Michael Turner Key Takeaways
- The Er prefix belongs to the LG-built Kenmore refrigerators — the model prefix before the decimal point decides whether your unit can show these codes at all.
- Er FF and Er CF are both high severity: cold is being made but not delivered, and both compartments warm within a day.
- Er dH, the defrost heater circuit, shows up as frost behind the freezer panel long before the temperatures look wrong.
- Er FS and Er rS are sensing faults — the cooling system is fine but the control board is acting on the wrong temperature.
- PF simply records that power was interrupted; it is not a component failure and does not need a repair.
The Bottom Line
Write the code down exactly and read the model prefix off the rating plate before searching — the Er codes are LG conventions and advice for another Kenmore platform will not apply. If the freezer is warming, treat it as urgent.
Two letters, a space, and two more letters. If your refrigerator is showing something like Er FF or Er dH on the dispenser panel, you are looking at a fault family that only some Kenmore refrigerators can produce at all. Kenmore Elite refrigerator error codes in the Er format come from the LG-built side of the lineup, and knowing that before you start searching saves you from advice written for a completely different machine.
| Code | What the site records it as | What you notice first |
|---|---|---|
| Er FF | Freezer fan motor failure | Freezer warms while the compressor keeps running |
| Er CF | Condenser fan motor failure | Bottom rear of the cabinet is unusually hot |
| Er dH | Defrost heater circuit failure | Frost builds on the back wall of the freezer |
| Er IF | Ice compartment fan failure | Ice production drops, freezer still cold |
| Er FS / Er rS | Freezer or refrigerator sensor fault | Temperatures drift with no obvious cause |
| Er CO / SY CE | Control board communication error | Panel is lit but the display acts erratic |
| PF | Power failure detected | Code appears after an outage, cooling is fine |
Which Kenmore Refrigerators Show Er Codes
Kenmore never built refrigerators. Sears bought them from Whirlpool, LG and Frigidaire and put its own badge and model number on the door. The first three digits of the model number, everything before the decimal point, identify the manufacturer — and with it the entire fault vocabulary the machine speaks.
The Er prefix is the LG convention. A Kenmore refrigerator built on a different platform will not show Er FF for a failed freezer fan; it will show something else, or nothing at all and simply run warm. That is why the code archive on this site separates the codes by what they mean rather than assuming every Kenmore behaves alike, and why the entry for PF, power failure detected notes the 106-series refrigerators specifically.
The Fan Codes Are the Ones That Cost You Food
Three of these codes point at a fan, and they are worth separating because the consequences differ.
- Er FF, the freezer fan. The site records four symptoms for the Er FF fault: the freezer warms above 10°F while the compressor keeps running, the fresh food section loses cooling over the following six to twelve hours, the code alternates with the temperature reading on the panel, and the freezer door feels warm along the gasket. This is rated high severity, and for good reason — cold is being made and not delivered.
- Er CF, the condenser fan. For the Er CF fault the site lists a bottom rear that is unusually hot to the touch, a compressor running in long continuous cycles, both compartments warming over twelve to twenty-four hours, and either silence or a grinding noise from the bottom rear grille. The cooling system cannot shed heat, so it never catches up.
- Er IF, the ice compartment fan. Narrower in effect. The freezer stays cold, but the ice compartment does not get the airflow it needs and production falls off.
In all three cases a fan that has been blocked by frost behaves exactly like a fan that has burned out. That is not a distinction you can make from the front of the appliance.
Defrost and Sensor Codes Hide Behind the Symptom
Er dH is the defrost heater circuit. It rarely announces itself the way a fan failure does. Instead, frost accumulates on the evaporator behind the freezer's back panel until it blocks airflow, and what you actually observe is a freezer that is fine and a fresh food compartment that is slowly warming. By the time the temperatures are obviously wrong, the ice has been building for days.
The sensor codes, Er FS and Er rS, are the mirror image: nothing is physically failing in the cooling system, but the control board is being told the wrong temperature and acts on it. A refrigerator that runs far too cold is as much a fault as one that runs warm, and a drifting sensor produces both.
Er CO and SY CE both concern communication between boards. A display that lights up but behaves strangely, with settings that will not hold, belongs in this group rather than in the cooling group.
PF Is Not a Failure
Among all of these, PF is the odd one out. The site defines it simply as a power failure detected, and it appears after the supply has been interrupted — an outage, a tripped breaker, or someone unplugging the unit to clean behind it. The refrigerator is telling you that its cycle was interrupted, not that a part is bad.
Clear it the way the panel instructions describe, then check the food. A long outage matters more than the code does.
What to Do Before You Call
- Write down the code exactly. Er FF and Er FS are one letter apart and point at different parts.
- Read the model number off the rating plate. The prefix tells a technician which platform is under the badge before anyone opens a door.
- Move the food if the freezer is warming. Er FF and Er CF are both high severity and neither resolves on its own.
- Pull the unit out and look at the bottom rear grille. A condenser packed with dust and pet hair makes a working fan useless.
- Do not keep power cycling it. Clearing the display does not clear the fault, and it costs you the diagnostic history.
If the refrigerator is warm and no code is showing at all, start with our guide to a Kenmore refrigerator that is not cooling instead — the checks there apply regardless of which factory built the machine.
Getting It Looked At
Evaporator fans and defrost heaters sit behind the freezer's rear panel, and reaching them means emptying the compartment and dealing with whatever ice has already formed. Our Kenmore refrigerator repair service covers the cooling, defrost and sensing circuits, and appliance diagnostics confirms which of them the code is actually pointing at.
A service visit starts from $85. The final price is confirmed after the on-site diagnosis, and you get a written estimate before any work begins. If the freezer is warming, do not wait for a convenient time — book a visit and move what you can into a cooler in the meantime.