KBRS22KGBT4 KitchenAid Refrigerator - Instructions

Unplug refrigerator. Open freezer door. Lift the old gasket from the edge closest to the center of the door to expose the hex-head screws. Get a nut driver the appropriate size (1/4" if I remember) and loosen, but do not remove all of the screws. Once loosened, the old gasket can be removed. Slip the new gasket in just like the old one was. Lift the edges closest to the center of the door and tighten the screws. Test the fit of the new gasket by closing the door and sighting carefully down each of the four seal lines. Typically there will be spots where there are gaps, that is, the gasket is not "pulled out" enough to contact the refrigerator body. This is due to kinks that occur to the gasket during shipping. A paper that comes with the gasket notes the effect and recommends using a hair dryer to remove the kinks. Although the recommendation is to use the dryer BEFORE putting the gasket on, I used the dryer after, when I could see exactly where the gaps were. After noting the spots, open the door and with the dryer on HIGH setting, wave the hot air stream back and forth for a minute or two on each spot. Pull each spot out by hand with the hot air off and if/when the gasket is cool enough to touch but still warm. Close the door, inspect and repeat the process if necessary. I was able to achieve a good seal all the way around this way.

I diagnosed the problem via the internet. Diagrams helped a lot. Coils were frozen over. Thawed them out overnight. Manually advanced timer and the defrost heater was operable. The defrost timer wasn't "turning" on it's own. I turned the fridge back on while I awaited the part. It worked fine for the time I had to wait. (over two weeks since I had delayed ordering the part) New timer arrived as promised. Undid 4 hex head (1/4") screws. Unplugged 4 prong connection. Plugged in new timer and replaced the 4 screws. Frigde works great.

The frig was hot but the freezer was cold. I opened the back of the freezer and found the condenser all frozen over. Upon inspecting the defrost thermostat I found that it was split open, as if water got into it and the froze breaking it open. I used a blow dryer to defrost the condenser. I then spent a long time trying to find the model on-line, even the manufactor said it did not exist. Partselect.com was the only place that said the model did exist. When that part came in I toke the back of the freezer out again. Unplugged the defrost thermostat plugged the new one in clipped it back on the condenser and put the it all back together. Everything is working fine now.

Mine is a top refrigerator and bottom freezer. Whenever working with electrical applicances always disconnect the electrical power before beginning work on it. Never try to force anything. If there is abnormal resistance, use logic and determine if there is an obstable that needs to be dealt with. Loosen all screws halfway then take them off completely. Replace all screws part way and begin by inserting and starting the screws by hand then use the nut dreiver and last tighten until snug. Also, be ware that wires can get brittle and may break so handle them with care. The wires and other parts may have been frozen and defrosted many times over the life of the refrigerator. Have a flash light or other light source so you see everything well. The light will be off because you disconnected the electrical cord.

First check the defrost timer. On my unit it is located in the bottom front corner behind the removable ventilation grill. Remove about 4 hex screws. Its most useful to use a nut driver (looks like a screw driver but the tip fits different hex screws. To check the defrost timer you can turn the orange/red knob to the right and see if you can advance the timet to turn on the defrost cycle. If this works then the problem is not the defrost timer. I changed my defrost time anyway not that it was broken.

To replace the defrost thermostat, remove the food and shelves from the freezer. Use the hex nut driver and remove the hex screws from the back panel of the freezer section. If needed you will need to remove the ice maker. I don't have an ice maker. Once the back panel is removed you will see some coils, wires and other parts. Disconnect the two wires for the defrost thermostat, you can identify the defrost timer because you purchased one on-line. Carefully remove the defrost thermostat which is attached by a tension clip. The ends of the wires (terminals) may not be the same style. If needed cut the wire terminal plus two inches of excess wire from the old defrost thermostat and splice it to the new defrost thermostat. If you have a soldering iron, solder it, if not use a wire nut and electrical tape or just twist the wires together and cover with two layers of electrical tape. Now, attach the wire terminals of the new defrost thermostat to the wires that you disconnect earlier. You can not mix them up because the ends are different. Pull the tension clip slightly apart and slip onto the tubing where it came off of originally. Replace the back cover and air grill and fasten the hex screws. Attach the ice maker if you have one. Replace the shelves and food and close the freezer door. Plug in the refrigerator. It may not go on immediately. If this is the case, go to the defrost timer and turn the orange/red knob to the right and you will cycle the defrost timer to activate the freezer. Let the refrigerator run for a while, even a few hours is okay, and then it will hopefully go into the normal automatic cycle.

Other parts that may go bad and need replacing are the condenser fan that you will find by removing the cover in the back of the refrigerator. This fan runs when the refrigerator is on to cool the compressor. Also a heater coil is used to defrost the freezer. Infrequently, this part goes bad.

There is no separate cooling unit for the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator. The cold air for both the refrigerator compartment and freezer compartment originate from the freezer. The temperature dial in the refrigerator compartment regulates the amount of cold air from the freezer that will circulate to the refrigerator.
(This just give you a clue that if the refrigerator compartment is warm the problem will still concern the freezer.)

Also, please clean off the coils that are covered with dust and webs.

This is a brief summary and depending on your level of experience and general logic and problem solving skills. This repair may or may not be easily understood. One last tip,

I used a flat-head screwdriver to pop out the old light rocker switch. Then, I unplugged the wires, plugged them into the new light rocker switch, and then popped the new switch into the hole. That's it! Lights began working again.

