Warm fresh food section refrigerator helps and tips...

Reference model numbers:

WRF989SDAB00 - KFSI29BBMS02 - WRF989SDAM00 - WRF989SDAM01 - KRMF706ESS01 - KRMF606ESS01

These refrigerators have 2 evaporators for cooling. One in the freezer and a second one in the fresh food section.

The freezer evaporator will have a defrost heater but the fresh food section one will not. The question we often hear is where is the defrost heater in the upper or fresh food section because I have an ice ( really frost ) build up and can't find the defrost heater to check it.

The fresh food section will warm up when that evaporator frosts over and this blocks the cold air flow, the fan can also become jammed up when the frost build up gets bad enough.

How the fresh food section evaporator normally defrosts itself. A sensor tells the board to shut off a valve in the refrigeration system and this valve closes to prevent refrigerant gas flow into the fresh food evaporator. With no refrigerant gas flow, the coils shouldn't make any more frost. The fresh food section evaporator fan motor is turned on to circulate the air from the fresh food section across the evaporator and this air is warmer than the evaporator coils so the frost melts and drips off as water and goes does the defrost water drain.

Once the evaporator has warmed up and reached a pre-determined temperature the sensor tells the board and the board tells the valve in the refrigeration system to reopen so refrigerant flow and cooling can resume.

whirlpool refrigerator A HUGE frost build up!

whirlpool refrigerator What a common fresh food section evaporator fan motor looks like.

whirlpool refrigerator What the refrigeration system valve looks like.

whirlpool refrigerator A common frost build up that we see on many of these.

whirlpool refrigerator See how air flow cannot go through the evaporator coil with the frost blocking air flow. When the frost builds up higher the fan motor can become jammed and stops turning.

An over night defrosting with the refrigerator turned off and the doors left open will usually defrost the coils. If you use an hair drier, be very careful as there are many plastic parts that could be damaged from the heat from the hair drier.

What we have had good results from is making sure the refrigerator is completely defrosted. Making sure the the controls are set to a normal temp (0F in the freezer and 39F in the fresh food section) and we have been replacing the temps sensors beside and attached to the fresh food section evaporator coil as the best place to start.

Model #'s WRF989SDAB00 - KFSI29BBMS02 - WRF989SDAM01 us the above wire harness with the 2 sensors.

Model #'s KRMF706ESS01 - KRMF606ESS01 us the above fan motor with the 2 sensors built into the fan motor wire harness.

Most times the above has corrected the frosting issue for us! On a few rare occasions we have also replaced the main board at the same time as the sensor and wire harness.

If your problem comes back after a few months, the valve in the refrigeration system may be sticking open and allowing the refrigerant flow all of the time. This means you will have to contact an repair company that can do refrigeration system work and probably will have to have the valve replaced. This is not an DIY job as special tools and training is required.

If you are looking for what style your refrigerator is, please post your question, model# and serial # in the Q and A forum and we will look up what we can find to help you out.

Refrigerator Repair and Maintenance Parts

Related Links

  1. LED light bulb
  2. Whirlpool W10311524 SxS Refrigerator FreshFlow Air Filter, Single
  3. Crystala Filters UKF8001 Water Filter Compatible with Whirlpool 4396395, Filter 4, Maytag UKF8001, EDR4RXD1, UKF8001AXX, UKF8001P, Puriclean II, PH21500 Refrigerator Water Filter (3 Pack)
  4. Light Bulb for Whirlpool Refrigerator - Fridge Light Bulb Lamp for Whirlpool Kenmore Fridgeair Amana Kitchen Aid Refrigerator Freezer Fridge, Appliance Bulb Stove Light for Whirlpool GE Kenmore Oven