Kenmore refrigerator
showing LED 3 flashes
Three flickers from the 111 top-freezer's main board point to the defrost temperature sensor, which monitors the temperature of the evaporator.
Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm
- Sensor circuit
- Controls and sensors
- Source: Kenmore
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What LED 3 flashes
actually means.
Three flickers from the 111 top-freezer's main board point to the defrost temperature sensor, which monitors the temperature of the evaporator. Sears has its wiring checked and expects a reading between 5,000 and 40,000 ohms across the sensor.
Kenmore refrigerator display · also shown as Main board LED flickers 3 times
What to do when LED 3 flashes shows on the refrigeratorKind of codeSensor circuit
A temperature sensor reading outside its range, or the wiring to it. The reading is confirmed with a meter before any part is ordered.
Usually leads toControls and sensors
A refrigerator cools to what it believes the temperature is, and a sensor reading wrong is obeyed perfectly.
Shows up asFrost Building Up in the Refrigerator
Ice on the back wall, around the door, or over the whole freezer — and each location means something different.
MakeKenmore
A retail badge on appliances built by several different manufacturers.
SourceSears PartsDirect: Kenmore 111 top-freezer error codes (Wayback copy, Nov 2019)
Kenmore top-freezer models whose number starts 111; three flashes of the main board LED name the defrost sensor.
Before you book,
in this order.
Each step comes from Kenmore's own guidance for LED 3 flashes on its refrigerators. Follow it to the end: the last card says whether this is a visit.
Make sure the model number opens with 111 on a top-freezer before using this flash count.
Check the freezer's back panel for heavy frost, a hint that defrost has not been ending properly.
Book a visit and pass on the count of three.
What not to do
Three flashes are not the heater itself. A failed defrost heater on this board gives six flashes.
What you may
notice with it.
The refrigerator problems LED 3 flashes tends to arrive with. Answer these at the refrigerator before anyone is booked.
All problems
Where LED 3 flashes usually leads
Controls and sensors.
Read these
before the visit.
Short guides that make the call quicker and the diagnosis cheaper.
All guidesKenmore
refrigerators.
A retail badge on appliances built by several different manufacturers.
Kenmore refrigerator repairMore Kenmore codes
All 51 Kenmore codesSensor circuit on other makes
In Kenmore's own words
Main control board LED flickers 3 times Defrost temperature sensor failure
Every code on this site is taken from the manufacturer's documentation, never from a forum or a parts listing. Kenmore top-freezer models whose number starts 111; three flashes of the main board LED name the defrost sensor.
Kenmore LED 3 flashes refrigerator repair,
where we come out.
The same visit in every metro below: the code, the model number, and a diagnosis before any part is ordered.
All service areasTampa BayFL · 31 areas
Miami / South FloridaFL · 47 areas
New York MetroNY · 75 areas
HoustonTX · 36 areas
ChicagoIL · 50 areas
Los AngelesCA · 95 areas
San DiegoCA · 31 areas
Questions
about LED 3 flashes.
Can I clear LED 3 flashes myself?
What do three LED flashes mean on my Kenmore top-freezer?
Is three flashes the defrost heater on a Kenmore 111?
Back to your everyday
Still showing LED 3 flashes?
Book with the exact characters, the full model number, and whether it is still cooling — on a code, that is the whole starting point.