<p>Another kitchen problem
Kitchenaid side by side built in refrigerator about 12 ys old. The freezer is cold enough to keep the ice and chicken frozen but the ice cream is soft. Have tried turning up the dial but it hasn’t helped.</p>
<p>Sound like the problem we had with our side by side Jennair. Ice cream was the canary which indicated there was something wrong with the fridge. Your chicken and and ice might melt eventually, so watch out for puddles. H says there could be two possible problems: the defroster heating element (located in the freezer; when it stops functioning, the ice build up prevents cold air circulation within the freezer and the fridge, if they are served by the same compressor) or the defroster timer (located inside the fridge). H says there are plenty of websites discussing replacemant of either part (both of them were under $100 at our local Maytag store). H s off to bed, so I’ll ask him tomorrow for more details.</p>
<p>If the problem is the heating element, manual defrosting will solve the problem for a while until the ice starts building up again.</p>
<p>Just wanted to add: as I recall, my parents tossed their fridge when I was almost thirty years old; it was still functioning, but was waaay outdated and tiny. They bought it when I was born!</p>
<p>Husband is calling the repairman he uses for work. He isn’t sure if he will work on a built in.He might have some suggestions for my husband to try. My husband is pretty handly so hoping it is something he can repair. I am going to be really annoyed if this is a costly repair. Earlier this year we had to put in a new dry well. If I am going to spend money I want it to be on something that I can see and feel good about.</p>
<p>Is the frig side working ok? We had a similar problem, and it turned out that the self-defrost wasn’t working. (it wasn’t as obvious as I would’ve expected…)</p>
<p>refrigerator side seems to be working.
BunsenBurner you were right. The chicken is still frozen as is the ice but I can feel other items are not as frozen.</p>
<p>Could well be the frost buildup as BunsenBurner suggests. Places to chck as well are freezer circulating fan unit, but most importantly, dusty, dirty evaporator coils. Resticted air flow on dirty coils from dust, pet hair buildup, remodeling will drop efficiently dramtatically.</p>
<p>Some units have top mounted coils, some base mounted coils, and access to both is fairly easy. Have hubby pop the panel and check before calling a repairman.</p>
<p>I second checking the coils! Regular cleaning of those is a must for any built-in fridge according to the salesguy who was actively trying to sell us a Subzero.</p>
<p>I hate side-by-side fridges, so I call this a perfect excuse to get a new bottom-freezer model! :)</p>
<p>In my old house I had a bottom freezer model. I don’t actually love the KitchenAid. I always thought I wanted a side by side but I find the freezer not as useful. I still have my old fridge out in the garage.
The KitchenAid is built in. The doors match the cabinets. It would be a pain and lots of money to replace. The kitchenaid was put in when the house was built so I think it is also sized specific for the Kitchenaid.</p>
<p>It sounds like you have the perfect setup - frozen regular items and soft ice cream!</p>
<p>Check the door seal. Make sure it’s clean and sealing well. It’s cheap and easy to replace. </p>
<p>Put the ice cream in the back at the bottom.</p>
<p>Put a thermometer in there to see what temps you are getting. Ice can be frozen at temps higher than you should be storing frozen food. My appliance guy says the freezer should be below 10 degrees, preferably below zero.</p>
<p>Years back our fridge had a similar problem. It was a GE (don’t ask and don’t buy one), and the GE guy replaced some gizmo for the ice maker and it worked fine after that. The repair itself was maybe $200 then, but they also sold us a long term warranty for a bit more. We are not handy, and could not repair anything ourselves, so it was worth it. The fridge lasted for quite a while after that. We sold the apartment so I don’t know how it is doing now.</p>
<p>Repairman came this morning- There is a freon leak. He doesn’t know where and to find it and repair would be a big job and expensive. He added some freon and replaced a valve. He has done this on other Kitchenaid fridges and he said we should get another 12-18 months before we need to make any major decisions. The freezer is already much colder. It was just under $100 for the labor and repair.
It did force me to clean all the shelves and door.</p>