These videos are great! I recently was offered a hand me down WRT519 model. The complaint was “freezer is no longer staying cold, and the top of the inside is hot!” Turned it off, left it open for a couple of days, shut it and turned it back on… it seemed to work OK. I moved it, and while I had the doors off started taking it apart. (Your other troubleshooting video was great too!) Upon disassembly I found: Circulation fan in the freezer would not start. So there’s heat source #1. Gave it a little bump and it ran, and runs every time now. Then, I started looking closely at the foam ducting. Near the defrost element, I noticed the foam is melted. And the plastic casing underneath the element is melted, too. So there is heat source #2. I suspect the freezer was so packed full that it could not circulate properly. There was so much ice build up on the coils, it caused it to go into defrost and did not stop. And the ice buildup probably stopped the circulation fan. I have not done self diagnostic to test the control board yet. But I’ve been running it all night and checking on it occasionally. So far, it is cooling fine. The coils are icing evenly. Circulation fan is running. Before I put the foam back in, I used some Resisto repair and seal aluminum tape to shield the parts of the foam and plastic that obviously got way too hot. I am keeping in mind that the control board may also be bad on it, causing it to stay stuck in defrost mode. Which is something I’m going to have to figure out how to test. This fridge is kind of sketchy, tho. Since it may be a fire hazard to continue using it unmonitored. So I am going to turn it off and unplug it before I go to sleep today. And don’t plan on letting it just run until I am confident it’s not going to burn up. Thanks for the super informative videos! 🍻
This also works on an Amana ART308FFDW....FYI...thank god I was able to put it into defrost using the diagnostic cycle..I couldnt find any other way ....thanks for a great video and the information!
Can't wait for your next video on this fridge ben! These are the bane of my existence! Numerous units like these with the glossy fronts and the handles come in from hual aways with the freezer reading negative 20 degrees and the fridge positive 24. We've tried everything even new boards. The compressor is stuck on. Best we can figure is the compressor gets grounded out but is still functional? This unit is still a mystery!
AWESOME VIDEO....2 nights ago our wrt318 decided to stop freezing above mid 20s and our fridge is dancing around 42-47....i pulled everything out of the freezer and on the cover only the right side had heavy ice build up. i removed that but now that i think about it i probably should have removed the cover and checked for more ice build up? i also removed the back panel and vacuumed the dust build up. the compressor was hot to the touch but not burn/scalding hot. more like warm to the touch to the point i could rest my hand on it and be fine. is this bad? any suggestions would be great. this fridge is approx 4 years old and bought new sadly the compressor in it is a weird chinese brand jia jxx..... not the other kind i've seen on various pictures/blogs and vids.
Wish I'd seen this video earlier, before I bought my Whirlpool. 18 months in and it started to run continuously, gurgle continuously, and food on the lower shelves is freezing. I ran though the diagnostic sequence and no errors were shown. From this video it seems like a coolant issue? I haven't tested the thermistors yet though. I'm wondering if its worth paying a tech to come out or if I should cut my losses?
Woaw !!! I was able to enter in test mode but no failure code…which help to conclude that the control box is the problem ! We had an ice storm in spring …city electric network was damaged for days and some damage around the house…since then the fridge started to over cool till freezing the food …2 days ago …fridge AND freezer stopped cooling… How can I order the control board ?
your video is great .. give lots of information. any idea how to do a forced defrost on Whirlpool model W1TXNMFWQ00 .. my refrigerator won't cool enough in freezer section its stays constantly at 30F.. Fresh food section is fine.(stays at 35-38F)
Hey there thanks for all your content its been great. Say I have a situation where I have a similar fridge too cold at fresh food. Replaced the start relay as the comp would click click rhen also replaced ff thermistor. Used a data logger to track temps but it still gets too cold any suggs. No code from diags
Hey Ben, thank you so much for this video. I ran diagnostics twice on my Whirlpool WRT318FZDM02 and it passed on both occasions. However food like frozen fruit and popsicles are not freezing and turning into a soupy mess. Not sure what's wrong. Also thoroughly cleaned my condenser coils yesterday. Any suggestions?
I have a question about how cold can I expect a combo refrigerator\freezer in the freezer section. My freezer only goes down to about 15 degrees, but I saw a note somewhere that on the combo refrigerator\freezers that that is about the best it can do. Is that true?
