Buying new fridge to replace GE Profile (2023 Update)

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

Does anyone have experience of repairing fridges please? I have a 20 year o ld GE side by side which is developing water leaks to the water/ice dispens er.

This water line was repaired about three years ago and I am sure I am now g oing to be told it is uneconomical to try to repair it again. (I seem to r emember being told then that the repair wasnt likely to be permanent)

I am wondering what to replace it with, assuming I can get the repairs to a new fridge done once the warranty has expired if anything goes wrong.

But I am wondering if conventional wisdoms still apply? That the American manufacturers produce old fashioned dinosaurs while if you want the newest bells and whistles, and reliability to boot, now you have to buy Korean? M y GE fridge has been pretty reliable, while my newer (top of the line) GE P rofile cooker has been almost totally useless! Abysmal temperature control which almost always ruins whatever we try to put in it.

The ratings/reviews on LG/Samsung French Door model fridges seem often to s ay that however much you pay for them, once the warranty runs out, they WIL L cost a fortune in parts to fix (the manufacturers having a lock on parts availability), whilst the comparable GE/Whirlpool/KitchenAid model seems to have plentiful availability of new parts on ebay?

Or is the real situation that only .0000001% of Korean units ever go wrong so how much their parts cost is a bit academic?

[Frank]

My wife buys off a dealer with a repair shop. Our refrigerator is old and a US brand but I never wanted one with an ice maker and apparently this is most common repair.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I really like our Samsung, but it is just under three years old. The ice maker had to be cleared a couple of times, but I can do it in a few minutes at no cost. No idea how it will be long term.

[Thomas]

My Hotpoint has an icemaker over,under. 20 years young. No wifi wtf.

800 for mine vs 2000 for the good stuff. They can keep the good stuff. If you own a yacht, go for the the gold.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

I wish I could do that! Maybe PC Richards has repairmen?

Suspiciously there is an LG on craigslist which is one year old but just out of warranty and the seller says the ice maker doesn't work and cant be fixed ECONOMICALLY!!

But again, this may not be a problem if they rarely go wrong?? Leading to the obvious question, if these expensive parts fail so rarely, why wont LG pay for such a supposedly rare repair?

[Frank]

If not under parts and service warranty, just getting a repairman to the house will cost nearly $100 around here.

One son had a dishwasher, I believe Samsung, fail and he was willing to pay a repairman and for the part but could not get a repairman for it in our area. He ordered the part on-line and looked at the internet and youtube and fixed it himself.

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Thu 20 Sep 2018 01:13:11p, Frank told us...

We bought a Maytag 7 years ago, that worked perfectly until about 6 months ago when the ice maker problems started. Three brand new ice makers later it still didn't work as it should. We replaced it with a Whirlpool bottom freezer drawer. It has digital controls and the ice maker is lightening fsat. Hope it lasts.

[trader_4]

On Thursday, September 20, 2018 at 6:42:12 PM UTC-4, Amanda Ripanykhazova w rote:

out of warranty and the seller says the ice maker doesn't work and cant be fixed ECONOMICALLY!!

o the obvious question, if these expensive parts fail so rarely, why wont L G pay for such a supposedly rare repair?

Icemakers are self contained and not typically known to be an expensive rep air. They are essentially a separate unit that just bolts in, plugs in to t he electrical system and has a water line to a valve. They can be replaced DIY. I don't think American brands are dinosaurs, I have a Kitchenaid side by side with crushed ice at the door, energy efficient, very happy.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

Well that GE fridge soldiered on till now, when the water dispenser stopped dispensing much water. And when we try to dispense water, the water SEEMS to pool on the floor a bit

But the small amounts necessary to make ice doesn't have this leaking effect and it makes ice OK. And the waters line that goes up the back of the fridge looks OK.

Does this sound like it needs a new water input line? Or something else?

[Bob F]

Is there a filter to be changed?

[invalid unparseable]

My wild guess is: The line connecting the water to the spigot is loose somewhere. That's why the water ends up on the floor instead of your cup.

[DManzaluni]

no filter and yes, that is what I thought, somthing on that line is worn, - though I figured the whole water inlet line itself needs changing?

[DManzaluni]

does this help?

[micky]

Polyethylene tubes, the kind shipped with refrigerators, don't last forever. Sometimes they don't last long. Copper is better.

[invalid unparseable]

The OP's fridge can make ice, so your video is not quite to the point.

The leak is somewhere inside the fridge. I guess the water goes into the fridge to be chilled and then goes to the dispenser spigot in the front. A hose must be loose somewhere in between. It might be just behind the spigot.

[Retirednoguilt]

Our cold water dispenser is a 1/2 gallon plastic re-purposed milk jug we keep in the fridge and refill from a faucet equipped with a PUR water filter. Never had a leak or needed a repair. As for ice, at the rate we use it, we make all we need using two old fashioned ice cube trays stored one on the top of the other at the side of the top shelf of our fridge's freezer compartment. Refill it from the PUR faucet filter as well. Saved many hundreds of $$ buying a fridge with no ice maker and no cold water dispenser on the outside of the door and fewer things to ultimately need repair.

[Cindy Hamilton]

How nice for you. We use ice faster than our icemaker can make it, so I buy an 8-pound bag of ice at the grocery store every week to supplement what the icemaker turns out.

[micky]

I didn't give details before because I only remembered the tube I put in that went to the humidifier on the furnace. It started spraying water one day and even though at its closest it was 8 inches from the furnace, I thought maybe that doesn't count. But I was at a party once, in a basement, when water started dripping from upstairs. It was the polyethylene water tube to the refrigerator ice maker. It's good thing we were in the basement or it might have dripped for a week, and gone under the kitchen floor tile too.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

No, it doesn't seem to be leaking inside the fridge, just onto the floor underneath it. And the fridge seems to be able to handle the small amounts of water that go to the icemaker, just not the large amounts that go through the frontal water dispenser.

I wonder if there is anyone competent enough left at Haier who might recognise these symptoms? Usually the 800 help line comprises Philippinos reading from scripts telling everyone to call in a repair person. I think the water input line has that video because when it starts to wear, replacing it cures the leak.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

This seems to be the more comprehensive video:

I found it while I was looking for a replacement video for the long water line that goes from the valve up the back of the fridge at the outside up to the water dispenser at the top. (I didnt find THAT one yet)

This is beginning to look familiar. I have had that ungainly looking white water tank flopping around inside the fridge compartment jamming the top drawer for a couple of years now! But I cant see a break in it leaking water yet?