KitchenAid KRSF505ESS00 broken wiring

[CrazyCarl]

I was at a clients house repairing a few broken wires down below the freezer door. I’ve done this repair several times on other refrigerators and most of the time the wiring just keeps on breaking. Either my repair breaks or (more often) the wires break in a different spot. Any tips on repairing these? So far I always tell the client that the best fix I can do is replace the door since all the wiring comes with a new door but you can’t get the wiring separately. Maybe just poor design on Whirlpool’s part

[Josh Smith]

New door is the only option, its a bad design

 

[Bart56]

I've repaired this model's broken wiring and like you, it broke a year later in the original wires that I didn't touch. First time it was 5 wires. Next time it was 3 additional ones. The last time, my fixed wired were cracking in new places and only 2 or 3 wires were in tact.

My next attempt, I unplugged the wiring harness from te base of the fridge and closed the freezer door and was able to spend time stripping back the original plastic covering without taking any food out. I was feeling pretty clever about that.  Next, I added about 3 inches of new wire for all - I cut any that were still intact. It took a while but it made the harness 2 - 3 inches longer.  

I then covered it in some of that automotive style bendy tubing and shoved an inch of the covering into the freezer door, then leaving it free so that the whole thing moved through a modified clamp at the bottom of the fridge. I thought I was being real clever. This fix lasted almost 2 years when the owner called me to say they really don't need the Icemaker that bad. This was last summer (2020). Now when the whole control panel goes dead, they'll probably replace the fridge because the freezer door lists for around $1400 and the odds of the stainless looking different is likely pretty high.

Bottom line: Terrible design at the hinge point and really sub-quality insulation on the factory wires. If there was a plug at both ends of the harness, this would not be a problem - simply replace the harness.

[murrdea]

have krsf505 with bad freezer door harness found new krfs705 same fridge want to know if harness design has been fixed have to replace freezer door on 505 dont want same problem with new kitchen aid krsf705

[Budget Appliance Repair]

16 hours ago, murrdea said:

want to know if harness design has been fixed have to replace freezer door on 505 dont want same problem with new kitchen aid krsf705

No - it hasn't been fixed, thus this well deserved class-action law suite against Whirlpool

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/whirlpool-refrigerator-lawsuit-defective-wiring/