Fridge Repairman Here ?
 

The condenser fan motor conked out on our side-by-side Frigidaire. It's about 16 years old. Local repairmen say it has a 1 watt motor.

Seems that the 1 watt motors are rare, now. The only one they've found, so far, is nearly $200. Many of the motors used on later models are less than $50.

So, anybody here know where to buy a 1 watt fan motor, that will work , for a reasonable price ?

Was gonna buy a new fridge. But, because of the virus, the model TJ wants will not be back in production 'til August, at the earliest.

We're using a tower fan behind it, til we can get a small fan working. Seems to work just fine. Learned this would work, on the internet. It's amazing how much Google knows. :)

repairclinic.com will have it. Its the same one used in older GE units.

what's the model number of the frig? I will look it up and check price and availability.

OK. Thanks !

OK. Thanks !

The refrigeration guys got the numbers. But I don't have 'em.

I'll try to find 'em, then post.

OK, the model # looks to be : FRS23R4CQ3

Here's the fan repairclinic.com shows for our model # FRS23R4CQ3

https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDet...918549/1637660

Can anybody agree that this is indeed the correct 1 watt motor, for this model fridge ? :confused:

OK, after doing some more research, looks like the motor I posted was an evaporator fan motor. But what I need is the condenser fan motor.

Looks like it now comes as a complete assembly, with the motor, fan, & bracket.

Even found a YouTube video of a guy doing the swap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_YluLoCbfE

Part number is 5303918774, I hope.

https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDet...918774/4454685

frigidaireapplianceparts.com agrees.

https://www.frigidaireapplianceparts...20fan%20motor/

https://www.frigidaireapplianceparts...erm=frs23r4cq3

This fan kit looks to be quite common & is listed on lots of sites, including Wal Mart. Shipped price looks to be from around $65, & up. The motor in the WM pic shows to be a Panasonic brand.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/530391877...-Kit/935507950

looks correct.

Yeah, if that's it, looks like anyone could track it down, online.

I think what my cooling guy was hung up on was the 1 watt rating. He said that the original motor was the 1st 1 watt motor he'd ever seen.

But, since even frigidaireapplianceparts.com shows the 5303918774 kit is the correct one for our model, I assume it will work, regardless of what the watt rating of the motor is.

I just called the guy & he has ordered the kit. Said it was supposed be here in a couple of days.

Just noticed this thread & decided to update.

Had the local AC guy put in a new fan. Had to remove the old bracket as well as the fan. He then gassed it up & presented us with the bill, for about $200.

Everything worked great, for about 4 days. Then the gas leaked out. :(

Well, I think just the service call was $85. So, to gas it up again would have cost $85 + the gas + probably a min of 1/2 hour labor, @ probably $65 per hour. Since there was obviously a gas leak, we decided NOT to spend any more money on it.

Made a deal with the AC man to give him the old fridge if he'd gas it up one more time, then pick up & deliver our new small fridge.

He agreed. But, he didn't find/make time to go get it. He talked a friend of his into doin it for him. Then he "suggested" that we give the guy $20 for his trouble. Well, the $20 price wasn't a problem. But, that was NOT the deal we made.

Why do so many people nowadays think that what you say has no meaning at all ? Seems that LOTS of people will tell/promise whatever they think you wanna hear, knowing they'll never follow thru with it.

But, we decided to just pay the guy, give our fridge to the AC man, thank 'em both, & remember to never do business with that AC man again.

Because of Covid, we couldn't find the new big fridge we wanted. The GE plant was closed. So, we went ahead & ordered one thru Best Buy 6/13. Estimated delivery time was mid-August. Then got an Email saying it would be late Sept. Recently got another Email saying it will be late Oct.

But, now we have the new small top freezer model out on the back porch, along with a chest freezer. So, we told the guy that we'll just keep waiting 'til they make one. Expecting a big price increase on the new ones. But, since we already paid for this one, MAYBE they'll have to honor the price we paid. We hope.

Scrapper here,,those freezer condenser motors are similar to the motors in the cheap small box 120V heaters,saw a vid on u tube how to fix motor, shaft gets gummed up and stops working,carefully disassemble,clean ,use sewing machine oil and reasemble..

Still Waiting
 

"...Recently got another Email saying it will be late Oct..."


Well, the Oct date passed. No fridge & no new date given. No word, at all.

So, I called. After checking on the order status, the lady said the new date of arrival is Dec 23. Somehow we don't think that will happen. But hey, if it does happen & it works good, that will be a good Christmas present.

