Refrigerator doors rusting

Hi all,

I have an Amana bottom freezer refrigerator. The unit is about 5 years old, and

6 months ago I noticed small rust spots that seem to be coming through the paint on the bottom (freezer) door. Was able to scrub most of that off, but now I'm getting small rust all over the entire unit. Will I have to sand the rust off and have it repainted? How can I prevent this from happening again, if possible? Any ideas? Thanks for any advice!

Kelly

Reply to
Kelly Hoover
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Time for a new fridge. Des

Reply to
Des Perado

There is no excuse at all for this to happen in a modern appliance, assuming that it is not kept out on the patio of an ocean front property. What happened at the factory was a failure of the cleaning and prep system in the paint facility. Top quality systems will use degreasing, scrubbing and often phosphate treatment to maximize paint adhesion and corrosion resistance. Quality control people see to it that all treatment tanks are at the right temperature and chemical strength. Somewhere along the line there was a misstep or failure, and probably a some bad paint got out before it was corrected. it would be logical to call Amana customer service and lodge a polite complaint. Most companies with any pride in their product will make an attempt to do the right thing. Getting the finish redone to a more durable standard will take a lot of work since your base metal is obviously very dirty. You may be better served to get a new fridge and donate the old unit to a needy family. Good luck.

Joe

Reply to
Joe Bobst

Hi,

and 6 months ago I noticed small rust spots

You may be able to clean up those marks and touch up with a bottle of appliance touch up, depending on the size and amount of marks. Sometimes the door panals will need to be replaced.

Over cleaning can sometimes leave chemicals/water and such in cracks or along trims and the panal can rust, sometimes a poor clean and paint job when the door panal was made can happen :( Have you contacted Amana to see if they will send someone out ot have a peek at the doors?

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phone #'s. Sometimes a coating of car wax on the door panals may help to keep them from happening in the future.

jeff.

Appliance Repair Aid

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Reply to
jeff

old, and 6 months ago I noticed small rust spots

able to scrub most of that off, but now I'm

off and have it repainted? How can I prevent

It most likely is not worth it at this point. If you feel so inclined, you can power sand the entire unit,as you have to remove all the rust to bare metal or convert the rust using rust conversion products that are questionable in effectiveness at most. If you paint rust, it will come back. Use a spray can of appliance paint or some other epoxy based paint. See

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for information, not to buy from them unless you want to spend $150.00 in paint first. You can find this paint at hardware or home improvement stores. It is a bit of a pain as you have to mask everything the paint does not want to touch such as the seals and your floor/walls, but also do not even think about doing this in your house or an area that has open flames as you will use a lot to spray a fridge and it is very fumy. Even then, don't expect a perfect job from a spray can.

You can hire a professional to do it. Look under "Appliance Refinishing" in your local phonebook. If you cannot find any under that heading, look under "Bathtub Refinishing" or "Bathtub Glazing" and call some of these people to see if they have or will perform the service. The same 2 part urethane resins they use to refinish bathroom tubs, sinks and tiles can also be used on appliances and even counter tops with the proper preparation. This is not a job the average do-it-yourselfer can accomplish, as the equipment and technique involved are a bit beyond their reach. The manufactures of the top quality urethane resins and coatings do not even sell to the general public.

Before any of the above, you have to determine exactly where the rust is coming from. If it was bad primer,paint or preparation on the manufacturer's part, complete removal of the old finish and high quality refinish may do the trick. If the refrigerator is rotting from the inside out because of condensation on the insides of the panels due to cracks in the plastic liner or bad, and now moist insulation, It will always come back. Also, if it is going to cost you $300.00 to have it professionally refinished, Is it worth it or would you rather put the same money towards a new Maytag (wink)?.

Just some food for thought.. Or maybe a feast... 8-)

Grim

Reply to
Grim

old, and 6 months ago I noticed small rust spots

able to scrub most of that off, but now I'm

off and have it repainted? How can I prevent

This is Turtle.

well if your box is over 5 years talking to Amana is a waste of time. If it is under 5 years they may look and see. i will take it that the box belongs to you now.

