refrigerator went toes up

[daspyknows]

I’d stay away from Fridgid Air , Whirlpool, and GE. Nothing is built to last anymore unless you step way up into commercial brand. We have had good luck with LG brand.

My LG appliances have all been trash. Doing a home remodel and the only one that still works properly is the microwave. Refrigerator the worst of the bunch. Avoid Samsung too.

 

[02ebz06]

I have an LG that is about 3 years old.
Has 2 ice makers, one in fridge door (cubes) and one in freezer ("craft" ice aka round balls).
The one in the fridge will have the cubes freeze together, holding the lever up so no ice gets made.
Doesn't happen too often, mainly depends on how often you use it.

The lower one will make 3 clear ice balls a day or 6 cloudy ones a day.
It had a problem where the balls wouldn't eject, then the fill cycle would run the water over the balls and down into the tray, freezing all ice in the tray together.
I had this replace 7 times under warranty at last house.
They blamed the problem on the water in the area, which may possible be true.
At that house we had well water, and city water at this house.

The ice maker failed at this house for a completely different reason.
Fortunately, one of the techs let me keep an ice makers that they replaced at last house.
I replaced it, and it is working.

I've only had the ice balls stick in it once.
Hack to fix is open freezer drawer, remove tray, press the test button.
When the tray has dropped down fully, pop the balls out with a long screwdriver.

I did do a Firmware upgrade on the fridge at this house, so I don't know if that or different water has improved the situation with the ice balls.

Also, did have the compressor replaced under warranty.
It was a recall.
If you look at the video in the link Chris_in_SoCal posted, their problem with compressors is mentioned.

All-in-all, operationally it is fine.

Also have a couple smaller ones. A side-by-side Whirlpool (beer fridge), don't use the ice-maker in it. that has worked fine for at least 7-8 years, and a smaller yet top freezer Frigidaire (brining and overflow fridge) that has worked fine for several years.

Of all the appliances I have, the Maytag freezer is the only one made in the USA.

 

[mike243]

The craft icemaker will always give problems, any of the icemakers that have plastic trays will build up minerals and cubes will stick. not a good way to clean them, icemakers are easy $ to repair companys. most only take a few minutes to replace but a few are a real pain,

 

[jcam222]

There isn't a brand out there that folks haven't had issues with. I recently thought mine was going bad and started shopping. I was going to go with a Samsung mega capacity French door 31.5 cu ft capacity. On sale at Lowe's for $1299! Ice maker in freezer and no water dispenser. I know they have issues but my Samsung has been overall good with them standing behind some things beyond warranty (law suit). I think the key on these anymore is buy the best deal and ALWAYS buy a good extended 5 year warranty.

 

[gmc2003]

We have the Samsung side-by-side with the bottom freezer. When researching fridges all the complaints seemed to focus on the ice-makers. Didn't really matter which brand. So we optioned out of the ice making capabilities. The fridge has been running strong since a few years before Covid. If we need Ice. I'll go to the local mom-n-pop store and pick up a bag, or make it the old fashion way with trays. Knock on wood I didn't just jinx our fridge.

Chris

 

[fxsales1959]

if you put your hand over the vent in the fresh food section and open the freezer door and you get more air flow the return air is stopped up, if it stays the same the evap coil is frozen up

so sorry to bother you. i feel like a re-t#$%d the vent i was speaking of is on the top left of the main frige. where might i find the return. there is a slight airflow coming out of that top vent. when i put temp probe up there its 38 degrees. but it seems there's not much airflow. mama has shit stuffed in the lower 1/3 of the frige. thank you for your patience.
found the return on left side of main chamber. Didn't seem like any suckage

 

[SmokinEdge]

My LG appliances have all been trash. Doing a home remodel and the only one that still works properly is the microwave. Refrigerator the worst of the bunch. Avoid Samsung too.

To be honest we have had our fridge since COVID era it is in fact a Kenmore Elite (Sears brand) but when I run the serial number it comes up as LG. So I guess made for Kenmore by LG. It’s a single door fridge no water/ice in the door, bottom freezer with ice maker. Ice maker went haywire after about 3 years so we turned off and just buy ice at the store and put it in the ice bin, otherwise runs without issue.

