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Topics Discussed:

• 1998 GE Profile Washing Machine Making Loud Noise during Spin Cycle
• GE Side by Side Refrigerator Not Cooling Well and Frost Buildup on Evaporator Coil Behind Freezer Panel
• Washer/Dryer All-In-One Machines Inquiry about Reliability
• 1998 Maytag Side by Side Refrigerator Ice Maker Produces Cubes but Dispenser Doesn't Work
• 1998 Kenmore Side by Side Refrigerator Dispenser in Door Works but Ice Maker is Not Producing Cubes
• 2000 Maytag Gas Range Top Burners Function but Oven Does Not Work
• 2003 Dishwasher Intermittently Stops and Starts During Wash Cycle
• 1991 Side by Side Wood Paneled Sub Zero Refrigerator with Ice Buildup on Back Wall of Freezer

 

 

1998 GE Profile Washing Machine Making Loud Noise during Spin Cycle

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Ken in Macomb, go ahead please.

 

KEN

Good morning, John. I have a GE Profile washing machine that's about ten years old. In the spin cycle it sounds like a freight train going through a tunnel. It's tremendously loud. I took the front panel off and I lubricated all the points that I could see, but it didn't make one bit of difference.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

What you want to do is, when the unit is in the wash mode, lift the lid and see if it's spinning and agitating at the same time and if it is, what's happened is the lower portion of the transmission, the brake package, has failed, and that's where you're getting the loud sound, is you have a bad transmission or seal assembly. If you replace the transmission it comes with a new seal; but from what you're describing, you might find that to be the case, that when you lift the lid you'll see it spinning and washing at the same time.  A new transmission is the only way to go, and on a ten year old machine, you might want to look at your options.

 

KEN

So, I would imagine that I should just let it go until it quits and then buy a new one. It does only happen in the spin cycle; it does agitate fine, it washes fine, it's only in the spin cycle.  I let it drain because I called GE and they said maybe the water pump isn't working if you still have water, but I made sure it was pumped out just fine, and it only happens in the spin cycle anyway.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, it's part of the drive train. It could be in the pump assembly, but normally you can pinpoint that. From the freight train sound that you're describing, that's normally a bearing and/or a transmission issue. Again, given that its ten years old and I think a new trans is at least one hundred and fifty bucks for the part alone, you might want to look at another machine. I would inspect it though:  if it's spinning and agitating at the same time, you might have a bad trans, if not, it could be that the tub seal/tub bearing is gone, and that's also a major repair and still probably worth shopping for a new one. If it were spinning and agitating at the same time, I probably wouldn't use it a lot because you could twist up your clothes and have other issues as well. It could be detrimental to your laundry. In that case, it would be better to go shopping now rather than later.

 

KEN

So you're saying in the spin cycle, to see if it's still agitating? You're not talking about agitating?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

See if the drum is spinning, too.

 

KEN

Yeah, okay. That's in the wash mode. No, it's definitely not spinning.

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

But you want to wait until it goes into spin and see if it's agitating.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

No, other way around! While it's washing, if the outer basket is turning, then the brake has failed.

 

KEN

No, because the lid switch has failed, so I shorted it out.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Uh-oh.

 

KEN

I've been in the repair business for forty-five years so I can pick up the lid and watch it, and it definitely isn't spinning while it's washing.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. Then you have a bad tub bearing assembly, where the transmission goes up through the tub.

 

KEN

Okay, so the transmission itself?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

The bearing assembly. If it spins and agitates at the same time, the transmission has failed internally. If that's not the case and you're getting a loud noise in spin only, then it's the component where the outer tub and the transmission meet. There's a bearing and seal kit there and that's failed more than likely, and that's where you're getting your loud noise.

 

KEN

Sure, but the bearing, it's inside the transmission? Maybe I can get to this bearing and lubricate it?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You're still probably going to have to replace the tub seal because the reason they go out is, because over time you get a small amount of water into that area.

 

KEN

Okay.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

So either way, you're going to be tearing out the inner tub and tearing down the machine. If you've got some time and you want to do that and save some money, that's always what we recommend at RepairClinic. There are also times when people haven't been repairing things for forty years as you have, that they have to call a repair person and that's where the cost of repair versus new puts them over the fence there and into the new product line.