Take you some 409 or fantastic spray and clean the whole box or at least the areas of the rust. Then let it dry real good and then get you some good car wax like Well Turtle brand or Nucar and just give it a wax job but use a very light scrum pad to put it on with and rumb it in. Work the wax down in the cracks and any grooved area of the finish of the box. Then let it dry. then buff it off with a cotton rag or cloth. This will get the wax in the cracks between the paint of the surface of the paint. this will stop the rust from coming though for a good while. Most times when you do this it will be 2 to 5 years before the rust starts back through the paint and shows up on the surface of the paint.

the reason i say this is i have a friend that rebuilds refrigerators and freezers for resale and this is what he does to remove the rust coming through the paint job. Your good for 2 to 5 years and then i might add I would give it a wax job ever 2 or 3 years to keep it away. This process is also used on Auto chrome bumbers that start rusting on the chrome finish. You wax it but with steel wool to work the wax down in it. Chrome bumbers and refrigerator paint job are not what they use to be and they need help.

I have friends in low places that tell me their ways of making money. He buys a little rusted freezer for about $15.00 and sells it for $150.00 but with a new wax job. Elbow grease does wonders with rust on a freezer.

TURTLE

TURTLE

Reply to
TURTLE

Just cover the whole fridge with contact paper. Lots of colors and patterns to choose from...

Reply to
me

Thank you, Turtle. I have a similar problem, but the 'fridge is over

25 yrs old. Cleaning up and waxing is a lot cheaper than replacing a perfectly good "major" appliance. Even if it *is* avocado green. :-)
Reply to
Frogleg

Cheer up. Avocado green may be back in style soon. We were looking at carpet yesterday and saw that shag carpet is back. Ugh.

RB

Frogleg wrote:

Reply to
RB

old, and 6 months ago I noticed small rust spots

able to scrub most of that off, but now I'm

off and have it repainted? How can I prevent

My refrigerator doors started rusting as well and the refrigerator was 4 years old. I took them off and had them repainted at an autobody shop. It cost me $200 2 years ago and they still look great.

Reply to
Scout Lady

I'll add this story to my long list of reasons why everyone should have a stainless steel refrigerator.

Reply to
Childfree Scott

Your fridge might be enough of an energy pig that you could recover the cost of a new one in 3 years with the savings in energy usage of the new one.

Reply to
xymergy

We have a stainless steel refrigerator and find it to be almost impossible to keep it looking clean.

RB

Childfree Scott wrote:

Reply to
RB

In my experience, people tend to be disappointed in domestic "stainless steel" refrigerators. They expect something that looks like those the professional chefs have on TV - they can, of course, get that if they're prepared to pay the price.

Reply to
Mad Mac

this is Turtle.

Now do remember to get the rust off with a scuffing pad if cleaning it does not remove it. If you wax over the rust stain it will stay like it and looks for ever. A brillo pad or cleaning pad or something like that will take the color stain off before waxing. Make it look like you want it and then wax over it to make it stay that away.

TURTLE

Reply to
TURTLE

This is Turtle.

Now do remember to get all the rust color off with scubbing pad , brillo, or steel wool before waxing it. If you don't it will let the rust color stay there for you to look at for 2 or 3 years. It will stay the look you have after you wax it for 2 or 3 years.

TURTLE

Reply to
TURTLE

This is Turtle.

You are right about the type stainless steel that is used on domestic refrigerators verses the commercial refrigerators used on tv and show cases. I was told years ago that the domestic refrigerators used Stainless steel but type 404 or cheaper grade. They have some good types of Stailess steal that you could not make it look bad if you tried to. Now get your bilfold out to even look at them as to getting one. I know Victor made a double door stailess steel side by side for a cooking show back years ago and it cost about $9,000.00 but it look good all the time.

TURTLE

Reply to
TURTLE

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