Mine just shuts completely off like it doesn’t want to diagnostic after holding for 5 seconds. I unplug, let it sit for a while, plug in, wait for the sound but less than 30 seconds, then click and hold the closure and the button (after cycling it to first light) for 5 seconds, then it turns all the other lights green briefly. If I let go, it shuts off. If I let go after the lights go dark the first light just comes back on. The three second thing doesn’t even have a chance to matter 😬
I have a WRT3 The freezer is frosting up causing no cooling in the fridge. I ran the diagnostic mode cooling works, heater works but I get no error codes. Bad board?
This worked to get into diagnostic mode on my whirlpool upright freezer. However after I complete all 3 modes, all lights turn green, then the light turn on then off from left to right then right to left. What does that mean?
I have the Whirlpool WRT311. It started HEAVY Condensation in the bottom/fresh compartment a few weeks ago. Checked the Evap Coil and it was 1/2 defrosted across the BOTTOM. The Fresh area is cold OK but its wet from the condensation dripping from the ceiling. ALL Seals are good.... Now I notice I cannot get any alternate readings on the Control Panel. Is the Board Bad?? What the Frost causes these things to fail after a few years? It looks like Whirlpools are 'throw aways' ???
Pressed & held switch 1 LED lights went off & would not come back on. Unplug unit & disconnecting control unit & reinstalled and still no LED lights light up when plugged back in. Replaced control board with a new one & LED lights came on UNTIL I learned I needed to hold light switch & switch 1 button at same time. Now I’m back in the same situation with no LED lights coming on & the compressor doesn’t even attempt to kick in. This is a standup freezer. WZF35X200DW01
We bought a $700++ Whirlpool fridge and what a pile of cheap junk ! Came with a one year LIMITED warranty and now it is dead after 1.2 years. Why is everything garbage now???? We had a fridge for my entire primary school years kindergarten to Senior in high school. Never broke and was running when we moved out.....now this thing is dead after little more than a year. Whirlpool is garbage.
All thanks to the government, due to the fact that they step in and offer rebates and or incentives for offering high efficient digital garbage that is known to fail right out of warranty. I actually believe it's a scam in order to keep people working and to create more jobs which in turn equals more revenue for the federal government...
Seriously right now the Federal government offers $150 to the manufacturers for every washing machine that they manufacture that meets energy efficient certification. There's actually a whole slew of appliances that they do this for, someone needs to come out with a bulletproof model like they had back in the '40s and say f*** the government. I'd pay a little more not have to worry about s*** on top of a little more on my electric bill... Over the last 7 years I've had a refrigerator fail twice and each time it's cost me over $700 of groceries.
Same with my $600 Whirlpool fridge. The repairman is scheduled to come now for the 6th time in 8 months. If it wasn't still under warranty, the service calls would have cost more than the fridge itself.
I had the exact same happen with a new whirlpool fridge. The main board went out right after the one year warranty. Companies spend more money today on determining the lifespan of their systems so that they don’t have to pay out through warranties rather than building something of quality. Profit margins are all these places care about. So they will continue to use the cheapest materials and cheapest labor they can find. Bottom line, if the manufacturer doesn’t stand behind their product with a significant warranty, then trust that they already know when it will fail.
Will this work exactly the same with the WRT519 series? The display looks very similar minus one level of cold. My in-laws are having issues with the fridge portion not getting cold enough while the freezer is fine (and icing up a bit too much). I'm suspecting it might be the defrost heat element.
Did you figure it out? Mine is doing the same. I went through the diagnosis, it shows nothing wrong, and I had already left it unplugged for awhile to thaw out the freezer, thinking it was the vent. If it doesn't work now that I've plugged it back up, in going to go back through the diagnostic, and let the heating part run for awhile--I assume that's how you force defrost.
@dab0sta751 haha dont blame you. Im able to manually defrost as i mentioned. Most likely a bad board. Not worth fixing. They cost like $250 and are known to breaking every 5 years or so. Going to sell it on fb marketplace and buy a new one as well.
Stupid complexity in my opinion. Good for repair technicians though so good for you; no kidding. My maby 40 year old Hotpoint is working right now; it was here when I moved in about 12 years ago. It don't look so good but it'll probably be working the day I die... They just don't make them like this anymore... Probably made before transistors were invented; 😂.
I love your videos but I hate the way appliances are being built and where they are being built at least most them. I’m too old school. Most of them are throw aways now. 😡🤬
@@PuddinJr1993 Nope. Sadly its much like the LG situation: We're starting to know what the problem is, and the fix just ain't worth it in most cases. So I'll make a video troubleshooting the affordable fixes before diagnosing that its the evap. I'll probably tap into one to show its low on refrigerant as causing the issues. We have one of these as our work fridge and its great but guess what.... Over-cooling but we found a process tube on it and figured out someone went ahead and properly filled it up and it leaked out again. We've been running it for almost a year just fine, but we got the jug of 134a ready when we need to get it another shot of the cool juice.
