The Fan Had Stopped, but the Fan Motor Was Not the First Part to Blame
The Miele alarmed, the display showed 52°F and the evaporator fan was physically trapped by ice near the drain area. This model used a separate drain heater as well as an evaporator heater, and the drain-heater circuit measured open.
What was found
- The display showed 52°F and an alarm was active.
- A separate interior measurement was reported near 38°F.
- The evaporator fan could not turn because ice surrounded the lower coil and drain-area assembly.
- The evaporator and drain-area heaters were separate branches.
- The drain-heater circuit measured open.
A similar symptom can have a different cause on another refrigerator. The strength of this case is the combination of ice location, model design and an electrical measurement, not the alarm or stopped fan by itself.
How the evidence narrowed the diagnosis
The temperature discrepancy justified a closer inspection
The 52°F display and the reported interior measurement near 38°F showed that the alarm, sensor reading or cooling behavior was not stable. Those numbers did not identify a part.
The fan was mechanically locked by ice
The fan could not move air, but that did not prove its motor had failed. The first useful question became why ice had formed around the fan and lower evaporator area.
The location of the ice pointed toward the drain-area branch
Ice concentrated near the drain and lower coil made a local drain/defrost problem more plausible than a generic “fan failure.” The exact heater still needed a measurement.
The separate drain heater measured open
That reading supported a failed drain-area heater circuit. A working evaporator heater would not clear this separate branch, which is why the model-specific wiring mattered.
Why the obvious fan replacement would have been weak
A stopped fan
Proved that air was not moving. It did not distinguish a failed motor from a good motor trapped in ice.
Ice near the drain area
Made a local defrost or drain-heating fault worth testing. It did not identify the circuit alone.
An open drain-heater reading
Provided the component-level evidence that the visual symptom could not provide.
What should be recorded on another refrigerator
- Where the ice is: whole coil, fan housing, drain trough or an air channel.
- Which heater branches exist on the exact model.
- Which isolated circuit was measured and under what conditions.
- Whether the drain path itself is clear.
- How the cabinet pulls down and holds temperature after the repair.
The source discussion did not include a later stabilized-temperature record. That missing measurement should be added to future cases even when the diagnosis itself is strong.