 

KEN

Sure. Okay. Well, thank you.

 

GE Side by Side Refrigerator Not Cooling Well and Frost Buildup on Evaporator Coil Behind Freezer Panel

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

We're going to talk now to Stan, in Macomb, here on the Appliance Repair Show.

 

STAN

Yes, thank you. I've got a General Electric refrigerator, side by side. It does not cool properly. What I've done in the last week, I've had it unplugged, I've let it defrost, and I've taken the water out of the bottom of the refrigerator. I plugged it back in and it cooled properly for a few days, and then it went back to the same mode where I believe it's frosting around the condenser coils. My question is how do I tell whether it's the heater unit or the timer for the condenser coil that has failed, and is this something that I can repair myself?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

So, you're getting a frost buildup inside the freezer section?

 

STAN

That's correct. It's frosting behind the panel.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

All right, that's actually the evaporator coil, to be technically correct here. The condenser is the outer coil on the outside of the unit. It takes about a week for it to ice over?

 

STAN

Yes.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. You've got a defrost system failure. There's normally three or four components in that, which are:  the defrost heater, a small calrod unit normally that adds heat to that area to defrost it; a defrost terminator, which is a small disc that looks like three or four life savers together, when you're down to half a roll, and then there's the defrost timer or defrost circuit board, depending on the unit. You can check the defrost heater with an ohmmeter (part # DM10T) and just see if it's open or not. 

 

STAN

Okay.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

The defrost thermostat, you need to check that when the unit is frozen because that actually opens at about forty to fifty degrees. So if you let it thaw out and you take it out and check it, it will probably show to be open, which it's supposed to be, because that's what terminates the defrost cycle.  The other thing is the circuit board/defrost timer. You can try to manually advance the timer, if it has one, and put it in defrost and see if you can see the heater come on. The circuit boards, on some there are a series of operations that you have to do to the machine to put it in defrost, like turning the machine on and off four or five times within ten seconds, something of that nature. There should be a tech sheet for your machine, normally tucked in the underside of it, that will give you more instruction as to what components you have in your particular machine, and then if there are any diagnostics you need to put it in defrost. But most often, if it's frozen over, you can just check the defrost heater or defrost thermostat, and if they check okay, then I'd just replace the defrost timer.

 

STAN

Is this something that I won't need a technician for? Can I do it myself?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

If you have a meter (part # DM10T) and you know how to check ohms for continuity, then it's pretty straightforward.

 

STAN

Yes.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And you can always go to our website, RepairClinic.com, and we have a lot of information there, as well as a defrost system diagnosis article that you can print out and take to your fridge and follow to rule out the components.

 

STAN

Okay.

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

RepairClinic.com. That's where you'll get the information.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

That's correct!

 

Washer/Dryer All-In-One Machines Inquiry about Reliability

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Here's Ted, in Berkley, with a question about combo washer/dryers here on the Appliance Repair Show. Go ahead please, Ted.

 

TED

Good morning, guys! Hey, this is probably a quick question. I'm intrigued by the idea of those all-in-one washer/dryers. My question is, what's your opinion on the reliability, and if you had to buy one, which one should you buy?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You're speaking of one that's not a stackable unit, but that's literally all-in-one, that's got one tub and one door? Because there are two versions called all-in-one, there are some that have a separate washer and dryer but are physically one unit.

 

TED

Right. Not the stacks. It's just one chamber.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Right. You put the clothes in, and it washes them and dries them before you open the door?

 

TED

Yeah, I don't have to move the clothes.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. That concept has actually been around for about forty some years. Whirlpool had one in the late sixties that was a pretty nice machine; it's just that it didn't catch on very well. I've only worked on a handful of them over the years because I don't think there are that many out in the field but there are always issues you run into because you're dealing with, at one point, water in the tub, and then you have to get the hot air and dry it so leaks and things of that nature have kind of been an issue but overall, there are a few out now that do a pretty good job. It really depends on what you're going to use it for. If you've got a family of four and you're doing laundry every day, then I wouldn't recommend one. If it's just you and you're only doing a few loads a week, you have an apartment or somewhere where it's advantageous to have that type of a unit, then I'd say that's something you might want to look at.