 

[mike243]

No problem if you look in the freezer side on the back panel do you see frost on it and maybe down at the very bottom where the grill is? A defrost is going to be needed either way and if it happens again it probably has a defrost problem, I wouldn't call a repairman until you defrost, there is a tec sheet either in the toe grill on the bottom or the right top hinge cover, worst comes to worst it gives details to force a defrost.

 

[mike243]

Most of the LG sealed system problems were with 2015-2019 units, icemaker is the first sign of cooling failure, it requires 10 or lower to make ice.

 

[mike243]

Did you open the freezer door when you had your hand by the vent to see if it got better? the return are vent is 1/2 way down the wall

 

[mike243]

When the fridge door was the culprit there will be frost blocking the return air

 

[pineywoods]

Not a fridge but we just got a GE Profile Washer and Dryer. Sister has the same models and so far so good with hers and ours.
Got a LG smart tv several months ago.
That said as has been said I don't think any of them are made to last anymore. I think they are all designed to make you buy new ones way before you think you should have to.

 

[fxsales1959]

No problem if you look in the freezer side on the back panel do you see frost on it and maybe down at the very bottom where the grill is? A defrost is going to be needed either way and if it happens again it probably has a defrost problem, I wouldn't call a repairman until you defrost, there is a tec sheet either in the toe grill on the bottom or the right top hinge cover, worst comes to worst it gives details to force a defrost.

again I appreciate your patience. I got it down to 36 and will continue to shop .FWIW there was no frost on back wall of freezer.I don't hav the time or patience to keep messing with it. probably be nice curb pick for someone with more patience /experience than me.

 

[chopsaw]

It's all a crap shoot anymore . I've been battling a Samsung French door / bottom freezer since 2017 . I even had a 5 year extended warranty on it .
With Mikes help I replaced the ice maker and all the service bulletin parts . Actually came in a kit .
Ice maker , drain tube heaters ( icemaker and Evap ) heated drain tube , condensate drip tabs , and a new mainboard . Silicone sealant for the ice room . Keeps the fridge temp for thawing the ice room . Got almost 2 years out of it with no problems .
It's now froze up again , and I'm using ice trays .

I have a new freestanding range showing up on Weds. All you can do is cross your fingers I guess .

 

[Florida Chris]

I'll add another YouTube link that seems pretty good. These guys calculate the percentage of service calls vs. product sold. I've even seen videos where they will recommend a rival product line OVER their own name brand.

Surprisingly, Samsung and LG rate pretty highly. The issue is they sell more so you find more negative reviews. Makes sense.

https://www.youtube.com/@YaleAppliance1

 

[Brokenhandle]

Probably not an option for you where you live but we buy local here. Even if things cost a bit more than a big box store. For the main reason that they have repairmen that can fix them.

Ryan

 

[Winterrider]

Not a fridge but we just got a GE Profile Washer and Dryer. Sister has the same models and so far so good with hers and ours.
Got a LG smart tv several months ago.
That said as has been said I don't think any of them are made to last anymore. I think they are all designed to make you buy new ones way before you think you should have to.

It sure does seem like we live in a throwaway world now.

 

[fxsales1959]

end of story. thank you all.
bought new GE today

 

[fxsales1959]

Probably not an option for you where you live but we buy local here. Even if things cost a bit more than a big box store. For the main reason that they have repairmen that can fix them.

Ryan

el local no speaky English

 

[mike243]

It's all a crap shoot anymore . I've been battling a Samsung French door / bottom freezer since 2017 . I even had a 5 year extended warranty on it .
With Mikes help I replaced the ice maker and all the service bulletin parts . Actually came in a kit .
Ice maker , drain tube heaters ( icemaker and Evap ) heated drain tube , condensate drip tabs , and a new mainboard . Silicone sealant for the ice room . Keeps the fridge temp for thawing the ice room . Got almost 2 years out of it with no problems .
It's now froze up again , and I'm using ice trays .

I have a new freestanding range showing up on Weds. All you can do is cross your fingers I guess .

The door flap builds minerals under it, you can unplug unit remove 1 screw and get enough room to clean the flapper and where it seats, 1 thing to look for is where it seats they make that in 2 sections and glue it together, if its not perfectly smooth it wont ever work properly, we ordered 2 door and both came with the same fault