Learned something new today

mikefamig

Senior Member
I just learned something new today that this group might find interesting and may even help someone down the road. Last night my refrigerator stopped cooling and I learned that the new bottom mount refrigerators made by many manufacturers including amana use the same ADC adaptive defrost control board. I also learned that it has service menus that you can enter to execute tessts by pressing the temp control buttons.
 
http://applianceassistant.com/Refrigerator-Repair/W10503278-Refrigerator-Control-Diagnostics-Repair.php
 
The test functions on the control are very helpful and I'm convinced that the control board needs to be replaced and I have a repair man coming out in the morning to work on it. I considered replacing the board myself but I want my refrigerator back in a hurry and don't have his experience or parts on hand.
 
So now this week my pellet stove died and my refrigerator died and they say that bad things come in threes. I guess time will tell. It occurred to me that I might have been hit by a power surge causing the failures but the pellet stove is very old and has been failing on and off since I started it up this season and the fridge is ten years old so I;m not convinced. I also have a whole house surge deviceon teh load center.
 
Anyway go play with your fridge , it's a good thing to know about when the beer gets warm.
 
Mike.
 
Here about two years ago our ice maker failed on a 5 year old refrigerator that we paid too much for.  I DIY'd repaired it purchasing the ice maker.  It was a bit low on the WAF.  Sister in law had the same issue.  Estimate for her was $500 and about 1 hour worth of work.
 
The ice maker module is common with many different refrigerators. Thinking I paid less than $100
 
IE: Manufacturers: Admiral , Amana , Admiral , Amana , Caloric , Crosley , Estate , Inglis , Jenn-Air , KitchenAid , Roper , Vesta , Whirlpool
 
0002878_whirlpool-refrigerator-icemaker-w10300023_300.jpeg

I took the defective one apart and found that the defrosting / freezing plates had burnt up (to a crisp). 
 
There was no explanation relating to this issue at one appliance clinic forum.  The folks there were very helpful as the site was associated to an appliance parts website.
 
Here never did like the taste of the ice even though it is running through an RO and water has a built in cartridge water filter.
 
Just an FYI as it is an easy take apart, diagnostics  and fix. 
 
We had an icemaker die, with no detectable signs of damage.  I fished around with the compatible part numbers and found a replacement for quite a lot less than one specifically listed for the GE fridge (which has been fine otherwise).  I'll say this, the GE-branded water filter cartridges for it are pricey, but they definitely do a significantly superior job vs aftermarket. 
 
But I can definitely understand where someone would want their fridge back working NOW rather than waiting on parts and hoping to do the replacement successfully.
 
I'm no expert in appliance repair, but had to fix many things. Right now I need to replace the pump for my washing machine - which I already replaced a few years ago!!!
 
Ice makers.... mine hasn't been working for 10 years! I had it repaired when it failed after around 1 year as it was still under warranty and the replacement unit lasted about the same time (which was around the same time my parent's went out on them) so I said F it I'll use trays. I only use ice when having a "drink" anyway.
 
Right now I need to replace the pump for my washing machine - which I already replaced a few years ago!!!
 
Noticed now with the help of the internet / googling there are DIY's for just about anything these days...which is a good thing...
 
IE: unrelated to appliances having to deal with an automotive design flaw...which finally has been redone/redesigned (after 15 years?)...meanwhile it was accepted to just replace the part with the flawed part and accept that you would have to change it every couple of years....if you drove the vehicle....
 
It was about a year ago one early Sunday morning here that the plastic drain tube decided to leak on the washing machine.  Taking it all apart I did notice that while the design was good and the plastic was cheap.
 
Basically the washer was dysfunctional and this was very low on the WAF.
 
Googling found it to be a trend with brand of washer....went to the local Ace hardware store and CS guy made me (literally) a new drain tube which I fitted in to the taken apart washer.  Washer was running fine by late morning....
 
Here I have a very bad habit of chewing ice like popcorn as a treat which now seems to be affecting my teeth...(age thing?)...
 
For a while here did change the filter cartridges on the water lines and then went to lower cost substitutes ...didn't ever really change the taste of the water any ways (RO water though is perfect until it gets to the refrigerator)....did read about a procedure / process relating to running a bit of bleach through the plastic a few times to get rid of the plastic taste...never have done that though...I do like that the whole water / ice thing uses sensors and is a bit automated now...
 
I know that it is very expensive to "call the guy" to fix the fridge but there is the WAF factor and it is really a pleasure once in a while to look the other way. I could end up waiting days for a replacement board to come in the mail and get the wrong part or find that my diagnosis was wrong or who knows what other hell it may turn into while I'm eating out of a cooler in the garage. I am repairing the pellet stove myself because it is a basement stove tha tI don't run that often and there is no urgency to get it running but I'm going to enjoy paying the guy to fix the fridge.
 
The nice man came this morning and confirmed my diagnosis of a failed ADC board. He defrosted the machine with a hair dryer and it is working again. He says to use it and that it will be fine for a few days until he gets a replacement board.
 
Mike.
 
wkearney99 said:
I've had great success in the past with parts from Repairclinic.com
 
http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Main-Control-Board/W10503278/2684578
 
Ouch, $200, but at least there's a $60 core value on the board.  No doubt someone knows which of the 10-cent components regularly fails.
 
I can't wait to see what the repair-man is going to charge me for it?!!  I'm thinking about having my wife pay him and never telling me how much it all cost.
 
Mike.
 
:rockon:
 
Ding, ding, ding!
 
Winner winner chicken dinner!
 
@mike I admit I am no car mechanic and always learning here...unrelated to OP...look at my picture...see how grey my hair is...
 
Note too here wife thought text to speech was invented recently on a syndicated television talk show...80's speech was just related to the demon seed house...
 
I write the above and did sleep next to the water heater to manually turn it on for spousal use (it was high on the WAF) before it was fixed.
 
mikefamig said:
I'm thinking about having my wife pay him and never telling me how much it all cost.
 
Which is kind of a double-edged sword.  On one hand your DIY labors might gain respect for their dollar value.  On the other you'd be pressed into similarly speedy response time "for free".  Tough call, depends entirely on the spousal relationship.  
 
mikefamig said:
I am repairing the pellet stove myself because it is a basement stove tha tI don't run that often and there is no urgency to get it running
 
Good luck with the stove. A few weeks back my wife wanted me to test the wood stove in our basement. We bought the house in August and never owned a wood stove before. The folks who owned the house before us did not take care of their stove. I had to put in a new catalytic combustor (which was altogether missing), replace the refractory (which was 50% destroyed), replace the lower fireback (which was warped), replace a thermostat (which was broken), and regasket the whole thing because some of the gaskets were flat out gone and what remained was brittle. Works fine now but it was a crash course in wood stove technology for me, and the test which should have taken one afternoon turned out to be a multi-weekend and evening affair.
 
And the best secret out there are almost every major appliance (and some minor ones) have instruction manuals with schematics and troubleshooting processes for service techs, hidden behind an access panel or the first trim piece removed when servicing the unit.
 
I found the documents on my stove when it burned a heating element but nothing with the refrigerator. I learned about the test procedures for the fridge online.
 
The guy that came out for the fridge seems very fair. He quoted about $250 for the job and he has to come out a second time. The control board online for $200 must be very over-priced. He manually defrosted the box this morning so that it will run until he gets the new board. Then he'll come back out and change it.
 
Mike.
 
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