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Amana Strikes Again
Being down this road before, I knew the ole Amana was finally nearing the end of it’s near perfect run. I did my usual change out of the defrost timer, thermostat and defrost heating element and for 11,000 miles it held those magic numbers of 0 and 37.
So we get nice and situated in Port Charlotte at Myakka River Resort and two days later the fridge temps start climbing. Had a Tech come take a look and he confirmed what I already knew, compressor. There is a leak somewhere and he explained we can put in a new compressor, but if the leak is somewhere unaccessable, I may have to replace the fridge.
No brainer, put in a new one and forget about anymore repairs. Found the closest one with the right dimensions at Sears and being delivered today. So here I set at Parliament waiting for the fridge delivery in sunny Clearwater. Of course I couldn’t be in a better place in FL and dinner was provided last night compliments of Ken and Mel, truly his better half. At least I have Ronald here to help feel my fridge pain, he has experienced the nightmare himself.
Anyone needing any Amana parts, the fridge is in perfect condition other than the compressor, is black with mirror panels on front.
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70 Replies
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Tom, next owner will appreciate the new refrigerator
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Having learned the hard way I offer the following free advice.
Once a refrigerator begins to have problems give serious consideration to swapping it out for a new one. Tom and I have both tried to nurse older refrigerators and in the end we still changed them for new ones. The part that probably scares or concerns most folks is the process of removing one and getting a new one in the coach.
I won’t try to minimize the effort because it is an involved process. In my case I had to clear a path to the windshield that was taken out for the removal of the old and entry of the new one. That meant removing the table, a sofa and the passenger seat. The refrigerators both had to be stripped. Doors, shelves and everything else that could help reduce their size and cut down on weight was taken off the refrigerators.
Unless you are extremely fortunate you may have to modify the existing refrigerator opening. This means unless you are super strong and highly qualified you need help. You need a lifting device. A fork truck is the best choice. You need 4 people because you are going to need to be lifting it from the inside and outside simultaneously, with two guys in and two guys out. If you have the needed tools and skills you can modify the opening size yourself but the ease of doing that is dependent upon what has to be done. I opted to have a 1/4″ adjustment in the height and 1/8″ adjustment in the width done by folks that had all the tools and skills required. One slip and the repair goes from a remove and install to an interior remodel.
But despite the effort required putting a refrigerator you cannot trust on the trash pile and enjoying the peace of mind from a brand new one is worth the day of grief it takes to do the switch. I think Tom has chosen the right place to get the job done and I suspect he is considering the new refrigerator Nancy’s Christmas present (in lieu of the slides she did not get).
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I’m sure she will have multiple slidey things in her new fridge though. Truk, say hello to our bus and remember they have Happy Hour everyday 4-6pm. If you guys are still going to be there Monday, maybe we’ll take a ride up.
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C & G,
Doubt I’ll be going anywhere, maybe Tuesday, the slight cabinet modification is my biggest concern. The new fridge is 1/4 inch taller than the original and Marathon had that fridge’s fit & finish within a gnats hair of the cabinet dimensions.
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Been there done that… when we bought the Vantare ours was barely cooling so we decided not to go through the aggravation of repairing an OLD refrigerator so found the perfect 3 door model at Sears and in 3 hours it was in and ready to go.. no more aggravation and an easy in and out of an H.
Cheers, Diane
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Our fridge got ruined when the power failed. Nobody could figure out howor why it happened.
The stink was terrible, to say the least. Did not get the full dose because by the time I got back to the bus, they had already removed all the food. Still stinking though. Tried all the remedies offered on the Internet. None did do the trick for me. So … got a new fridge. I was very fortunate to find out that my 7 years old fridge model was still available as a 2014 model. So no carpentry required. it fits the old opening like a glove.Old fridge went out the windshield along the lines of how Jon described it. In our case, no need to remove anything at all. Just a few strong guys on the inside who lifted the fridges, old and new, over and past the copilot seat.
The benefit of the new fridge is that it has 2014 technology and it is a better fridge overall.
I got a good whiff of what the smells are like when food goes bad inside the bus. Several weeks ago, someone elses fridge gave up but they were lucky because it was being worked on so the technicians found out relatively soon. The people had a fridge full of shrimp. When they opened the bus door, the smell was still overwhelming for buses down the row!
Well, Happy Sunday!
Cheers,
Ronald
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Truk, sounds like lunch Monday and maybe a beer or two at Happy Hour !
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OK, you’re on..
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The planets all lined up..
We found the closest size fridge at Sears, ordered Friday and Sundy they delivered to Parliament. They left a door unlocked for me and we put the new fridge inside out of the weather. Monday morning we started at 8:00 am and at 4:00 pm I backed out of the shop. Waiting on the glass guy for an 11:00 am appointment to remove the windshield caused some down time, but it all worked out fine. My windshield had a couple stars and broke coming out as we expected. Just so happens I had a new spare windshield under the bed and all went well.
Parliament did a great job and their guys worked hard to R & R the fridge, a tough job requiring muscle and careful handling. No nicks, damage or any issues when finished.
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Glad all went well with the R&R. You’ll sleep well tonight having that change out behind you.
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It pains me to see these pictures as I know my original fridge is likely on borrowed time. I keep the coils clean but don’t know what else to do other than keep fingers crossed.
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TG,
I’ve nursed these Amana’s for years and find the best maintenance is to change out the defrost timer, defrost heater element and thermostat. Keeping it clean is also very important.
The new Kenmore fridge is quiet and uses less amps than the Amana and also weighs less, but seems bigger inside with almost the identical cf. The fridge was on sale for 1199.99 and fit like a glove. This model was one of the few that didn’t have the raised hinges requiring more height and comes with a charcoal filter cartridge that you change out every 6 months and no need for the baking powder.
Woke up this morning with 37 and -5, yippee….
Model Kenmore 51789, come in white, black or simulated stainless. 51789
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Thanks Tom. I will file that number away. My Marathon has an electromagnet to hold the door shut that is engerized when the bus is running. There is a release switch on the galley keypad. Did you encounter this when you replaced your unit?
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Yes and you lose the magnets, a feature I really liked. The new refrigerators have a lower profile under the front grill and there is no room for the magnet assembly. I may try to figure something out when I get back home in the spring, but for now I’m using a large piece of velcro on top of the doors when traveling, you don’t see it and it does the job. My Liberty had cabinet latches on the bottom of the doors to help keep them closed, so that’s an option, but the latches makes the doors a little harder to open.
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Our Navigator had a house refrigerator and it came with a velcro strap through the handles to keep the door closed so we did the same on our new one in the Vantare it worked very well.
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