Groaning Whirpool fridge

[retro-man]

I have a top mount Whirlpool fridge at the beach house. Its about 4 years old and within a few months of purchase it started making groaning noises every time it started a cooling cycle. No big deal its just the liquid to gas transfer. As time went on it got louder but would stop in a minute or two. Had to have the water valve changed for the 4th time, which is another matter. Now here is what is strange, after moving the fridge out and jostling it around a bit to get to the valve putting back into place, the noise had stopped. Now this is not the 1st time this has been moved about. A couple of days later it started to come back again. I was in the kitchen when it started. I grabbed the top of the unit and shook it a bit. The noise stopped and has not come back again. So was something out of balance or not in place that was causing this. I had come to just live with the noise thinking it was just a quirk of the unit. The freezer seem to be a lot more even in temperature, there was some time that items on the floor of the freezer would not get solid. What is/was going on. Never heard of this before.

Jon

 

[philcobendixduo]

My Whirlpool Top-Mount Makes Odd Noises, Too

I have a 2010 Whirlpool (purchased in 2011) Model W1TXNMFWB01 that makes "odd noises" but only after the defrost cycle.
Of course, it makes the LOUD popping noises when defrost first starts (sudden change in temperature of plastic parts, I'm guessing due to defrost heater). Then, I hear the water dripping into the drain pan.
When defrost is done and the unit starts up, I sometimes hear a noise like an electric water pump running.
This continues on- off - on - off for a few minutes then stops. It could be compared to a "groaning noise" like you describe.
My unit has no ice maker so no water connections.
It works perfectly well and keeps both freezer and refrigerator at desired temperatures.
I've looked at the parts list for this model and there IS no water pump so I have no idea what is making the noise.

In regards to cleaning the coils on these units;
I tried to vacuum the condenser coils the other day but it is only possible to access the front row of coils.
How does one get to the coils behind the front row which are also covered in "fuzz"?
I'm going to try my shop vac and see if it's more powerful suction might dislodge the "fuzz" from the coils.

 

[ken]

Is there any access to coils from the back? Or is the cabinet solid all the way to the bottom? There are special long, narrow brushes made to clean fridge condensers.

 

[philcobendixduo]

Evaporator Coil Access

I have only tried to clean them from the front by removing the lower grill as directed in the manual.
I don't know about the back - I'm not too excited about moving refrigerators - even ones on wheels.
I have one of those special brushes along with a special tool for the vacuum but there is just no way to get access from the front. I tired sticking the brush under the fridge and it did dislodge some fuzz but not much.
It amazes me how dirty it gets when there are no pets and the house is kept very clean.
I'll try the shop vac and see how that works.
I might also try tilting the unit back a bit to get more access underneath (propped up on some wood blocks).

Still curious about that noise, though (the subject of the original question in this thread).

 

[rp2813]

We have a 2009 KitchenAid that makes various noises depending on what it's doing.  Generally during a normal cooling cycle it makes just a quiet whirring sound.  After defrosting, it kicks in with a loud buzzing sound that wanes within a minute or two.  This makes sense to me since the compressor is having to operate at full capacity after having been disengaged for a longer than average period of time.

 

Sometimes I'll walk past the fridge and it will be making a muffled sort of growling sound.  I presume this is a characteristic of its energy efficiency, and that it occurs when the compressor is operating at a reduced capacity.

 

The only other noise comes from the coiled copper water line behind the fridge.  It will clank sometimes when water shuts off after filling the ice tray or dispensing a glass of water.  Perhaps something similar is causing the noise on the subject fridge, but on a more consistent basis.

 

Our fridge has the same condenser configuration as Bill's.  Supposedly this design requires no vacuuming like earlier forced draft configurations in use since the 1950s.  I presume the logic is that by turning the coils sideways, the narrow tines on the front row catch the dust and lint and prevent it from reaching and smothering the coils behind it.   Besides vacuuming the front row, I do what I can wherever else the crevice tool will reach and call it done. 

 

[philcobendixduo]

Something Else About the 2010 Whirlpool Top Freezer

I notice that, unlike my previous 1987 GE 24Z refrigerator, this "new" Whirlpool actually blows the hot air OUT the front grille whereas the 1987 GE sucked the room air INTO the front grille and exhausted hot air out the back.
One would THINK that having the air intake on the BACK of the fridge would help keep the coils a lot cleaner but looking at them, they seem just a dirty.
At least on the GE, the coils were very easy to access from the front with no moving necessary.

http://something Else About the 2010 Whirlpool Top Freezer