Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer

fortMac

I have an 8 year old Whirlpool 6th Sense American Fridge Freezer that is no longer working properly. For the past 6 weeks or so the temperature in the fridge has been up around 11 celsius when it is set to 4 on the front panel. The freezer isn't as cold as it should be either.

I cleaned out the front bottom vent last week, it was clogged up with dog hair and dirt, and treated the door seals with some gummi pflege. After plugging it back in it worked for about a day before warming up again.

Got in touch with Whirlpool and an engineer came out yesterday to take a look at it. After about 5 minutes of inspection and a quick look at his laptop he diagnosed it as not fixable and recommended a new one. He said basically it is losing gas and it would not be feasible to repair it.

Now I'm not doubting a Whirlpool certified technician (well maybe I am)...but is there anything else I can do or test myself before I hand out €1000+ on a new fridge? I'm wondering is this a known fault or are Whirlpool not bothered fixing older appliances?

A quick internet search returns a number of cheap to replace parts that can go in this particular fridge and from what I have read it is rare that a gas leak is the problem.

The Red Ace

unplug the fridge and leave the doors en for 24 hours or more and then plug it bacg it back in again, i would suspect the evap is gummed up with ice preventing proper circulation from the fan unit, let us know what the result is.

fortMac

The Red Ace wrote: »

unplug the fridge and leave the doors en for 24 hours or more and then plug it bacg it back in again, i would suspect the evap is gummed up with ice preventing proper circulation from the fan unit, let us know what the result is.

Cheers Ace, I plugged it out and emptied it last night. At the back of the freezer there is a plastic cover that runs the height of the freezer, I took this off and behind it is what I think is the evaporator? (I googled it!). It didn't look too icy. There is a black plastic electrical box (thermostat/relay/switch?) connected to the top of the evaporator and this had a lump of ice stuck to it. Anyway it's staying plugged out until tomorrow and we'll see what happens. Is there an easy way to test if the fan is working?

The Red Ace

Ok, before you re assemble it let it run for 10/15 minutes and then check the evap coils , they should be icy, if not the w/p tech is correct in saying it is down in gas, to check the operation of the fan push in the micro switch button with the door open, this will knock out the light and bring on the fan

fortMac

Right so I put it all back together and plugged it in and left it for a few minutes. The fan was coming on and off if I pressed the light switch. So I left it for around 6 hours and came back and everything seemed perfect, freezing cold freezer and fridge was down around zero (I had it set to 2 degrees). I had it all back together before I read your reply Ace so didn't check the evaporator.
Anyway I proceeded to put food back in so the doors were opened and closed a good few times over about 20 mins. By the time I was done the fridge had gone up to 12 degrees and freezer is starting to feel damp inside. I checked the fan and it is no longer coming on and off with the switch. This was 2 hours ago and the temperature is still the same.
So I'm back where I started, are these symptoms caused by low gas or is there something else going on?

The Red Ace

it is not down in gas once it got the temp down as you describe, leave it run on and it may settle down otherwise do as in post 4 and check the fan for running. it also has a fan to cool the compressor which you would need to check for running and reqd when the unit is loaded with food

fortMac

OK I'll leave it until tomorrow, fridge is up at 15 now. I tried plugging it out again there to see if it would reset itself but no luck. I noticed the motor air diffuser (I identified it on whirlpool parts website ) in the top left of the fridge makes a ticking noise for 30 seconds when I plug it back in?
If I press the button to turn off the light in the fridge the fan no longer comes on, it did come on when I did this first thing this morning when I first plugged it in?

Fiafann

We are having the same problem now with that brand. 8 year old American fridge freezer. Had a call out in August as the fridge was freezing but then two weeks ago started tripping the switches and died. Engineer said its gas/compressor. Can't be replaced

Absolutely fuming as its only 8 years old. Surely they should last longer. Don't know what brand to go for now!

jones

Fiafann wrote: »

We are having the same problem now with that brand. 8 year old American fridge freezer. Had a call out in August as the fridge was freezing but then two weeks ago started tripping the switches and died. Engineer said its gas/compressor. Can't be replaced

Absolutely fuming as its only 8 years old. Surely they should last longer. Don't know what brand to go for now!

Think I'm in the same position as you guys. Whirlpool 6th sense American fridge freezer the freezer part still seems cold but the fridge side didn't seem to be cool at all now. Only happened in the last week or so. Fridge is about 8 years old aswell. I presume you guys just got new fridges?

Fiafann

jones wrote: »

Think I'm in the same position as you guys. Whirlpool 6th sense American fridge freezer the freezer part still seems cold but the fridge side didn't seem to be cool at all now. Only happened in the last week or so. Fridge is about 8 years old aswell. I presume you guys just got new fridges?

When it happened us initially we had the engineer out. Had the option of paying the full call out etc or taking out the insurance in case it died again. Anyway we went for the insurance option coz they said if it's unrepairable within a year you get a new fridge. So all was ok after first call out until it completely died. Engineer came out and said. It fixable so we were entitled to a new machine under the policy. They fought us and fought us. Said we never had a first call out etc etc. Went on for over a month but after putting in a complaint they investigated and said we were entitled to it and we got a new fridge from them!
I'm wondering if all their products have an 8-10 year shelf life. We bought all whirlpool products when we re-did our kitchen and one by one they've all died!

jones

Fiafann wrote:

When it happened us initially we had the engineer out. Had the option of paying the full call out etc or taking out the insurance in case it died again. Anyway we went for the insurance option coz they said if it's unrepairable within a year you get a new fridge. So all was ok after first call out until it completely died. Engineer came out and said. It fixable so we were entitled to a new machine under the policy. They fought us and fought us. Said we never had a first call out etc etc. Went on for over a month but after putting in a complaint they investigated and said we were entitled to it and we got a new fridge from them! I'm wondering if all their products have an 8-10 year shelf life. We bought all whirlpool products when we re-did our kitchen and one by one they've all died!

I wonder what the expected life of these fridges is? I've seen Samsung fridges say something about ten year warranty but not sure what it covers

Fiafann

jones wrote: »

I wonder what the expected life of these fridges is? I've seen Samsung fridges say something about ten year warranty but not sure what it covers

According to salespeople they break down a lot quicker as there's a lot more moving parts

andwa

Just been in contact with Whirlpool to be told that parts for an 8 year old unit are no longer available. Take a word of advice and do not touch these products with a barge pole. Now have to fork out €1500 for a new one. Absolutely disgraceful!!!

cavan4sam

andwa wrote: »

Just been in contact with Whirlpool to be told that parts for an 8 year old unit are no longer available. Take a word of advice and do not touch these products with a barge pole. Now have to fork out €1500 for a new one. Absolutely disgraceful!!!

Did you get sorted ?
Mine is on the blink again i had an engineer look at it a couple of years ago and he recommended to leave it off for 48hrs and stressed the 48 hrs being very important and if that didn't sort it that the problems was a rear board . i can source one on ebay but want to wait and see my fridge is 11 yrs old at this stage

ncit9933

The "leaving it off for 48Hrs" trick worked for us, well has been running OK since we done that a couple of months ago

cavan4sam

Afraid it didn't work this time so I'm gonna order a new rear pcb and hope for the best

cavan4sam

ncit9933 wrote: »

The "leaving it off for 48Hrs" trick worked for us, well has been running OK since we done that a couple of months ago

Just checked the coil and the little drain was blocked with a bit of plastic

Also there was an ice lolly sitting on the fan so I'm hoping the fan isnt burned out
I'll let it defrost again and see how it goes