Kitchenaid fridge...Freezer has a heater coil?

[Brandon]

We have a side by side kitchenaid "superba" fridge. For whatever reason I happened to pull out the bottom drawer and noticed that behind a vent the is a drip pan with a resistance wire above it. The coil was red hot and water was dripping from somewhere into the pan. Is this normal? what was odd is that the item closest to the back of the drawer was actually somewhat warmer than the rest of the items in the drawer. is this just part of a defrost cycle of some sort? Thanks Brandon

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Yep. Seems out of context in a device designed for cooling, but a zap will do the defrosting. Ed

[John]

Hi Brandon, That is normal..As you suspected, that is your defrost element. It comes one once or sometimes twice a day to melt the ice from the evap coil. Without this your fridge would stop cooling in about three days..I know this as my Frigidaire did this..That element only runs for a few minutes and does cause a bit of warmth but only temporarily... John

[Brandon]

Thanks for the replies !

[jeff]

Hi,

A copy....

**I heard a sizzling noise inside my refrigerator and it looked like something on fire when I opened the freezer door. What should I do?

There are defrost heaters imbedded in the evaporator coil in your refrigerator to defrost the coil after an accumulated period of running time of the compressor. You were probably seeing and hearing the refrigerator in a defrost cycle. Since you unplugged the refrigerator, the coil is now defrosted and if you plug it back in, you will not hear this sound. In fact, the refrigerator will not run because it is probably still in defrost. So plug it back in, let it sit until it starts running and cooling. I have made many service calls for this identical situation. Don't be afraid to plug it back in. Turn it off at control, plug in, and turn control back on. If there is something actually wrong, you can unplug it again.**

Certainly sounds like it yes.

jeff. Appliance Repair Aid