That is absolutely ridiculous. I have been fighting with this thing for months. Gave up. Thanks for posting
These videos are great! I recently was offered a hand me down WRT519 model. The complaint was “freezer is no longer staying cold, and the top of the inside is hot!”
Turned it off, left it open for a couple of days, shut it and turned it back on… it seemed to work OK.
I moved it, and while I had the doors off started taking it apart.
(Your other troubleshooting video was great too!)
Upon disassembly I found: Circulation fan in the freezer would not start. So there’s heat source #1. Gave it a little bump and it ran, and runs every time now.
Then, I started looking closely at the foam ducting. Near the defrost element, I noticed the foam is melted. And the plastic casing underneath the element is melted, too. So there is heat source #2.
I suspect the freezer was so packed full that it could not circulate properly. There was so much ice build up on the coils, it caused it to go into defrost and did not stop. And the ice buildup probably stopped the circulation fan.
I have not done self diagnostic to test the control board yet. But I’ve been running it all night and checking on it occasionally.
So far, it is cooling fine. The coils are icing evenly. Circulation fan is running.
Before I put the foam back in, I used some Resisto repair and seal aluminum tape to shield the parts of the foam and plastic that obviously got way too hot.
I am keeping in mind that the control board may also be bad on it, causing it to stay stuck in defrost mode. Which is something I’m going to have to figure out how to test.
This fridge is kind of sketchy, tho. Since it may be a fire hazard to continue using it unmonitored. So I am going to turn it off and unplug it before I go to sleep today. And don’t plan on letting it just run until I am confident it’s not going to burn up.
Thanks for the super informative videos! 🍻
This also works on an Amana ART308FFDW....FYI...thank god I was able to put it into defrost using the diagnostic cycle..I couldnt find any other way ....thanks for a great video and the information!
You get a gold star for figuring this out!
Thank you very much, you are a very professional technician. 🙂
Thank you! I felt like I was going crazy trying to get it into the diagnostics mode!
Can't wait for your next video on this fridge ben! These are the bane of my existence! Numerous units like these with the glossy fronts and the handles come in from hual aways with the freezer reading negative 20 degrees and the fridge positive 24. We've tried everything even new boards. The compressor is stuck on. Best we can figure is the compressor gets grounded out but is still functional? This unit is still a mystery!
Likely a leak. Key is frost pattern
@@bensappliancesandjunk still waiting for the frost pattern video! It can't be a leak, freezer is negative 20 degrees
Mine just won't cool
Again, you are doing a massive public service with these videos. Can't be said enough.
Dude!!! You’re the real MVP!! I’ve been struggling with these for a while!! Thank you!
It took me DAYS to figure out how to do it properly, so once I understood, I had to make the video, ha
@@bensappliancesandjunk Thank You BEN, You are Our Hero! Great Speaking ability Too! You are always interesting !
Fantastic! Thank you! I am having issues with the freezer not getting cold at all.
A good idea is to fill the compressor with water before regassing to keep it cool while running
Did not see the part where you did a forced defrost. Only saw how to get into diagnostics.
Yes. Exactly.
Thank you Ben very helpful keep up the good work
Very informative video. Keep it coming
We just bought this same model and are having trouble with the freezer freezing This is our second one. Why do you think that is?
Thank you for the guidance.
I was waiting to see how to defrost
AWESOME VIDEO....2 nights ago our wrt318 decided to stop freezing above mid 20s and our fridge is dancing around 42-47....i pulled everything out of the freezer and on the cover only the right side had heavy ice build up. i removed that but now that i think about it i probably should have removed the cover and checked for more ice build up?
i also removed the back panel and vacuumed the dust build up. the compressor was hot to the touch but not burn/scalding hot. more like warm to the touch to the point i could rest my hand on it and be fine. is this bad?
any suggestions would be great. this fridge is approx 4 years old and bought new
sadly the compressor in it is a weird chinese brand jia jxx..... not the other kind i've seen on various pictures/blogs and vids.
Wish I'd seen this video earlier, before I bought my Whirlpool. 18 months in and it started to run continuously, gurgle continuously, and food on the lower shelves is freezing. I ran though the diagnostic sequence and no errors were shown. From this video it seems like a coolant issue? I haven't tested the thermistors yet though. I'm wondering if its worth paying a tech to come out or if I should cut my losses?