 

TED

Okay. I noticed a common complaint in my research, that it takes a long time to dry clothes. Something about the way it recycles water or something like that?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

It depends on the unit you have. Some units actually use condensed water to help cool it:  they put cold water around the outer tub to help condense the heat, and then it drains out. So you're actually using a little cold water throughout the dry cycle to help dry the clothes, and then you're moving a lot of air through there too. So, it's normally a two or three hour, maybe longer, run before you get one load of clothes done. A lot of them are pretty small as far as tub capacity, so for three or four pairs of jeans and a shirt you're looking at three or four hours to get them cleaned and dried so that's why I said if you have a family of four or something like that, you'd spend your whole day doing laundry, and so I wouldn't recommend one, but it really depends on application. As far as reliability goes, it depends on, again, how much you use it, and how much you keep it clean as far as emptying the lint trap and making sure you've got it installed properly, if there's any requirements as far as make-up air around the unit. I've seen people having problems from not emptying the lint trap and doing general maintenance, and of course once that gets plugged up, with all that moisture in there, you can end up with some problems with the airflow.

 

TED

Okay, guys. Thanks.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

All right. Like I said, they're out there and they're pretty nice units, but it's just one of those things where if you're going to use it every day, all the time, it's just not practical but for maybe a cabin up north or something where there's few people and it's just used every once in a while, it's a great thing, especially energy savings and space savings.

 

1998 Maytag Side by Side Refrigerator Ice Maker Produces Cubes but Dispenser Doesn't Work

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Next we're going to talk to Bridget, in Williamston, who's got a problem with her ten year old Frigidaire ice maker not working.

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Go ahead, Bridget.

 

BRIDGET

Hi there. Yes, I have a side by side refrigerator and it's a Maytag, actually.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Oh, okay! I saw, "Fridge not working" and I thought "Frigidaire"!

 

BRIDGET

The water dispenser, all of it, the whole unit is not working. I just wondered if there was something I could look into to try to fix it myself, or if it is a major problem.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You say the ice maker is not working and the dispenser is not working?

 

BRIDGET

Well, the dispenser is working but on the outside of the door, you cannot get ice or water from there, and the light that's on there doesn't work as well.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. So you're dispenser is not dispensing water and ice but the ice is being made inside?

 

BRIDGET

Correct.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, because otherwise you'd have two different problems. Most often, from what you describe, the problem is going to be in the dispenser area. There's normally a circuit board back there. It's also possible that you have a broken wire that feeds power to that area. Sometimes in the door on the hinge assembly where the wiring harness comes through, you can have a broken wire, which would cause that whole area to conk out. I would start with inspecting that, the wiring, and see if you're getting power to the control board. Not always, but often if you pull it apart, if the board is bad you might see a burn spot in there. If not then you're going to have to diagnose it to see if in fact you're getting power to it. If you are and nothing is working, then you probably want to replace the circuit board. Some come as an assembly with the board and the touchpad and all that, and others are components, where you have to purchase the pieces separately.

 

BRIDGET

Okay.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

If you put the model number as it reads off your unit, not off the brochure, into our website, RepairClinic.com, you can see a picture of all the common parts so you know what you're looking for as far as the components for the dispenser assembly.

 

BRIDGET

Okay. Well thank you very much!

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

And Bridget, that website is RepairClinic.com.

 

BRIDGET

All right. Thank you so much.

 

1998 Kenmore Side by Side Refrigerator Dispenser in Door Works but Ice Maker is Not Producing Cubes

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Here is Dave, in Grosse Pointe, with another ice maker question on the Appliance Repair Show. Go ahead please, Dave.

 

DAVE

Good morning.  I have a side by side Sears Kenmore refrigerator, about ten years old. The ice maker won't make ice. I replaced the filter and the water valve. The water dispenser in the door works fine, but it won't fill the ice maker.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, you replaced the water valve?

 

DAVE

Yes and the water filter because I was thinking that it might have been plugged.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Right. So, you tried to take out the water supply through the machine and to the valve assembly?

 

DAVE

Right and it dispenses water. It has that option of just pressing and getting a glass of cold water. That works, but the ice maker will not fill.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And was there only one water valve on your machine?

