Kenmore Refrigerator Not Making Ice: A Refrigerant Leak
On this 20-year-old Kenmore refrigerator (model 10657032602) in Santa Ana, the ice maker stopped because the sealed system was low on refrigerant. The cabinet was running warmer than it should while still freezing. I recharged the system and added a sealant, which buys time but does not repair the leak.
The call came in as an ice maker problem. Kenmore refrigerator, model 10657032602, about 20 years old. The ice maker was not producing, and when I checked the rest of the box, the whole refrigerator was warmer than it should have been, even though the freezer was still holding frost.
What was wrong with this Kenmore refrigerator not making ice?
A refrigerant leak in the sealed system. That is what turned an ice maker complaint into a whole-refrigerator problem.
The sealed system is the closed loop of compressor, condenser, evaporator and tubing that carries refrigerant and moves heat out of the cabinet. When some of that refrigerant escapes, the system does not quit outright. It just carries less heat per cycle, so the compressor runs longer and the box settles at a higher temperature than the dial says. That is why the customer still felt cold air and still saw frost. Cooling was happening, just not enough of it.
An ice maker is the first thing to show it. It will not start a harvest cycle until the mold reaches its cutoff temperature, so a freezer that sits even a few degrees warm produces nothing at all, while the food in it still feels frozen to the hand. People come to me thinking the ice maker died. Often the ice maker is fine and the temperature never gets low enough to trigger it.
What did the repair involve?
I recharged the refrigerant and added a sealant to the system, the kind meant to close small leaks from the inside as the refrigerant circulates.
I did that as a stopgap so the customer would have a working refrigerator while deciding what to do next, and I told him so before I started. Sealed system work is not homeowner territory. Refrigerant is under pressure, it requires recovery and charging equipment, and handling it is licensed work, so this is a call for a professional every time.
Is it worth repairing a 20-year-old refrigerator with a refrigerant leak?
On this one, no. My recommendation was to plan on replacing the refrigerator.
Properly fixing a leak means finding it, cutting into the tubing, brazing or replacing the failed section, evacuating the system and recharging it. On a 20-year-old cabinet, that is a large repair against a machine that is already at the end of its service life, and the price of that work does not make sense next to a new refrigerator. Repairing the entire sealed system on a unit this old is money spent on a compressor and tubing that have already run two decades.
The recharge and sealant give him more time. When the cabinet starts creeping warm again, that is the leak talking, and the answer then is a new refrigerator.
FAQ
How long does refrigerant leak sealant last in a refrigerator?
There is no number I can give you honestly. It depends on where the leak is and how big it is, and neither is visible from outside the system. Treat it as extra time, not a repair. The thing to watch is cabinet temperature: if ice production slows again or the fresh food side feels warmer, the charge is dropping again and the sealant did not hold.
Can a refrigerator still get cold if it is low on refrigerant?
Yes, and that is what makes this failure confusing. A partially charged system keeps running and keeps producing cold air, so the freezer still has frost in it and the food still feels frozen. What you lose is capacity. The refrigerator cannot pull the box all the way down to setpoint, so it holds at a warmer temperature and runs far longer to do it.
Should I replace the ice maker if my Kenmore is not making ice?
Not before someone checks the freezer temperature. On this Kenmore, replacing the ice maker would have been wasted money, because the ice maker was never the failed part. Check the actual air temperature in the freezer first. If it is not cold enough to trigger a harvest cycle, the problem is upstream in the cooling system, and a new ice maker will behave exactly like the old one.
Need a refrigerator diagnosed in Santa Ana?
If your refrigerator has stopped making ice or is running warmer than it used to, call us and we will find out what is behind it before anything gets replaced.