We really don't have a clue if the GE plant that makes these is even back up & running. If they are, no telling how far behind schedule they are. And no telling how far down the list our model is. I figure they'll make the really high priced models 1st, in order to maximize profits.

But, our new small fridge & old chest freezer are still working just fine. Just requires a few extra steps. The biggest thing we miss is the instant ice & filtered water. But, we lived without that convenience 'til 2004. So, we can live without it.

Many times I've thought of how people lived BEFORE there was electricity, running water, indoor plumbing, & motor vehicles. People had to heat their homes & cook, using wood burning stoves & fireplaces. And there were no power saws to cut the wood, nor gas powered splitters. It all had to be done with hand tools. But, many millions of people survived those conditions.

If somehow, all of a sudden, people had to go back to all that, I assume there would be mass suicide, world wide. Thankful to have lived in this modern era, rather than trying to survive the living conditions of the past. :)

https://customernet.geappliances.com...OpenDispatcher

IF you have the model number of your fridge, you should be able to check availability here.

if u live in a large enough town put a ad in craigslist so the scrappers see it ,,plenty of friges go to scrap yard every day,, plenty with good fan motors too..about 6-8 inches of wiring on these motors, should be easy to wire another one up..some may be old ,but they wont cost u 80$$ either..pay 5 or 10 for one that works and the scrapper will be glad to bring u one ,or u can drive over and see if it works before u pull it..seen plenty of motor fans like that in my years of scrapping wont be hard to find another used one like it..

Thanks !

But we paid to have a new fan installed, months ago. It then had a gas leak. So, we decided to give it to the repairman. The deal was that he was supposed to keep gassing it up 'til he could pick up a new, smaller fridge we bought at Lowes & deliver it to us.

But he even stiffed us for that, having a friend of his pick it up & then "suggesting" that we pay him $20 for his trouble.

Hey, it was only 20 bucks. But I was steamed ! :mad:

I hate it when anybody lies to me. But, this was a local professional repairman. And he probably fixed the leak & sold our old fridge for a couple of hundred bucks. All he had to do was just pick up our fridge, which was in a town only about 25 miles away, and bring it to our house, EXACTLY AS HE'D AGREED TO DO. But, instead, he had us to PAY somebody else $20 to do what he'd agreed to do. If he was gonna get somebody else to do what he was supposed to do, at the very least HE could have paid the guy the $20, NOT us.

Needless to say, we won't be using his services again, & if asked, will recommend that others don't either.

We have no idea when we'll get our new GE fridge, which we paid for back in June. As posted, I was told that the new EXPECTED date is Dec 23. We figure there is VERY little chance of that happening. Hey, it might be closer to Spring. Or, they may just drop that model all together. With the crazy year this has been, there is no telling what might happen.

Yelp review
 

Seems to be very common now-a-days. Give him a bad review on Yelp.

Finally !
 

No, we didn't get our new GE fridge, which we paid for back in June.

PayPal sent me an Email saying that Best Buy had issued a refund for the purchase amount.

So, as I mentioned on another thread, we began to look for another fridge to buy. Online info indicated that a majority of fridge repairmen say that the Whirpool brand need less repairs & are easier to get parts for, than any other brand. Found a Whirlpool we liked. To our surprise, the Monroe Lowes was showing to have one in stock.

They were on a 10% off sale, thru today. I called Lowes, to make sure it was actually in stock. I made 4 different long distance calls to Lowes. Never got to talk to a single live person. I HATE it when that happens ! :mad: The robot rang the phone in several different departments of the store. NOBODY ever answered the phone.

So, we loaded up & drove to the store, which is probably at least 45 miles away. There, we had a very pleasant experience. :)

1st thing I did was ask why nobody would answer any of the phones. A lady told us that lots of their workers were not showing up for work, because of the plague. No, they didn't have it. They were just scared they might get it, if they worked at Lowes. Since they were short handed, all the salespeople stayed real busy, helping the in-store customers. At least that's the story she gave me. Could be true. OR, some of the workers might not wanna have to do the extra work required to check store inventory for a phone request.

Anyhow, we got a REAL good saleslady. The computer showed that they actually had 3 of the model we wanted, in stock. I had her to go back & actually lay her eyeballs on one, to make sure. She did, & there were indeed 3, in stock. They'd been there since late August. Had we known, we could have cancelled the GE order & bought the Whirlpool. But, up until very recently, we THOUGHT we would eventually get the GE.

