Delay "Off" Timer on Fridge Light

I checked mine by setting my camera phone to video and shutting it inside, aimed at the door. It's an LG fridge and the light goes out as soon as the door closes and comes back on when it's opened.

Mine goes out immediately as well, but does pump the air out of the interior to make a strong seal contact with the door...maybe your light is on the same circuit..? In any case it doesn't sound like a good idea...maybe the switch is sticking, how old is the fridge?

It's only about a year old, and it's definitely not the switch: the control panel "display" goes off as soon as you press the switch.

It's a Kenwood fridge freezer.

Here's a similar reported problem...

https://www.reddit.com/r/appliancerepair/comments/b0c0gi/kenwood_knf60x18_interior_fridge_light_doesnt/

Maybe the door switch is a double pole switch, controlling 2 different circuits, the display and the light, and the pole controlling the light is faulty. Just a wild guess.

It might a magnetically controlled switch that controls just the light, and the magnet is not properly centered...the door switch might have two contacts and the one to the light has failed, then there is a timer that shuts the light off after a set time...

Take a strong magnet and run it around the door frame while open and see if the light shuts off...try it right on the switch too....

https://www.manua.ls/kenwood/knf60x18/manual?p=12

You have a pranksters fridge. The light gives you 1 minute to settle yourself after you climbed in to jump out and scare someone!

All the fridges I have ever had use a simple limit switch. When the door closes the light goes off.

The light stays on to give all those little Microbes time to find a new spot to start their cultivation of a new furry forest on that leftover Lasagne which you forgot about at the back of the shelf.

Try using Rixter's video phone suggestion to see if the period between closing the door and the light going out is consistent. If it is then it's more likely to be a feature than a fault. In those circumstances I'd guess they just reused a control board from another application.

I've confirmed by putting tape over the switch and opening the door after 55 seconds that the turn off time is between 58 and 60 seconds. Also confirmed by putting a phone in the fridge with video recording on.

I'm pretty sure this is a design "feature"; but why!?

You must have too much time on your hands.

I wish. I'm just incurably curious, and, that gobbles up time.

Are you curious enough to contact customer support for the appliance?

I am suspecting that you will be the first to report the anomaly.

I also suspect, after engineering has reviewed the case, you will be advised this is a feature, not a bug, as already suggested by evanmjones.

I, for one, would quite enjoy hearing about the added value to the consumer regarding this feature.

Maybe this was to add fuel to fire regarding the age-old question about whether the light goes off when we close the fridge?

A friend of mine was an appliance repair tech, and he had a very old lady that had just purchased a new refrigerator. She said the light was not going off after the door was closed. He tried showing her how the door switch worked, to no avail.

He called his boss, and he said do whatever is necessary to satisfy the customer.

He drilled a small hole in the door so she could see if the light went off.

She was satisfied then.

He also noticed something peculiar: All the light bulb sockets that did not have bulbs had blown plug type fuses in them.

He asked her why, and she said it kept the electricity from leaking out.

Chat GPT says this:-

The 1-minute delay is a feature designed to save energy by ensuring the light stays on for a short period after the door is closed, allowing you time to retrieve items without the light immediately turning off. This delay helps to minimize unnecessary energy consumption while still providing convenience for users.

________________________________________________

This doesn't make any sense, the manual describes "changing the LED light": I can't see how an LED would incur a large turn on current.

People used to say that fluorescent lights consumed more energy turning on than in a longish period of time. Maybe the "feature" is a hangover from an earlier design. They possibly used CFLs in a generation or two of designs.

What I have trouble understanding is how the light staying on helps retrieving items if the door is closed? I guess that might help Superman.

I agree, that response is nonsense.

Say, I looked around the inter web a little bit for Kenwood refrigerators... I am finding none. I find Kenwood, a British manufacturer of residential mixers, tea kettles and other small appliances, but no refrigerators.

Kenmore brand refrigerator, maybe?

I think it's this model

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/kenwood-knf60xd23-6040-fridge-freezer-silver-10248711.html

I can't find the paperwork; there's no model number on the front and I don't want to move it out of its tight space to look at the back.

Thanks for the response.

Regretfully, I doesn’t help me any more than it helped you.

Trying a different tack I searched for this feature on U.S. fridges, could not find it listed as a feature on any appliances over here.

As I stared into the refrigerator I realized I was finally using my philosophy degree

Why am I here?

Kenwood is I believe a 'B' label for Hisense, which is a Chinese company....and probably only sold in UK...

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2022/Hisense-USA-Recalls-Bottom-Freezer-French-Door-Refrigerators-Due-to-Impact-Injury-Hazard-Sold-Exclusively-at-Lowes

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/buying-new-fridge-freezer.18825755/

I'm pretty sure this is a design "feature flaw"; but why!?

There, fixed that for you.

It is also very possible that something like sauce was spilt, seeped through the mechanism and now as it dries up become sticky... thus makes the switching action kind of sluggish..

Squirting some clean water into the switch mechanism may help rinse and reduce sluggishness..

Squirting liquid, water or otherwise onto a "live" switch is not a good idea where electricity is concerned. Remove the switch and clean it away from the electrical source would be a lot safer, however from the comments it would appear this is linked to a pre-programmed controller on the PCBA:

The switch is completely clean.

Since you may have to pull the switch out to verify and ensure the internals are clean,

You could have also eliminated the switch as the delay cause by just jumping and shorting together the two switched wires together...

By doing so will validate wether the noticed delay time is normal?

Does it go out after a minute or so if you hold the button in with the door open?

Yes: I've also eliminated the possibility of an additional magnetic switch by closing the door 10 seconds after placing the tape on the mechanical switch.

If the magnetic switch is not working, I don't see how you've eliminated the possibility of it's existence...If it does exist, you've only demonstrated that it is not working...

https://www.4kenwood.co.uk/images/mediator/90/rs-47wl%23(ktl60x15)service%20manual.pdf

https://spares4kenwood.co.uk/hisense-door-monitoring-access-monito-reed-switch

If you hold the door open for a minute the light does not turn off; curiously, the control panel does.

I know that the light does start to flash if you leave the door open for a very long time.

Why would any fridge have both a mechanical switch and a magnetic switch?

One could be failsafe on(NC) and the other could be failsafe off(NO), or failsafe delayed....pump down failure caused by poor seal or other failure in vacuum circuit...you need to troubleshoot to find an answer...the light should not be on with the door closed, you don't try to heat and cool a space at the same time, unless you are dehumidifying it....and it should have a defrost cycle for that...maybe it's just a poor design....

I see where some models of the Hisense brand come with door open too long alarm....this might be a case where they eliminated the buzzer alarm to save money but continued to use the boards, and rewired that alarm into the door light, so that the door light counts down the time to when the alarm would sound before going off, and if the door is open, the light begins to blink instead...

There is probably more truth to this than anyone is willing to admit.

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(. . . but we, er, did want a block of flats. Nice though the abattoir is.)