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View Full Version : Kenmore fridge not cooling enough in fridge compartment


Marcelo
08-06-2009, 08:40 PM
I have a Kenmore 970-65832B Fridge, a very cheap no-frills 18 CF refrigerator with freezer compartment at the top, about 6 years old. My freezer is working OK, but the fridge compartment hovers around 50F and it should be colder.

There is not suffiecient airflow going into the fridge compartment. I took apart the air deflector in the fridge compartment and it was not blocked. Inside the freezer, I removed the wall to expose the evaporator and it was clean (as it had just gone through the defrost cycle). I also looked in there a few days ago and the evaporator did not have build-up of ice then either. The fan inside the freezer works fine. The airshaft to the fridge is very simple, no louvers, vents or anything. There are no blockages for the air that comes from the freezer into the fridge, both inside the freezer and inside the fridge, why is the amount of air getting through is so small?

I have done and witnessed the following in the last few days:

- I set the fridge temp to maximum and the freezer setting to the "low" setting as this setting was letting in more air into the fridge compartment than the "coldest" setting was.
- I removed the back cover and vaccumed the compressor and coil that were full of lint a few days ago. The fridge got to 40F for one day after that and it went back to 50F the next day.
- We are putting a few more items into the freezer and fridge than before. The freezer is full solid with not much open space left in there, but the items in the freezer are frozen solid as they should be.
- The defrost element works, I saw the red glow in the freezer tonight.

I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

Marcelo
08-07-2009, 07:03 AM
Never mind....I emptied half of the contents of the freezer compartment and the fridge compartment went back to normal. It is cooling in the mid-30s now.

Marcelo
08-09-2009, 12:10 PM
I spoke too soon... The fridge ran OK for 2 days and now it is only cooling to 50F again in the fridge compartment. Any ideas what could be wrong?

RegUS_PatOff
08-09-2009, 01:25 PM
970-65832B

can you check that model number again ?

is the Compressor running "forever"

what's the temperature of the Freezer ?

what's the frost pattern look like on the Evaporator after at least an hour after Defrost ?

Marcelo
08-09-2009, 04:32 PM
970-65832B seems to be the correct Model Number. I am attaching a picture of the label inside the fridge that shows the Model Number.

The freezer goes to 0F, but that is how low my thermometer goes, so it might even be colder than this.

How do I tell if the compressor runs forever?, the fridge's fans run and stop every so often as they should, but I cannot tell if the compressor itself stops running, especially if it is silent when it runs.

I will get a picture of the evaporator after I detect the next defrost cycle and post it here.