Anyhow, we began doing the paperwork. The nice lady told me that if I would get a new Lowes credit card we could save $100 on the fridge. Well, as I've mentioned on this site, I tried to get one & failed. She found that hard to believe. Said I must have filled out the form wrong. Anyhow, she said that TJ should apply for one. Said she could fill out the application right there. She did so & had a Lowes credit card number within probably 10 minutes after she began the app. So, we saved $100 on the fridge, with the 1st purchase on the card.

Well, with a 5-year extended protection plan, & tax added in, our total cost was just under $2500. That was more than $300 less than what we paid for the GE we can't get. So, with that extra $300 +, I bought a new EGO chainsaw ! :)

They had a floor display example of the fridge model we bought, in stainless. So, we got to check it out. Looked to have all the features we want. For TJ, the must have features were French doors, plus an outside ice/water dispenser. For anyone who may be interested, here's more info about the fridge we bought.

The model number is WRF555SDHV. To me, those last 4 digits mean it's a Super Duty High Volume unit. :)

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Whirlpool-2...TAR/1000233421

They can't deliver/install it 'til Dec 30. But since we've waited this long, what's a few more weeks ? Discovered one good thing about it. Our house door clearance is only 35" wide. The online specs seem to indicate that at least the fridge door handles or the entire doors would have to be removed, in order to get it thru a door of our house. But, I measured the floor display model. Unless I missed something, it only measures 33.5", including the door handles. If that is true, they might be able to get it thru the door, if they are very careful.

The saleslady said that, either way, it would be no problem, they do it everyday. I'd wondered how they get the 36" models thru doors. I 1st thought that maybe newer homes have been built using wider doors. But, that's not the case. Seems it's a common practice to remove the fridge doors, so it will fit thru the 35" house doors. Recently found out that TJ's sister-in-law recently bought a new 36" fridge. The delivery guys took the fridge doors off, to get it into her kitchen. I suppose that's the reason 36" is about the max depth of the popular fridges.

Glad it worked out for you.

We have a Whirlpool counter depth side by side (WRS571CIDM01) that the ice dispenser stopped working after 3 years. Found out on their product website that many others have the same issue with the wires in the bottom of the freezer door getting sliced by just opening/closing the door. Whirlpool won't fix as a manufacturing defect and is useless. Poor design.

new aplliances
 

for anyone needing a "new" aplliance, u can go to Lowes an Home Depot and type scratch and dent into their search engine and see a bunch of new aplliances discounted for minor defects..

Next Chapter
 

OK, today was the day our fridge was supposed to be delivered.

Just got a call from the delivery guy. He said that when they were about to load our fridge onto the truck they discovered that it was "damaged beyond repair".

TJ told him that the saleslady had verified that there were 3 of 'em in stock. He said "Well there may have been 3 THEN. But there is only one, NOW."

So, we assumed that the other 2 had sold, since we paid for ours.

BUT, that was NOT the case. When we paid for ours, they had a reg stainless floor model. We asked if they would sell us that one, today. Said she'd have to do some checking & would call back.

While she was doing that, I checked the inventory of another nearby Lowes, for that model. They were showing to have one in stock. So, I called that Lowes & asked the guy to check & see if they actually had one in stock & if so if it was in sellable condition. He checked &, just as I figured, they do NOT have one in stock.

OK, then we get a call back from the Monroe Lowes saleslady. She told TJ that they have a black stainless, like we paid for, as a floor model, & that since we have had so much trouble, they will sell us the floor model.

Well, I'm absolutely certain they did NOT have a black floor model, when we paid for ours. They did have a reg stainless floor model. It's the one we checked out, which led to our final decision to buy.

So, here's what I THINK happened. The lady was correct. At the time she checked, there WERE 3 of 'em in the warehouse. Since that time, one was sold & removed from the warehouse. One was moved out to become a floor model. And the 3rd one is the one the delivery guy said is damaged.

Now, here's the next chapter. The delivery guy was gone, so they had to reschedule our delivery 'til next Thurs. So, who thinks it will actually be delivered ? And, if delivered, who thinks it will perform flawlessly, for many years to come ?

Before she hung up, I told TJ to tell the saleslady to mark it sold in some way that would prevent some other salesperson from selling it to someone else.

Has anything similar to this ever happened to any of ya'll ?

2020 has been the strangest year I can remember. Sure hope 2021 is better.