Thor Forums

[Carroll261]

The refrigerator is a Whirlpool WRT316SFDM 16 cu. ft. residential refrigerator it only runs on electricity. I called a local appliance repairman, he would not remove it from the cabinet. I removed it from the cabinet myself which was not easy since it weighs 161 lbs. and it is in a cabinet that sits between 12" and 18" from the floor. There are four brackets, two on top and two on the bottom. I called the repairman back after I removed it from the cabinet. The only thing he did is remove the cardboard back from the refrigerator and without doing anything else he condemned the refrigerator "Bad sealed system, compressor runs but doesn't cool" and charged me $85 after trying to charge me $150 because "it's in a RV". I told him no, I already had a quote from the front office and I told them it was in a RV. Okay, I have a bad refrigerator 4 months out of warranty, now what?

I called Thor and they told me to call Whirlpool. While I was speaking with Thor, I asked them how to remove the refrigerator from the coach, it's too wide to get through the door. Thor said I need to remove a window and lift it through the opening. Great!

I called Whirlpool same response, it is out of warranty. They called a local factory repair shop to come out to give me an estimate to repair the refrigerator. The repairman came out, same thing, he removed the cardboard back from the refrigerator and without doing anything else, said it needs a compressor and an evaporator, $1,544. He charged me $98 to come out. A new (same model) refrigerator is $600 on sale at Lowes or Home Depot. He did not check it for a leak so I asked him how he knew that will fix it. He said that what is usually is, either the compressor or the evaporator. He said it comes with a 1-year warranty. Well it took just over a year the first time. Wow!!

I called a local RV repairman and asked how much to remove the window and remove the old refrigerator and put in a new one. He gave me a quote of at least $600 labor. He said he needs four guys to do it. No matter which way I go it is going to be $1,200 - $1,544 4 months out of warranty!

I went online and I paid $6 for a Bullet Piercing Valve. This allowed me to charge the system. I put 4.27 oz of R134a in the refrigerator along with some leak detection dye and it is working great now. I don't know how long it will run, but at least next time it goes out, I will be able to see where the leak is. I got to tell you, I'm starting to rethink RV ownership.