Woaw !!! I was able to enter in test mode but no failure code…which help to conclude that the control box is the problem ! We had an ice storm in spring …city electric network was damaged for days and some damage around the house…since then the fridge started to over cool till freezing the food …2 days ago …fridge AND freezer stopped cooling…
How can I order the control board ?
your video is great .. give lots of information. any idea how to do a forced defrost on Whirlpool model W1TXNMFWQ00 .. my refrigerator won't cool enough in freezer section its stays constantly at 30F.. Fresh food section is fine.(stays at 35-38F)
Hey there thanks for all your content its been great. Say I have a situation where I have a similar fridge too cold at fresh food. Replaced the start relay as the comp would click click rhen also replaced ff thermistor. Used a data logger to track temps but it still gets too cold any suggs. No code from diags
Ben is the best !
Hey Ben, thank you so much for this video. I ran diagnostics twice on my Whirlpool WRT318FZDM02 and it passed on both occasions. However food like frozen fruit and popsicles are not freezing and turning into a soupy mess. Not sure what's wrong. Also thoroughly cleaned my condenser coils yesterday. Any suggestions?
I have a question about how cold can I expect a combo refrigerator\freezer in the freezer section. My freezer only goes down to about 15 degrees, but I saw a note somewhere that on the combo refrigerator\freezers that that is about the best it can do. Is that true?
When in diagnostic mode: I assume 'heater on" is the forced defrost mode? If so, how long should it be left on this setting to perform a full defrost?
3min in...
@@bensappliancesandjunk think I figured it out and I edited my comment before I noticed your reply
Thanks, good info!
My wife and I are planning to buy this model and make of refrigerator. What is y'all's recommendation? Any ideas on the compressor? Good or Bad?
How do I replace the lightbulb in this type of fridge?
Thank you Ben
Is there a way to bypass that board or change it out for an analog style switch
Mine just shuts completely off like it doesn’t want to diagnostic after holding for 5 seconds. I unplug, let it sit for a while, plug in, wait for the sound but less than 30 seconds, then click and hold the closure and the button (after cycling it to first light) for 5 seconds, then it turns all the other lights green briefly. If I let go, it shuts off. If I let go after the lights go dark the first light just comes back on. The three second thing doesn’t even have a chance to matter 😬
I have a WRT3 The freezer is frosting up causing no cooling in the fridge. I ran the diagnostic mode cooling works, heater works but I get no error codes. Bad board?
Are you still selling those control boards? I checked the links in the bio and I don’t see the control board you showed in the video
This worked to get into diagnostic mode on my whirlpool upright freezer. However after I complete all 3 modes, all lights turn green, then the light turn on then off from left to right then right to left.
What does that mean?
If I turn on all lights, will the fridge section turn into a freezer?
I am getting 0 lights. Even the bulb isn’t working. Any suggestions? (Yes, it’s plugged in. Gets cold).
My whirlpool refrigerator setting LED light keep moving and freeze is not cooling now
Just the right tip at the right time!
Thank god I have home appliance insurance 😳
I have the Whirlpool WRT311. It started HEAVY Condensation in the bottom/fresh compartment a few weeks ago. Checked the Evap Coil and it was 1/2 defrosted across the BOTTOM. The Fresh area is cold OK but its wet from the condensation dripping from the ceiling. ALL Seals are good.... Now I notice I cannot get any alternate readings on the Control Panel. Is the Board Bad?? What the Frost causes these things to fail after a few years? It looks like Whirlpools are 'throw aways' ???
Sounds like a seal system failure
I did get my fridge into diagnostic mode but how to force defrost
3:02 "Test #3 Heat On" should be equivalent to defrost.
Did heat mode work in defrosting it?
Pressed & held switch 1 LED lights went off & would not come back on. Unplug unit & disconnecting control unit & reinstalled and still no LED lights light up when plugged back in. Replaced control board with a new one & LED lights came on UNTIL I learned I needed to hold light switch & switch 1 button at same time. Now I’m back in the same situation with no LED lights coming on & the compressor doesn’t even attempt to kick in.
This is a standup freezer.
WZF35X200DW01
It’s like trying to turn the cooling off on those models. I find it nearly impossible but my co-worker can usually get it first try!
Oddly enough I could easily throw these into no cooling but the diagnostic was evil
We bought a $700++ Whirlpool fridge and what a pile of cheap junk ! Came with a one year LIMITED warranty and now it is dead after 1.2 years. Why is everything garbage now???? We had a fridge for my entire primary school years kindergarten to Senior in high school. Never broke and was running when we moved out.....now this thing is dead after little more than a year. Whirlpool is garbage.
