know about you but things that smell like they are burning in my house get shut off or extinguished as the case be... Immediately . Almost anything is repairable . Could be a motor, compressor, wiring, cabinet/defrost heaters . If it were my 10 year old fridge I would be out fridge shopping.


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

I agree. I unplugged it right away. I actually bought this thing is 2008 so it's about 7 or 8 years old, kind of early for it to die in my opinion. My old refrigerator lasted for about 25 years with no problems. I did some research and it seems that the relay on the compressor is a possible cause of burning smells and YouTube videos showed melted relays, so I thought I would check the relay on mine. Of course, all was fine, no melted parts, no burnt smell. I'll be heading to the store for a new refrigerator, NOT a Kenmore. :furious:Thanks for the reply.


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## Tom738 (Jun 1, 2010)

Dave Sal said:


> I agree. I unplugged it right away. I actually bought this thing is 2008 so it's about 7 or 8 years old, kind of early for it to die in my opinion. My old refrigerator lasted for about 25 years with no problems. I did some research and it seems that the relay on the compressor is a possible cause of burning smells and YouTube videos showed melted relays, so I thought I would check the relay on mine. Of course, all was fine, no melted parts, no burnt smell. I'll be heading to the store for a new refrigerator, NOT a Kenmore. :furious:Thanks for the reply.


Quality went pretty steadily downhill for a few decades, and Kenmore's probably not worse than most comparable brands. It's a combination of manufacturers learning to be a lot more efficient and a strong incentive to have them fail in a few years.


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

Update:

This morning I decided to document this incident with the Consumer Product Safety Commission as I feel it is a potential fire hazard. After completing my documentation and filing the report, I decided to search the Kenmore Elite appliance section and was surprised to see a whole slew of complaints regarding burning smells. Turns out that there is a common problem with the interior lights either coming on when the door is closed or staying on, which eventually leads to melting of the light housing and the bulb sockets. In my case the lights looked undamaged in the upper compartment but since this was a bottom freezer model, the lights in the freezer are on top, which is not visible unless you remove the freezer door and get on your hands and knees and look up. I'm pretty sure that this was my problem and I could have gotten it repaired or simply replaced the bulbs with LED bulbs which would not heat up. Too late now, as I bought a new refrigerator and had them haul away the old one. Just wanted to mention this in case someone searches this forum in the future.


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