Refrigerator Noise

[Vic&Judy]

I really could use some technical advice on this matter.

This year we purchased our second home in the Villages....in the Village of Dunedin. We love our new home and, as usual, the Warranty Department has been fabulous about correcting minor issues.

However, there is one quite annoying issue which I have been unable to get resolved despite many, many calls to the Villages Warranty folk, the repair service, and even the builder.

The culprit in question is a new Whirlpool refrigerator, the one which came with the house, an Elite model with three doors. Several times during the day, it emits a very high-pitched squealing noise, while not extremely loud, feels like it could crack glass. When the technician showed up, he acknowledged the unpleasant nature of the noise, said it was probably the compressor...and...here's the zinger....nothing could be done. He said it was in the range of "normal" sounds and directed me to a website maintained by Whirlpool with several recorded squeals and squeaks (they actually have this); none of the noises, while unpleasant, even approached mine in frequency and amplitude. If anybody has dead thing needing awakening, I think we can help.

The Warranty folk whom we spoke with five times told us the builder would "deal with it" and suggested a swap out; he never called. Folks at the Whirlpool Corporation said they would "look into it." Again, no joy.

Sorry for this lengthy missive, but I seriously need advice.

:bowdown:

[rubicon]

We had a GE Profile and it made all kinds of funny sounds we replaced it with a Samsung. I do not know if a noisy refrig will get you a replacement?

[bluedivergirl]

I think I can help a bit. We have the same fridge (of course) and it did the same thing.

Tech came out, tried to dismiss it, but DH is persistent. He had recorded the head-splitting whine, and insisted it was not normal. The tech looked i bit further into the wiring ~ and found two wires touching. Harmonic Interference. The solution? Separate the wires.

I don't know if it is true, but my neighbor tells me if they make three visits for the same complaint and can't fix it, they'll bring you a new appliance.

Hope this helps!

[Vic&Judy]

I think I can help a bit. We have the same fridge (of course) and it did the same thing.

Tech came out, tried to dismiss it, but DH is persistent. He had recorded the head-splitting whine, and insisted it was not normal. The tech looked i bit further into the wiring ~ and found two wires touching. Harmonic Interference. The solution? Separate the wires.

I don't know if it is true, but my neighbor tells me if they make three visits for the same complaint and can't fix it, they'll bring you a new appliance.

Hope this helps!

Thank you!

Normally, I'm pretty tenacious with this sort of thing......but I admit I got tired and, snowbirds which we are, we had to return to Long Island.

I will resume dealing with this issue shortly; at least I have some hope now!

[Vic&Judy]

I really could use some technical advice on this matter.

This year we purchased our second home in the Villages....in the Village of Dunedin. We love our new home and, as usual, the Warranty Department has been fabulous about correcting minor issues.

However, there is one quite annoying issue which I have been unable to get resolved despite many, many calls to the Villages Warranty folk, the repair service, and even the builder.

The culprit in question is a new Whirlpool refrigerator, the one which came with the house, an Elite model with three doors. Several times during the day, it emits a very high-pitched squealing noise, while not extremely loud, feels like it could crack glass. When the technician showed up, he acknowledged the unpleasant nature of the noise, said it was probably the compressor...and...here's the zinger....nothing could be done. He said it was in the range of "normal" sounds and directed me to a website maintained by Whirlpool with several recorded squeals and squeaks (they actually have this); none of the noises, while unpleasant, even approached mine in frequency and amplitude. If anybody has dead thing needing awakening, I think we can help.

The Warranty folk whom we spoke with five times told us the builder would "deal with it" and suggested a swap out; he never called. Folks at the Whirlpool Corporation said they would "look into it." Again, no joy.

Sorry for this lengthy missive, but I seriously need advice.

:bowdown:


Bump

[Pa & Giggi]

Welcome to our world. Unfortunately, because the problem was not solved during the warranty as the loudest noise was intermittent the tech was unable to solve the issue. We have a KitchenAid. Fast forward four years and although we have pinpointed where the noise is coming from, it is a spinning metal part, we think it is a design flaw. In fact we have had issues with all our Kitchen Aid appliances. Our oven door fell off when I opened it one day! The wheels on the top rack of the dishwasher broke off. Again, a design flaw as now the wheels are made of metal. The microwave had an issue too one day when it was opened. The metal piece above the door just popped off.

Good luck to you, but don't keep the fridge. Every night the house gets quiet as it should, and then you hear that fridge making those sounds.

[bluedivergirl]

Welcome to our world. Unfortunately, because the problem was not solved during the warranty as the loudest noise was intermittent the tech was unable to solve the issue. We have a KitchenAid. Fast forward four years and although we have pinpointed where the noise is coming from, it is a spinning metal part, we think it is a design flaw. In fact we have had issues with all our Kitchen Aid appliances. Our oven door fell off when I opened it one day! The wheels on the top rack of the dishwasher broke off. Again, a design flaw as now the wheels are made of metal. The microwave had an issue too one day when it was opened. The metal piece above the door just popped off.

Good luck to you, but don't keep the fridge. Every night the house gets quiet as it should, and then you hear that fridge making those sounds.

Such a shame when a good brand goes down.

I think we had the same problem as the OP, and that didn't qualify as noise.

It is a whine that enters your ears, bounces around your brain, and exits your eyeballs. :shocked:

It was intermittent; that's why DH recorded it. Didn't capture the full range, but it helped.

