refrigerator issue

[iron]

we have a kenmore elite fridge with bottom freezer. i understand it to be a repackaged LG fridge. recently, we've gotten an ER IF code that comes on intermittently (see vid:

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we tried the "let it defrost" trick talked about in the comments section of the video and that didn't get it. i also replaced the fan motor, but that didn't get it. i haven't run the diagnostic on the control panel, but will if needed. it seems my fridge's symptoms are a bit different than others. our freezer worked fine, but the fridge temp varies throughout the day, causing food to spoil. in the veggie drawer (the bottom drawer just above the freezer compartment), our stuff was being frozen. also, about 2 months ago, i started noticing heat at the floor of the fridge. fridge is only 1.5 years old...

any thoughts?

 

[heat seeker]

If you have thoroughly defrosted it, I'd take a look at the motor that drives the door for sending cold air to the upper section. There is a door that directs freezer air to chill the upper section. If it's not working properly, cold air won't get up there. There may be a diagnostic to check that. There just might be a pamphlet stuck somewhere at the bottom of the fridge with good information. Mine was fastened behind the grill and the very bottom of the front of the fridge (an Amana).

The heat on the floor concerns me. I wonder if the defrost element isn't on when it shouldn't be.

If the freezer is at the proper temp, the compressor, etc, is good.

Another thought - there is likely a thermistor to monitor the temp. There may be a diagnostic to check that; mine has one, so yours probably does, too.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but maybe these hints will help.

ETA: Twice now, my evaporator has iced up (twice in 10 years...not bad), the cure was to do a forced defrost using the diagnostics. Cured the problem for a long time, took about 10-15 minutes total. Just another possibility for you to consider.

 

[DickRussell]

One thing that occurs to me is something I and others have encountered over the years. If there is a metal panel covering the evaporator coil in the freezer section, it is possible that high-mass items (eg. meats) have been overloaded on the shelf in front and press the panel into contact with the coil. When that happens, heat from the defrost heater is largely absorbed by the meat, and frost on the coil doesn't melt completely. Over a number of cycles, the frost buildup reaches the point where the defrost heater is completely overwhelmed, a huge mass of ice blocks air flow over the coil, and cooling in both compartments suffers. Remove the covering from the evaporator coil and examine the coil for ice buildup. If this is the problem, do a manual defrost (perhaps hastened using the wife's hair dryer, turn the unit back on, and tell everyone to avoid overloading the shelf in front of the panel over the coil.