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Refrigerator repair story with a happy ending !

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Refrigerator repair story with a happy ending ! wgd 07-02-2005
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Posted by wgd on July 2, 2005, 5:47 pm
My 10 year old Roper/Whirlpool 20 cu. ft. side-by-side refrigerator
stopped cooling properly. I picked out a local appliance repair shop
form the yellow pages. They have been in business since 1957 and have an
acceptable record with the BBB. Their basic charge for an on site repair
call is $89.95 (Phila. suburbs). This fee is then applied against the
total repair bill.

After the repair guy returns the paper work with his diagnosis they
determine the total repair cost. The customer is then called and has the
choice whether or not to go ahead with the repairs.

I paid attention to what the repair guy was doing. He was mainly
checking the operation of what I later found out was the evaporator fan
motor. It was working sporadically or not at all. The guy spent about 15
minutes doing the work.

I wanted to get an idea what the repair would cost. I had just paid for
a $950 air conditioner repair on my truck and didn't need any more large
repair bills.

The evaporator fan motor is just a small electric motor mounted above
the evaporator coils in this model. I researched the price online and
found out that they cost about $50. So, I figured this would be a
relatively cheap repair. The repair shop called with a repair price of
$359.76!

I was shocked. Before I did anything else I wanted to find out if I
could remove the existing motor. It wasn't hard at all. It was held it
place by a small plastic bracket. The only hard part was figuring out
how to remove the fan blade before the motor could be removed. It was
just a pressure fit over the motor drive shaft.

Once I knew how to remove the motor I knew I would be able to install a
new one. So I went ahead and ordered the parts from www.partselect.com
for my Roper model (RS20EKXDW00). They carry genuine Whirlpool
replacement parts. In addition to the evaporator fan motor I ordered a
new fan blade, and two new rubber mounting "grommets". The total
including shipping was $68.36. I received the parts two days after
placing the order.

It took me about 15 minutes to carefully install the new evaporator fan
motor. Now my refrigerator is working like new and I saved a couple of
hundred dollars. Plus I get the satisfaction of doing the repair myself
instead of paying an absurd amount for such a simple repair.

This was my first attempt at any type of appliance repair.

Warren







Special 468x60
Posted by Travis Jordan on July 2, 2005, 5:56 pm
wgd wrote:
> Once I knew how to remove the motor I knew I would be able to install
> a new one. So I went ahead and ordered the parts from
> www.partselect.com for my Roper model (RS20EKXDW00). They carry
> genuine Whirlpool replacement parts. In addition to the evaporator
> fan motor I ordered a new fan blade, and two new rubber mounting
> "grommets". The total including shipping was $68.36. I received the
> parts two days after placing the order.

Good job and congratulations.

Next time make a note that Roper is built by Whirlpool and the
evaporator fan motor / blade is a very common failure. So the parts are
widely available. Just for example:

http://www.azpartsmaster.com/shopazp/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=WHP482731



Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on July 2, 2005, 6:12 pm

> Their basic charge for an on site repair
> call is $89.95 (Phila. suburbs). This fee is then applied against the
> total repair bill.

OK, that seems fair.

> I figured this would be a
> relatively cheap repair. The repair shop called with a repair price of
> $359.76!

They may be reputable as far as cp,[;aomts. but that is not a b argain at
all.


> including shipping was $68.36. I received the parts two days after
> placing the order.
>
> It took me about 15 minutes to carefully install the new evaporator fan
> motor.

Now that's a happy ending. This is a common failure and I've done them a
few times in my fridge and for others.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/



Posted by David Martel on July 2, 2005, 6:27 pm
wgd,

Aren't you still on the hook for the initial visit and diagnosis
(89.95)?. Anyway, congratulations. Now that you know how easy DIY is keep it
up. Before you know it you'll be posting here with advice and
misinformation.

Dave M.



Posted by wgd on July 2, 2005, 7:53 pm
marte005@earthlink.net says...
> wgd,
>
> Aren't you still on the hook for the initial visit and diagnosis
> (89.95)?. Anyway, congratulations.Now that you know how easy DIY is keep it
> up. Before you know it you'll be posting here with advice and
> misinformation.
>
Yes, I still had to pay for the initial visit and diagnosis.

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