[Pa & Giggi]

Bluedivergirl, did the noise get more intense as time went by? It just seemed as though after the warranty was expired the noise got much louder as did the other noises that the fridge emits. It is just frustrating as I know we were charged a good amount of money to upgrade to this package. All I can do now is warn friends who are in the market for appliances to stay away from KitchenAid, and to do their homework and research first.

[bluedivergirl]

Bluedivergirl, did the noise get more intense as time went by? It just seemed as though after the warranty was expired the noise got much louder as did the other noises that the fridge emits. It is just frustrating as I know we were charged a good amount of money to upgrade to this package. All I can do now is warn friends who are in the market for appliances to stay away from KitchenAid, and to do their homework and research first.

It didn't, because the tech was able to fix it by simply moving the wires and putting a bit of insulation between them. So simple, I don't know why they drag their feet.

I feel for you; I once bought a Maytag range and it was piece of junk. So disappointing.

[vinricci]

Whirlpool owns kitchen aid, roper, maytag, amana, admiral and makes a lot of me more.

[Vic&Judy]

Whirlpool owns kitchen aid, roper, maytag, amana, admiral and makes a lot of me more.

That's encouraging.

What we like to think of as competition is really an illusion.

No wonder things don't always work right.

[cquick]

I will never purchase any Whirlpool brand appliance again. I have had nothing but trouble with my microwave...of course the problem isn't covered by the warranty. The ice maker in the fridge is noisy and makes horrible ice.
The glass cooktop will not come completely clean, no matter what I do. The dishwasher is a joke. I will stop complaining now.

[bluedivergirl]

I will never purchase any Whirlpool brand appliance again. I have had nothing but trouble with my microwave...of course the problem isn't covered by the warranty. The ice maker in the fridge is noisy and makes horrible ice.
The glass cooktop will not come completely clean, no matter what I do. The dishwasher is a joke. I will stop complaining now.

I don't much care for the range, either. I do manage to keep it clean by using a single-edge razor. Didn't see it mentioned in the manual :icon_wink:

I'm keeping my eye on induction ranges for replacement. Electric, but super fast response, like gas. Doesn't heat the air, just the pan.

[BarbHartung]

Purchased a new home in The Villages about one year ago. From the beginning, opening Whirlpool refrigerator door has tripped various breakers causing power outage. Fields has been very nice helpful. However, today (yes, almost a year later) when the Fields technician came out he called Whirlpool engineering and they told him to do nothing but have the residents monitor which lights go off and which breakers trip (and, believe this the position they are in when they trip).

The Whirlpool engineers are very aware of the issue. But so far, neither Whirlpool or The Villages have offered a solution.

Bad part is - would you buy a house where there have been electrical issues since day 1? I think not so the value of our home has been drastically reduced if not erased.

Totally a bad situation with no help in sight.

[NYGUY]

Whirlpool owns kitchen aid, roper, maytag, amana, admiral and makes a lot of me more.

And all are noisy, but, from my experience, not as noisy as GE!!

[jjdees]

For whatever it's worth, we have a Samsung French door frig and have had noise problems since the warranty expired. What's occurring is the defrost mechanism is not working properly so ice builds up around the coils in the rear of the frig and eventually impedes the fan rotation causing the noise. I initially thought it was the compressor. After removing the rear panel inside the unit and defrosting the ice with a hair dryer, I finally found a video detailing how to replace the heater element around the coils which I did about 2-3 months ago. Now we'll see whether this resolves the problem. I can then stop praying that this frig simply dies so I can replace it. (My wife loves it) If any one is interested in the video, I can send a link to it.

[Vic&Judy]

For whatever it's worth, we have a Samsung French door frig and have had noise problems since the warranty expired. What's occurring is the defrost mechanism is not working properly so ice builds up around the coils in the rear of the frig and eventually impedes the fan rotation causing the noise. I initially thought it was the compressor. After removing the rear panel inside the unit and defrosting the ice with a hair dryer, I finally found a video detailing how to replace the heater element around the coils which I did about 2-3 months ago. Now we'll see whether this resolves the problem. I can then stop praying that this frig simply dies so I can replace it. (My wife loves it) If any one is interested in the video, I can send a link to it.

Our issue is compressor-related.

This is a design flaw. I think Whirlpool is aware.

[Realitybreak]

Purchased a new home in The Villages about one year ago. From the beginning, opening Whirlpool refrigerator door has tripped various breakers causing power outage. Fields has been very nice helpful. However, today (yes, almost a year later) when the Fields technician came out he called Whirlpool engineering and they told him to do nothing but have the residents monitor which lights go off and which breakers trip (and, believe this the position they are in when they trip).

The Whirlpool engineers are very aware of the issue. But so far, neither Whirlpool or The Villages have offered a solution.

Bad part is - would you buy a house where there have been electrical issues since day 1? I think not so the value of our home has been drastically reduced if not erased.

Totally a bad situation with no help in sight.
If Pike's Electric did the wiring when the house was built you may want to talk to them. Pike's has a lot of experience with this problem. They put a suppressor on the power cord of our refrigerator that solved our problem. The Arc Fault circuit breakers sensitivity is a factor in the problem.

[Jima64]

Kind of funny when I read of repacing a ge with a kitchenaid or a samsung or a whirlpool. They are all residential appliances made by the same one or two , at most companies I went to replace the heating coils onmy whirlpool stove and they were replaced with ge coils. There is no competition in quality construction because there are no companies competing.

[Pa & Giggi]

What I would do for a nice professional gas stove like I had back home. Especially where my husband cooks and I do the baking. We very seldom eat in restaurants. Electric ranges just aren't the same and you can't keep the top looking like new no matter how hard you try.