 

DAVE

Well, I only saw one.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Some of them have two; some of them come as one great big valve assembly where there are actually several ports that the water goes through, but it's still one valve.

 

DAVE

Yeah, I'm operating under the assumption that I've only got one valve, but I suppose with the model number we could figure that out.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

As well as who actually made the machine, because being a Kenmore, it could be just about anything.

 

DAVE

Sure.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

There are two things you can start with. One is the ice maker will not cycle unless the freezer temperature is around fifteen degrees or less.  So I always tell people to check their freezer temperature because even though things seem to be pretty frozen, if you start having a refrigeration problem, the first thing that will happen is the ice maker will quit or become intermittent because it's on a cycle of temperature.

 

DAVE

I just put a thermometer (part # 19950055) in there so hopefully soon I'll get a reading here.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. The other thing is, can you take a, and this is kind of a quick and dirty way to check it out, is simply take a Dixie cup full of water and pour it into the ice maker itself, and then check it four or five hours later and see if it knocks out the ice.

 

DAVE

Sure. Okay, that's obviously very easy to try.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

So at that point what you've done is you've force filled it and then you can see if the unit, by temperature, is cycling. If it does that, and it goes through and doesn't fill the machine, the first thing I would make sure is that the fill tube going to the ice maker isn't frozen over and that you don't have a physical restriction. If that's clear then the problem is either in the wiring to the water valve, which is not a very common thing, or internally on the ice maker head itself something has conked out.

 

DAVE

Okay.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Which is the same situation if it doesn't cycle, it's possible that internally one of the switches has failed, or on most units there's a small sensing disc or thermostat that tells it "All right, it's fifteen degrees in here, let's cycle the ice maker". That could have failed too. So you're better off just replacing the ice maker. The thermostats are around fifty or sixty bucks, and a new ice maker is a hundred and you're starting out with all new parts.

 

DAVE

That makes sense. When it was working, occasionally it wouldn't kick the ice out of the tray, prior to it quitting completely.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You might want to take the ice maker out and look at the mold itself. They normally have a Teflon coating on the internal portion of that and it's possible that is starting to flake off. You will normally notice spots in your ice cubes if that starts to happen.

 

DAVE

I didn't notice that.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. If you loose that protective coating then the ice will stick to the mold and that will cause it not to dig out the ice cubes.

 

DAVE

I wondered if there might be a quick defrost, like a quick heater option to loosen the ice.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

There is-in most units there is a heater in the ice maker itself. What happens is, the thermostat senses the freezer temperature has cooled the mold to the proper temperature, it turns on that mold heater which gets the ice cubes loosened, and then it fires up the motor to spin the auger around and dig the ice cubes out. So that's normally the sequence of operation, which is why if it's, at times, stuck in the harvest mode, you don't want to reach in and grab that ice maker because it will burn your hand pretty good!

 

DAVE

Really? It gets that hot?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yes, it will.

 

DAVE

The freezer thermometer (part # 19950055) is already down to zero, so it doesn't seem to be a temperature problem.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

No. Then I'd start with the tube that goes from your water valve to that ice maker is clear of any ice buildup. If it is then I'd say the problem is in your ice maker itself, and again you can pour a little water in there and see if it's going to cycle. The other thing you could do is go to our website, RepairClinic.com, and we have the "Repair Guru" help page. If you go in and give us your email address so we can answer you, you can go in and we also have some doorway pages that have a lot of documents that are pretty self-explanatory, "My ice maker won't make ice." kind of stuff. It will walk you through how to start diagnosing, how to test cycle your ice maker depending on what kind it is, and all that good stuff.

 

DAVE

I went while I was waiting to chat with you; I went to your website. I'm there now, but I don't see where I can type anything like that in. I have a picture, a blown-up of a refrigerator and I'm clicking on the ice maker. 

 

JOHN SOWDEN

All right, you're on the repair help page then?

 

DAVE

It says RepairClinic.com. I don't know what page I'm on.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

At the top of the page, where the little guy with the tool box is, click on Repair Help.

 

DAVE

Okay, I'll click on that.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You click on "Ice Maker"

 

DAVE

Ice maker, got it.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

If you scroll down you'll see a link that says email the Repair Guru to help with your specific problem.

