Old timer told me to check the damn door seal first

Had a 3 year old Whirlpool fridge that wasn't cooling right. Spent two hours checking the compressor, coils, fan. Replaced a relay for nothing. Then my buddy's dad who's been doing this since the 80s said 'kid, look at the door gasket.' Sure enough there was a tiny tear near the bottom. Taped it up and it cooled fine. Felt like an idiot. Anyone else skip the simple stuff and go straight for the hard fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

hollyg595d ago

Oh man, I used to totally be that person. I'd watch my dad fix stuff around the house and he was always like "check the easy stuff first" and I'd roll my eyes thinking he was being lazy. Then my freezer started making this weird noise and I spent three hours taking the back panel off, checking the evaporator fan motor, ordering a new one. My neighbor comes over while I'm cussing at it and goes "hey is your ice maker making that sound?" I open the door and the ice maker arm was just stuck. Moved it a quarter inch and the noise stopped. I felt so dumb. That's when I finally got what the old timers were talking about.

wadecooper5d ago

Did you at least frame the new evaporator fan motor and hang it on the wall as a reminder? That's a classic move though. I've done the same thing with a dishwasher that was just a penny stuck in the drain pump. Spent an afternoon tearing it apart before I saw the penny just sitting there. The older guys at the store have a good laugh every time I tell that story.