My 2011 Whirlpool refrigerator

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Sounds like a shoddy repair to me too

X2. Sounds like he threw parts at it instead of taking time to diagnose the specific problem. Well, hopefully the problem was fixed. Keep us updated.
 
I think we know the control board was bad.  The fridge kept running when set to "OFF."

 

Phil's suggestion that the evaporator fan motor may have burned out after its blades were immobilized by accumulated ice certainly sounds plausible to me. 

 

It seems to me that even if the fridge was running for a few days non-stop, that would not be long enough for a large glacier to form on the evaporator and cause its fan to seize up.  That points me to the defrost timer.  I think if the defrost timer is dependent on the control board, it wouldn't have necessarily needed to be replaced.  If the defrost timer operates autonomously, I would consider it the prime suspect for causing solid ice to accumulate on the evaporator and wreck the evaporator fan.

 

It sounds like both the control board and defrost timer went bad, perhaps either of them failing because the other one did, and the evaporator fan was collateral damage.

 

Regardless, none of this forgives the tech for not de-icing the evaporator so the refrigerator could be used immediately afteward. 
 
I seriously doubt a refrigerator this new has a defrost timer. Most all fucntions are controled by the main control board, that most likely activates a relay on the board to turn on the defrost heater. To quote a link text " GE electronic refrigerators have a main board. This main board controls every function from defrost, fan speed, the compressor and even compressor speed. To control the defrost cycle, the main board monitors things such as how many times and how long the door is open, as well as length of past defrost cycles to adjust to environment and usage and adapts.

This ensures that the refrigerator doesn’t defrost too often while at the same time ensuring that it defrosts enough to maintain the evaporator coils. There are four things that can cause a defrost problem on a GE electronic refrigerator and they are the main board, the defrost thermostat, the evaporator thermistor and the defrost heater. Follow the directions below to diagnose which of the four parts are bad."

Also shaded pole motors are not prone to burn out due to their construction, even in a locked rotor state. It just sounds to me like this guy wanted to pad his bill. A friend at work has a Whirlpool french door model, and his either wasn't defrosting or was stuck in defrost mode, I can't remember. But they had to replace the main board on his. The funny thing was his parents liked that fridge, so they bought one and had the same problem. So far my 2010 GE Profile SXS has been flawless.

 
Couldn't anyone

be glad that it's fixed?

Couldn't anyone have some sympathy for the food loss and the time loss?

As for the methodology the tech used...... It was covered. I could not have afforded any repair this time of the month.

I am thinking about leaving here for good and for all.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

Our 2009 Whirlpool did the same in 2010.  I just read through this thread and just like yours it ran and ran and did not keep coolenough,  We had (have warrenty like yu was able to put frozen food in chest freezer.  They same parts had to be replaced as yurs and knock wood it has run like a champion since.    It took 2 weeks for service to come out and say what was wrong and 3 more days to get the parts and come back and fix it.  We had our old Amana in the garage so could shuffle food there. 

 

My thinking is the top freezer and SxS's were made in Ft. Smith and the last few years big time layoffs until the moved everything to Mexico.  The last couble of years they ran production mostly with Temp Help.  That factory went from 6.000 plus employess in 2000 to empty today.  Just had on our local news that now the site is hazordous waste site. 

 

I am so glad you got it fixed and did not loose anything. 

 

Like I said ours has been doing good since.
 
 
Lawrence, of course it's great your refrigerator is fixed!  Many people aren't attuned to the behavior and operation of their appliances.  The average consumer likely wouldn't have noticed the off-kilter run pattern and the problem would have progressed with freezer and fresh food temps continuing to rise due to the insufficient airflow and cooling.

Brings to mind the time I was visiting one of my aunts, sitting in her kitchen for just a few minutes I noticed her refrigerator compressor repeatedly trying to start and clicking-off on overload.  I brought it to her attention.  She hadn't noticed and didn't know that it indicated a problem.  The problem apparently had just started within a couple/few hours as the inside temps hadn't yet noticeably increased.  She called for service and told me later that a part was bad (start relay).
 
Oh Lawrence

Totally missed this thread because of the resurrection of all the closed threads, can't keep up reading at the moment.

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about your trouble with your almost new fridge. Darn! But glad you got it repaired and that the repair was covered. Indeed a pity about the food that was lossed, but better safe than sorry. I hope you were able to safe some by using it instantly.

Hope you are well! Sometimes it's hard to live with us, but you can't live without us either.

Best wishes,

Louis
 
Sorry for your situation and glad its up and running again. could have been worse. in the early 2000's bought a new amana ss. had it about 2 months and went on vacation. came home 2 weeks later and walked in the door and the smell just about knocked me over. the unit had never defrosted and while we were gone it froze up entirely. everything in the freezer was melted and rotting. frig section was no better. at least amana sent me a check for 300.00 to cover some of the cost of the food. they replace the defrost timer and took the back cover of the freezer off and used a heat gun to melt the glacier. lasted 10 years then the compressor quit. i guess you never have these problems with a manual defrost system.
Jon
 
Whirlpool fridge too warm

Glad to hear Maytagbear's fridge is ok. I am adding my experiences for those who have the same brand of fridge and will probably encounter these issues. I don't work for Whirlpool but another company that makes appliances.
My Kitchenaid (Whirlpool) 2005 side-by-side has developed the "too warm in the fridge compartment" twice.
Both had different causes. I fixed both.
In the first case, the fridge ran warm but the freezer was cold. I DID notice that in the preceding weeks I would hear a strange mechanical noise periodically. It sounded a bit like Pac-Man.
As it turns out, the motorized air-door at that allows freezer air to enter the refrigerator compartment was stuck closed. In my case it is in the top rear of the refrigerator compartment. You can determine this part is faulty by putting the fridge into the service mode and opening/closing the air-door. Or just using a hand mirror from time to time to see if it ever opens.
Anyway, I replaced same part (It was labeled "made in China" yeesh). And that problem went away.

Years later, the fridge went warm again. The evaporator in the freezer iced up. I defrosted it and all was well for six months and it iced up again. I didn't know cause so I defrosted again. This happened about three times.
The last time I put the unit into defrost with the service mode but the defrost Calrod heater was cold. No AC was getting to the Calrod. When I went to check the defrost thermostat I heard " BING" and all of a sudden the AC was flowing again.
I replaced the defrost thermostat and never had the icing trouble again.
 
Feeling Right

We have all become friends through the years and replies feel different from friend to friend. Lawrence is particularly careful to word every response to be non polarizing and deserves the same in response. The repair tech can write what he wants, true or not and if Whirlpool continues to use and reimburse such work the oness is on the manufacturer, not Lawrence. Regardless, its a bit disconcerting to have a new appliance hiccough soon out of the gate and tends to make the owner a bit over vigilant in tracking its performance and trusting it to perform while away. At the end of the day, Lawrence was right and right to be concerned, the refrigerator has been serviced and hopefully the integrity of the food was preserved through cooking or second use and we're back to business as usual. I'd say warm thoughts to you Maytagbear but I don't want to jinx the repair.
 
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