Status update 01-27-2013

Victory! Yes, indeed thermistor(s) were the problem. So far I swapped the two in fresh food compartment (on yesterday - saturday) turned on TurboCool overnight and sure enough the temp stabilized @ 36F (set for 37F). Stayed that way all day after turning off TC. Don't know specifically whether both were bad, or just one since I replaced both but I don't care at this point.

Now, I still need to replace the one in the freezer (on the wall behind the grill) and see if this stabilizes freezer temps from oscillating between -4F and 3F (set to -4F). This is less critical because this doesn't cause food in the freezer to go bad, but still I want to swap the thermistor since I have a new one. But... now I wonder if there is another one behind the freezer section evaporator? If not and the one on the wall is it then I am good to go, but if there is another one on the evaporator then I am out of luck since I only ordered 3 thermistors. But... like I said, this is a lower priority issue so I can take my sweet time.

Incidentally... I am surprised that the problem would be a bad (or two) thermistor. I am electronically and electrically literate and know what thermistors are... they are very simple variants of a resistor. They should not be going bad just like that. especially that they are sealed and wiring was all nice and insulated. But... I guess they managed to save few penny's on outsourcing them to somewhere really cheap and now we get to subsidize FedEx for shipping and various retail outfits for reselling parts.

Next, plan of action - swap freezer thermistor w/a new one, and replace the m.board back to the original one because it doesn't seem like it was faulty.

Will post final results after I implement the above and test.

Thanks again for most excellent help!

Best,

Chris

Status update 01-28-2013

So it looks like things are still working fine after swapping the m.board back to the original (old) one. Which is a good thing since that's one costly part ($211). I replaced the wall thermistor in the freezer compartment as well last night along w/the m.board and re-cooled the fridge w/Turbo Cool overnight. Looks like freezer temp is now @ -3F +/- 1F which is more stable than before (+/- 7F). All while the freezer temp set to -4F. I will keep watching it of course and one day/overnight is not long enough to fully judge that part but I like it that it looked good all morning.

So it looks like there is still one thermistor I have not swapped - on the freezer compartment evaporator (as per Applianceman, and Simon). But... I only ordered 3 as per original suggestion earlier on in the thread, so given that for now it looks like the freezer temp seems stabilized (w/just the wall thermistor replaced), the fact that I don't have another thermistor and it's a PITA to replace the evaporator thermistor I will probably skip replacing it unless something starts happening w/freezer temps.

All in all I am very happy w/the result for the time being, knock on wood. The total came out to:

1. Service call/technician diagnosis from ApplianceRepairVA (a bad one) = $35,-
2. Shipping for the m.board both ways (order and return) - ~$7,- in + ~$15 (return, don't know yet) = $22,-
3. 3 thermistors - ~$8.50 ea + $7 s/h = $32.50

TOTAL: $124.4

From which $57 was avoidable, and due mainly to spousal impatience and propensity to create drama where it doesn't exist. So.. the actual cost of repair really comes out to $67.40. Now compare that to ~$400 for the estimate quoted to me by ApplianceRepairVA, which was based on a bad initial diagnosis to begin with.

So, in the end... many thanks to both Simon and Applianceman, you guys rock! Thanks for your help, you saved me essentially $330 bucks! Also I have to say that I am a guaranteed repeat customer @ ApplianceRepairPros thanks to the super service so far, light speed shipping and general wealth of information and contacs w/knowledgable folks willing to help out.

Best,

Chris

Your welcome!!


Even though your repairman did misdiagnose your issue he didn’t charge a lot at $35 (less than half for most techs).

The boards have given a fair amount of trouble, which sometimes leads to service techs jumping to conclusions. But he should have dug a little deeper and if he doesn’t let his pride get in the way it will do him well to know you fixed the refrigerator with a $8 part.