Refrigerators
Biggest Complaints
17 percent: No water (or ice) coming out of dispenser
13 percent: Icemaker won’t make ice
7 percent: Buildup of ice in the fridge
6 percent: Water leaking
5 percent: Refrigerator not cooling
5 percent: Broken or faulty control panel or circuit board
4 percent: Not keeping food cold
3 percent: Blocked drain or outlet
3 percent: Broken or faulty compressor
What Breaks
Icemaker: This appliance-within-an-appliance draws water into uniform ice molds. Once cubes form, the molds are heated or twisted to free the ice from the molds, and a sweep arm ejects them into a container to be dispensed on demand.
Evaporator fan motor: Moves air over evaporator coils, allowing refrigerant to absorb heat.
Thermostat: Regulates temperature in fresh-food and freezer compartments.
A Pro’s Perspective
“Icemaker failures have always been a problem, but now almost all refrigerators are sold with one,” says Dean Landers, president of Landers Appliance, a repair service in the Baltimore area. That means shops see more icemaker repairs—or requests for them. “We used to be able to repair icemakers,” Landers says. “Now everything is molded, flimsy, and cast, making it necessary to replace the entire unit.”
A Bad Break
“Compressors are the heart of a refrigeration system,” says Landers. Replacing one means removing the refrigerant following strict federal guidelines, using a blow torch to extract the failed unit, soldering in the new one, and recharging the system. “It is extremely costly to perform this repair,” he says.