[lpennock]

The left hand freezer on our KitchenAid side by side is running warm, but the refrigerator is maintaining temperature just fine. In addition, the metal between the two doors on the front is extremely hot. I took off the back panel, and the fan is not running. Thinking that the coils might not be dissipating enough heat, I took a vacuum and cleaned off all the coils I could reach (they had lots of dust and lint on them), and I have left the back panel off.

Since I've had the panel off the freezer cooled from 21F down to 17F (it is set to 0F) in the first 20 minutes, but has not cooled any further (now about an hour later). My guess is that the fan sucking air in the bottom across the coils does a much better job of cooling them than just taking off the back and bottom front panels and opening it to let the heat out.

What do people think? Do I simply need a replacement fan or should I keep looking for other problems? Should the fan always be running or is there a thermostat that might be the culprit?

Finally, the unit has a 5 year warranty on parts (10 years on refrigeration system). Should I call Sears directly rather than try and order a fan off the Internet?

Thanks in advance for any replies, help, or suggestions.

-Lewis

Nashville, TN

[woodchuck]

The fan should run when the compressor runs. If it has a five year warranty on all parts, call them, unless they charge lots of labor. You can test the fan here. Refrigerator Repair Guide: How To Test the Condensor Fan - ACME HOW TO.com



It could be controlled by control board that's defective if the fan test ok.

[lpennock]

Update: I used a small external fan to blow air across the coils, from back to front, and within a few hours it was down to 0F again. This morning, however, the built in fan seems to have sprung back to life, so I've put the back panel back on and am in wait and see mode. I don't think I can have anyone replace a part that isn't broken at the time it needs replacing, but this does point more towards something like the control board rather than the fan itself.

woodchuck, thanks for the advice - I didn't do the fan test but since the fan runs now I assume it would have passed.

-Lewis