All thanks to the government, due to the fact that they step in and offer rebates and or incentives for offering high efficient digital garbage that is known to fail right out of warranty. I actually believe it's a scam in order to keep people working and to create more jobs which in turn equals more revenue for the federal government...
Seriously right now the Federal government offers $150 to the manufacturers for every washing machine that they manufacture that meets energy efficient certification. There's actually a whole slew of appliances that they do this for, someone needs to come out with a bulletproof model like they had back in the '40s and say f*** the government. I'd pay a little more not have to worry about s*** on top of a little more on my electric bill...
Over the last 7 years I've had a refrigerator fail twice and each time it's cost me over $700 of groceries.
Same with my $600 Whirlpool fridge. The repairman is scheduled to come now for the 6th time in 8 months. If it wasn't still under warranty, the service calls would have cost more than the fridge itself.
Greed
I had the exact same happen with a new whirlpool fridge. The main board went out right after the one year warranty. Companies spend more money today on determining the lifespan of their systems so that they don’t have to pay out through warranties rather than building something of quality. Profit margins are all these places care about. So they will continue to use the cheapest materials and cheapest labor they can find. Bottom line, if the manufacturer doesn’t stand behind their product with a significant warranty, then trust that they already know when it will fail.
Will this work exactly the same with the WRT519 series? The display looks very similar minus one level of cold. My in-laws are having issues with the fridge portion not getting cold enough while the freezer is fine (and icing up a bit too much). I'm suspecting it might be the defrost heat element.
Did you figure it out? Mine is doing the same. I went through the diagnosis, it shows nothing wrong, and I had already left it unplugged for awhile to thaw out the freezer, thinking it was the vent. If it doesn't work now that I've plugged it back up, in going to go back through the diagnostic, and let the heating part run for awhile--I assume that's how you force defrost.
Loyal Ford
How do i go into forced defrost mode. I dont think you mentioned it in the video? Am i missing something?
Wondering the same thing
@@dab0sta751 I thought about it. I think you go into the testing mode and go into the heater mode and leave it on. I am going to try it out.
@@MyOsist Full disclosure, my whirlpool fridge is now at the dump. I bought an American made GE model and everything works as it should now!
@dab0sta751 haha dont blame you. Im able to manually defrost as i mentioned. Most likely a bad board. Not worth fixing. They cost like $250 and are known to breaking every 5 years or so. Going to sell it on fb marketplace and buy a new one as well.
Thank you
When you sell used appliances out of your shop, do you charge a sales tax?
yes
Tried this over and over again and it won't go into diagnostic mode
Stupid complexity in my opinion. Good for repair technicians though so good for you; no kidding. My maby 40 year old Hotpoint is working right now; it was here when I moved in about 12 years ago. It don't look so good but it'll probably be working the day I die... They just don't make them like this anymore... Probably made before transistors were invented; 😂.
Nah even techs hate this fridge. Cheap garbage. Seems like there's not much we can fix without it being more then the fridge is worth
Stay away from the models with this temp module. Go with these Maytag/Whirlpool model lines: MRT311, WRT311, MRT511, WRT511.
My Whirlpool leaked all the freon out when it was 4 years old
Yes. Common on these sadly
Zulauf Ways
I love your videos but I hate the way appliances are being built and where they are being built at least most them. I’m too old school. Most of them are throw aways now. 😡🤬
Sadly, upon purchase...they aren't worth the $$$ and that's an unknown fact...until it's in your home.😞
These fridges are damn trash
Sure are. Thats why I made the video. The worse the appliance the more people need to know how to fix em!
@@bensappliancesandjunk ain't no fixing them evap leaks. Atleast not cheap enough to make sense.
@@PuddinJr1993 Nope. Sadly its much like the LG situation: We're starting to know what the problem is, and the fix just ain't worth it in most cases. So I'll make a video troubleshooting the affordable fixes before diagnosing that its the evap. I'll probably tap into one to show its low on refrigerant as causing the issues. We have one of these as our work fridge and its great but guess what.... Over-cooling but we found a process tube on it and figured out someone went ahead and properly filled it up and it leaked out again. We've been running it for almost a year just fine, but we got the jug of 134a ready when we need to get it another shot of the cool juice.
I got 2 of them so I never buy Whirlpool agaiN !!!!!!!!!
You don't know nothing 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
And yet this worked for thousands of people...
My model is WRT518 and it doesn't even go into diagnostic mode. Sigh................😵😵😵😵😵😵