After replacing the defrost timer (easy: pop off the grill; unscsrew the bracket; pull out the old one and plug in the new one) [didn't fix problem] and replacing the defrost heater element (harder: use nut driver to remove ice maker and rear interior panel in freezer section; use pliers to remove clips holding the heater element to evap coil CAREFULLY - puncture evap coil and unit is junk!!! - replace with new heater element)[didn't fix problem] I replaced the defrost thermostat:
moderate difficutly. Use nut driver (5/16") to remove ice maker (loosen screws and slde IM up and off) and rear interior panel (don't need to pop the ice maker electrical connector off the rear panel) and unclip the thermostat from the evap coil. Replace with good thermostat and enjoy your "self defrost" freezer/fridge for another fefw years.

The pro's esimate was over $500 for this one... It's very helpful to have a power tool screwdriver/nut driver. Loosen up the screws (#8 x 1/2" hex-head screws on mine) which hold the gasket in place. These screws also hold the plastic inner-portion of the refrigerator door in place. On my fridge, the parts of the gasket at the top and bottom closest to the hinge had progressively become deformed, perhaps because the outer part of the plastic was not holding the gasket in place hard enough (in these locations, I improved the clamping action by removing the screw and adding a #10 washer). In many locations, the screws turned out to have been driven in hard enough to strip the metal, so a hardware store run was needed to purchase #10 x 1/2" screws - be warned. Before trying to mount the gasket, I worked it over with a hairdryer on the floor (used an old towel to protect floor), to get out the worst of the kinks, then mounted it on the door, tucking the bead between the inner and outer door all the way around. This can be hard enough that if you do have a power tool nut driver, it may be preferable to completely remove the inner door portion, mount the gasket, then screw it back in place. Once the screws are tightened, use the hairdryer to soften the areas which don't contact properly, working on the gasket with your fingers and/or by repeatedly opening and closing the door, until you have smooth contact all the way around. I did not remove the doors completely, simply stowed the freezer compartment stuff in an ice chest, and used cardboard to close the main refrigerator compartment.

Turned off water supply, removed old Water Valve, installed new Water Valve, turned water supply back on. After first couple cycles of icemaker, increased water pressure by opening water supply valve one more full turn. Good cubes! Job completed in about 1 hour - moving fridge out, swapping Water Valve, moving fridge back in. (time to clean coils not included)

I removed the shelves from the freezer. I unscrewed 6 screws with a 1/4" nut driver and removed the back panel. The coil was solid ice because the defrost cycle wasn't working. I thawed the ice with a hairdryer (5 minutes), unplugged the thermostat and installed the new one (it simply clipped on to the coils), and reassembled the back panel and installed the shelves. Total time, about 14 minutes. Total cost, less than $20.00. I can't even get an appliance repairman to show up at my door for less than $100.00! Thanks to your website, I was able to diagnose my problem, order the correct part and fix it myself! (I bookmarked your site under my favorites). Thanks for this great consumer service. It's easy, inexpensive and quick to do it yourself!

An easy job for smaller hands. Removed the two bolts holding the light cover. Removed two electrical connections from the old switch by pinching the retaining clip,removed the switch, snapped in the new one and re-attached the connectors. Your online illustrations helped me to know that the plastic housing for the light switch would only swing down so far and was not intended to be removed. Saved me from breaking that plastic cover's tabs. This home repair saved me more than 5 times the cost of hiring a professional to do it. Very happy homeowner.

This product comes in a bottle with a brush like Liquid Paper. It goes on incredibly easy. A second coat might be needed. I wanted to prevent rust from setting in so I covered the scratches and dings. The paint is a little brighter since my washer is 10 years old but it still looks great.

Replaced the compressor with the new one I purchased from you. Installed new parts and recharged unit. The refrigerator / freezer is working better than new. Thanks for the great deal on the compressor. It was here in 3 days. All the parts fit exactly and had no difficulty in the installation or startup. The directions for the wiring were a great help also. Thanks again.

I noticed the the freezer was beginning to thaw out and the refrigerator was no longer cooling. Due to the age of the refrigerator I thought that it couldn't be anything too major so I sought out some advice and order the necessary parts through partselect.com The problem was the thermostat in the freezer and changing out was pretty simple. The website offers some good advice along with quick delivery which makes attempting the repairs worthwhile. I would definitely use partselect.com again for any other appliance repairs!

After the backordered gasket arrived, I took it out of the box and placed it over the back of a kitchen chair and used the hair dryer to get the shipping kinks out of the gasket. After unloading the door of the Freezer compartment, I made a temporary door from a piece of styrofoam board. After removing all of the screws holding the gasket and inner panel to the door, I removed the inner panel and took it outside to melt the ice acumulated on the back and to install the new gasket. I removed the old gasket, and installed the new one over the edges of the panel carefully to avoid tearing the gasket and make sure it was evenly laid out on the panel. This installation went easily because I took the time to see how the old gasket was on the door before I removed it.
I then scewed the panel with the new gasket to the door of the freezer. Once back on the refridgerator, I used the hair dryer and a dull putty knife to get the edge of the gasket pressing firmly against the refridgerator frame. This last step was critical, because the gasket was distorted by the packing and storage of the gasket in the shipping box. I was not satisfied with the amount of magnetic pull from the new gasket and used Vasaline Jelly to create a better seal with the refridgerator.

Other stories I've read here speak to difficulty of changing a gasket with the door on the appliance. Whoa! Take the door off, tape cardboard over the opening, lay the door on its back and proceed. You will avoid racking or twisting the door and having the new gasket fit worse than the old. You can also thaw ice which often forms inside a door over time. Reinstall the door taking pains to shim properly so the new gasket is not overcompressed or allowing a gap. A dollar bill is a good gauge. It should resist a bit as it is pulled out after closing the door on it. This was not exactly step-by-step, just offered as advice from a whole bunch of experience.