 

DAVE

Right there! I just didn't scroll down far enough to see "Ice Maker". I just clicked on refrigerator and couldn't figure out how to get to the ice maker help. I was just impatient, I guess.

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Well, I'm glad we got that cleared up.

 

DAVE

I appreciate your help. I'll see if I can pour water in it and if it works, I'll see if that line is clear. If that's the case, then I guess I'm going to buy a new ice maker.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Very good! We can have it shipped right to your door!

 

2000 Maytag Gas Range Top Burners Function but Oven Does Not Work

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Scott, in Clarkston, has a question on a Maytag gas stove, here on the Appliance Repair Show. Go ahead please, Scott.

 

SCOTT

I've got a gas stove. The burners on top work, but the oven unit itself doesn't work.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. Does this have a broiler in the oven as well?

 

SCOTT

Yes, it does. The broiler hasn't worked for a while, though.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And that's in the ceiling of the oven?

 

SCOTT

Yes.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. So you have what they call a waist-high broiler, a broiler at the top and the bake burner is on the bottom. Now, the type of unit you have, do you know if it's a glow bar ignition or is it a spark ignition? I'm assuming if it's only eight years old it's not impossible that it's a pilot type, but most of the newer stuff is going to be what they call a glow bar or igniter system.

 

SCOTT

You hit on the word there. The glow bar, the one on the bottom, I can pull it open and look at it.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

It glows bright orange?

 

SCOTT

Yes, it does.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And it doesn't light?

 

SCOTT

No.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Then replace the igniter.

 

SCOTT

Simple enough.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah. Even though it glows bright orange, it has to draw so much current. Actually what it does is as it gets hotter, it allows a resistance drop through the igniter which then allows the current to act on the gas valve and open up the unit.

 

SCOTT

Okay and then the broiler itself, it won't glow as well. 

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. That could be a broken igniter, an open circuit, or it's possible that the gas valve itself has got an open circuit in it. If you look at the unit, there's normally one valve for both bake and broil. So in the back there, where your bake burner is at, you'll trace the tubing back to a gas valve. Normally, you'll see there are two or three wires going to two different ports, one for bake and one for broil. If you remove the wiring to that after unplugging the unit, you can use an ohmmeter (part # DM10T) and check each terminal across the terminals. For the valve itself, you'll read about one or two ohms of resistance or it will be open. If it's open you need a new valve, but ninety plus percent of the time, from what you describe, it's a bad igniter.

 

SCOTT

Very good.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You may be able to see a physical break in the one in the broiler, but most often the one in the oven goes first, because you use that much more than the broiler. Most people do, anyway. Some people broil all their food and that goes out first. I'd go ahead and get the model number as it reads off of the unit.

 

SCOTT

Where do I find that?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Slide out the lower drawer.

 

SCOTT

Okay.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And on the left hand side there should be a sticker.

 

SCOTT

All right. I can do that.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And go to RepairClinic.com and get an idea of how much it will cost. If you're in Clarkston you can make it over to the store today! We're open today, every Sunday. At any rate you can go to our website, put in the model number and see a picture of all the common parts for your unit, as well as part availability.

 

SCOTT

You have a store in this area?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

We have one in Canton, Michigan.

 

SCOTT

Very good.

 

2003 Dishwasher Intermittently Stops and Starts During Wash Cycle

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

And here is Virginia, in Harrison Township, with our first dishwasher question of the day, here on the Appliance Repair Show. Go ahead please, Virginia.

 

VIRGINIA

I have this dishwasher, and I said it was ten years old but it's only five.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Oh!

 

VIRGINIA

So, I hate to be replacing it so soon! It stopped cycling. I was running it normally; it runs very well. It stopped cycling, and I looked and nothing was happening. The knob wasn't turning and it just shut off. I left it and after awhile it started up again, about five minutes later, and then it would stop again and just sit. So I wondered if maybe the timer is shot.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

So in the wash cycle, you turn it on and you can hear it washing, and then it will just sit there?

