Kenmore 596.75252401 Bottom Freezer Fridge wont cool, freezer works fine!


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Old 11-08-10, 06:43 AM
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Kenmore 596.75252401 Bottom Freezer Fridge wont cool, freezer works fine!

This Bottom Freezer refrigerator has gradually gotten warmer over the past few days, and will not recover. I'm not sure where to start troubleshooting, but the temp controls are digital/electronic, the freezer seems a little frostier than usual, and the fridge is real warm. Anything to get me started is much appreciated!
 
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Old 11-08-10, 09:34 AM
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I have the same problem, but with a side by side Kenmore model 106.56926600. I will be interested in the solution to this problem, too. I'm wondering if perhaps there is a fan controlled by a thermostat that moves cold air from the freezer to the fridge?
 
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Old 11-11-10, 12:09 PM
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All my food is quite spoiled. We're living off canned food until I can fix it. Love some help?
 
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Old 11-11-10, 05:46 PM
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First make sure that when the compresor runs to cool the fridge, that the fan in the freezer runs, and if you have a fan under the fridge to cool coils under the fridge(if they are located there) - that all 3 run at once. If they do -

You need to find out if your freezer coils are defrosting. You can find out if the defrost cycle works by plugging in a relatively inexpensive test meter into the outlet, called a Kill-A-Watt meter, sold at a big national tool store chain or maybe big-name electronic store. Then when you plug that in your outlet, you plug the fridge cord in it. Then set meter to watts. Then advance the defrost timer manually by turning the little dial in the right one-way direction, so that it turns off the compressor and goes into defrost mode. When it does, the watt meter should read up over 350 watts. If it says that, the defrost cycle is all working properly. But if the watt meter says almost no watts, then there is something broken in the defrost circuit, which means your coils will be so iced up that the circulating air cannot even get through it. When that happens both the freezer gets warmer and so does the fridge section.

If you do not have such a meter, or don't care to buy one (they truly come in handy!), you can simply remove the backpanel in the freezer to see if the coils back there are a block of solid ice. They should not be. They should only have a light frost coat evenly disbursed on them. If you find a block of ice, then you have a defrost thermostat that stoped working (typical), or a bad element (not as typical), or some other failure in that circuit. Or the defrost timer is not advancing. But that can be observed over time, to see if it is, by marking on the housing an orientation line in relation to the timer dial that turns.

This information is generic to all older style fridges. If your fridge has thermistors and other newer things asociatd with the electronics, I am not sure where to have you look, outside of perhaps a control board. But do check out either watt draw when in defrost mode, and/or if evaporator freezer coils are frozen into solid ice.

IF fridge compressor runs and runs, and you remove back panel only to find no frost on freezer coils, then something catastrophic like refrigerant loss or compressor failure is likely the cause, which would not be good, unless under warranty.
 
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Old 11-19-10, 09:15 AM
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Thanks so much for your help, I wish I could have put it to use. I did buy the cool Kill-A-Watt meter. I love it! I tore my fridge apart, and was unable to find a thermostat or defrost timer, nor was Sears able to confirm the existence of such devices in my model. There are a bunch of thermistors, a digital temperature controller for both fridge and freezer, and a monster circuit board behind it. I'm a little out of my league now, I think...
 
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Old 11-19-10, 04:23 PM
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Unfortunately, that is out of my league too. I have't had to work on such units - yet. Ah......the good ol days when things were simply mechanical. At least you have that test meter now where you can go around testing everything in your house to see what it uses.
 
 

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