KRSF505ESS00 - Kitchenaid side by side dual evap fridge - High humidity in fridge compartment

[v8power]

I've been dealing with 80% relative humidity in the fresh food compartment for years...well beyond the 60-70% Kitchenaid told me it should be.

I recently left the fridge apart for a evap thermistor replacement, and the cabinet and coil was thoroughly dry.  Upon putting it back together and restarting, the relative humidity level inside the fresh food section slowly climbed to 79% in 17 hours and this is without opening the door and no food placed inside.

There must be an air leak into the cabinet.

The door seal looks fine.

Strangely, with the fridge apart I saw that water was locked about half-way up behind the small led light hidden next to/behind the drawer (I took it out because that light wasn't working).  Is the cabinet itself is open to the air behind the light?

Since it's another opening, can the drain tube be a source of humidity?

Should I focus on addressing anything in particular first?

[dfphoto]

80% humidity with 37 F would have a lot of water on the walls etc I think you have some kind of compressor problem what is the humidity in the house? refrigerators not all but I think most have a humidity thermistor or sensor I would get it looked at... check if it is in spec...

[v8power]

On 9/1/2024 at 1:44 AM, dfphoto said:

80% humidity with 37 F would have a lot of water on the walls etc I think you have some kind of compressor problem what is the humidity in the house? refrigerators not all but I think most have a humidity thermistor or sensor I would get it looked at... check if it is in spec...

Thank you.

Yes - the walls are wet.  Humidity in the house is fine.

Senors are fine.  Compressor seems to be working fine - measured center of freezer evap at -24F.

I suspect the fridge isn't draining as well as it should.  I do know of at least two ways moisture remains in the fridge:

1) The side foam supports became waterlogged.

2) It appears the tray can hold some water instead of the water flowing to the drain.

I'm going to replace those parts.  I'm also looking into coating the foam to prevent waterlogging...and maybe coating the drain tray too.

[v8power]

On 9/1/2024 at 1:44 AM, dfphoto said:

80% humidity with 37 F would have a lot of water on the walls etc I think you have some kind of compressor problem what is the humidity in the house? refrigerators not all but I think most have a humidity thermistor or sensor I would get it looked at... check if it is in spec...

I found out (by accident) that the unit runs the evap fan in the fresh food compartment in some special case and otherwise not.  When it runs in this special case, the humidity rises.

Normal case is fan runs for a few minutes after compressor turns off and then turns off until the next cooling cycle.  The special case is that the fan turns back on after some time and stays on until the next cooling cycle.

I noticed the thermistor on the coil was out of spec and replaced it last year, but it didn't solve this issue.  The other thermistor on the cabinet wall appeared to be in spec, but, perhaps, it's slightly out of spec?  Might it read a tad too cool?