 

VIRGINIA

It will stop, and then later on, maybe five or ten minutes later, it started rinsing, and then I was worried that maybe it hadn't rinsed properly. It never did finish drying. It quit completely. So, I got my book out and I'm looking at it to see what the parts are and I don't think I could repair it.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

No, it sounds like you have an intermittent electrical problem, which at times can be challenging for people that repair these and work on them all the time. It could be something as simple, as you said that the timer has got some problems where it's not indexing properly and moving throughout the cycle. Also, at times, they will stop and heat the water up at different portions of the unit, and it will sit and stop and heat the water up and continue on. So, it could be a problem in the heating cycle; there are normally one or two thermostats as well as the heater itself involved that can cause that issue. Being five years old, it's worth a service call to have somebody come out and diagnose it for you.

 

VIRGINIA

Yeah.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

At that point, you can make the determination based on parts and labor versus replacement of the unit. You can do your homework ahead of time to find out what it would cost to get a comparable model, plus installation, because normally you're looking at another fifty to one hundred dollars to have it installed.

 

VIRGINIA

Right, right.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

So when you're presented with the bad news, you can make an informed decision at that time.

 

VIRGINIA

But it could be the wiring or something like that?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, again, if it's stopping and starting and things of that nature, it could be in the timer or it could be some loose wiring. When it starts acting that way, you kind of have to be there and catch it while it's doing it to make an accurate diagnosis.

 

VIRGINIA

But there's nothing I can do?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

That's why we have service people, to handle stuff like this!

 

VIRGINIA

All right. Thank you.

 

1991 Sub Zero Side by Side Refrigerator with Ice Buildup on Back Wall of Freezer

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Dee, in Rochester, is going to talk to us about a seventeen year old Sub Zero refrigerator.

 

DEE

Good morning! I have a Sub Zero refrigerator. It's probably about sixteen or seventeen years old. It's a built-in side by side with wood panels on the front.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yes!

 

DEE

On the refrigerator, about three quarters of the way down, there's ice building up on the back wall.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Have you been freezing things in the refrigerator?

 

DEE

Yeah, if there are lettuces back there, something kind of gentle, it will freeze them.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

From what you're describing, what I would suspect is that you have a small leak in your refrigerator system. Depending on the model, it might have two compressors in it, one for the refrigerator and one for the freezer.

 

DEE

Okay.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Some have one. Either way, generally what's happening is you've got a small leak in the system and it's going to get worse over time. What's happening is, a lot of those on the refrigerator side are what they call cycle defrost, meaning it turns off the unit and then the pressure inside the system will rise to a point where it will defrost all the coils in the refrigerator section, then it will turn the unit back on to cool. So with the lack of refrigerant in there, the pressure does not rise up enough to get a complete defrost of that coil. So if you were to remove that back wall, you'll probably find a nice ice ball in that evaporator section.

 

DEE

Okay.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And that's generally caused by a refrigerant leak.

 

DEE

So can it be fixed?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

It certainly can. It's not going to be a cheap endeavor, and I'd recommend calling somebody who handles Sub Zero warranties. Since you live in Rochester, Authorized Factory Service is one that can do that for you.

 

DEE

Right.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

They handle Sub Zero's right from the factory, but most likely you're going to end up with a new evaporator coil, cooling coil in the refrigerator section and possibly a compressor, depending on what's going on with the machine, how long it's been leaking, all that good stuff,  but it's probably going to be several hundred dollars for the repair, but considering that a new Sub Zero is between six and fifteen thousand dollars, you're still in much better shape if you repair it versus buying new. 

 

DEE

My concern is, being a built-in with the wood panels; they're beautiful cherry wood panels, so I'd hate to loose them! So, it sounds like the best thing to do is to try to save it, then.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

I would call for service and have them come out before you start losing all your food and it costs you more money in wasted product. This is something that develops over time, and at seventeen years old that's not a bad run before you start having some issues.

 

DEE

Okay, great! Well thank you so much!

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

I guess that Sub Zero is not like a microwave. It's not something that you just toss and get a new one.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

No! That's a big investment to start with, and then as she alluded to, you have your cabinets matched to that, so it's something that when it comes time to repair it, you're more likely to have it repaired.

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

You don't buy those to stand alone. Most of them are built-in?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yes, they're built-in and made to look like a cabinet. A lot of times you can walk into the kitchen and not even know that it's a refrigerator. You open a door and it's actually a refrigerator, so they're pretty neat!