Residential Refr in Class A MH -won't cool - help!

[HiHoHiHo]

Need advice on what to do when appliance repairman comes, and any one have any experience getting residential refrigerator repair done when refrig is located in Class A motorhome?

We have a 2013 Winnebago Journey, we are first owners, with Kitchenaid 3-door Residential Refr. We last traveled in MH late June 2014, Refr/Frz worked just fine. MH garaged here when not on road.

We were getting ready for next trip, plugged into 50 amp at our stick/brick for 24 hours to let frig cool etc. It was still 80 degrees inside frig/frz 24 hours later, frig & frz 'running', lights inside frig & frz are on. Command center on MH says 50 Amp service, and all other electrical appliances in MH (micro etc) currently working just fine.

We called local Mr. Appliance to come this afternoon for a diagnostic service call.

We don't know if the frig has to be moved 'out' of its place for service repairman to do the diagnostic tests?

Beside putting out slides for more room in Refg area of MH for repairman, and the approx. 12" x 12" 'access door' on outside of MH (has elect plug & winterization ice maker drain line), not sure what else we need to do for repairman's test?

Two other Questions: product warranty says only if located in single family residence (6 - yr limited warranty period). Anyone know if Kitchenaid will invalidate warranty since it is in a MH?

And, my understanding of extended coach warranty we purchased with MH is extended warranty only covers 'after' manufacturer warranty is expired --is this a correct understanding?

Not sure how big the problem, or how much cost yet. Just trying to figure out what to do from here.

Thanks for any help, anyone with experience with Refrig repair in MH.

[hypoxia]

This is a good read for everyone opposed to Dometic & Norcold LPG refrigerators.

Unless I missed something, I didn't see where anyone had tapped into the refrigerant line. It is very easy to say a compressor is bad when it is just low on refrigerant. If it is R134 refrigerant you can buy a tap, a hose & a can of R134. Put some refrigerant in & see what happens. It doesn't take much as the capacity is prolly around 6 ounces. Total cost $20 and an hour of your time.

[Chris_Bryant]

What does your dealer say about all of this? I would be letting them take care of it.

[rkentzel]

1. You don't want him doing the repair. If he evacuated the refrigerant as he should there would be no acidic problem at all.

2. I have been telling people on this board that a lot of companies will refuse to work on a refer in an RV not a normal installation.

3. This compressor is not exclusive to KA so I don't no where your reading that KA are having a high number of compressor failures most likely not true. Having been authorized service for a lot of manufactures compressor failures are very low. Ice makers seem to be the hot list

It know appears you will be on the hook for repairs. I suggest you get the number for whirlpool/KA general service manager for your area and go from there. They have all changed since I was working so google it.

[HiHoHiHo]

8-16-14 OP Update:

It has been a week since our Kitchenaid residential refrigerator in our 2013 MH stopped cooling. We had a local Mr. Appliance repair person diagnose a ‘compressor / sealed cooling system failure’ on 8/12/14.

We spent the week working through several options we thought might be available. Sharing with you now, in case anything is helpful to others with a Residential Refrigerator in your RV.

We have a mini questionnaire to ask the forum, “What Would You Do?” Here some options we have explored thus far:

1. Determine if Kitchenaid’s (yrs 2-5) extended warranty for ‘sealed cooling system’ will provide repair or replacement for the Kitchenaid Residential Refrigerator in our MH?

2. Determine if Good Sam Extended Warranty contract we purchased with new MH will provide repair, replacement, or reimbursement if we pay costs direct to vendor for repairs in order to remove one of the ‘stumbling blocks’ that some repair businesses won’t do ‘warranty’ work?

3. Determine if other reviews exist regarding ‘compressor problems’ with Kitchenaid refrs, and if this seems to be a ‘well-known’ issue with Kitchenaid Residential Refrigerators, explore option of replacing with a brand new, and/or different brand name residential refrigerator?

4. Determine whether to pursue to completion repairs/replacement now – even if that means not taking any trips in MH for a month to perhaps two months. Or, find out who, what, & how the refrg problem ‘can’ be solved, but travel now while weather in Midwest is suitable, and do all the repair steps November-December ?

To help with your understanding of each option, I am updating what we learned about the options – fyi. Some options proved to have more “surprises in the process”— not all were positive or encouraging (sigh).

Feel free to read, delete, or skip what follows as you choose.

My Calls to Kitchenaid (Refrig mfr) – The first person I spoke with (on 8/12/14) said it would be sometime in Sept. before their ‘one’ authorized Kitchenaid tech in our area could even ‘come to make a diagnosis.’ We had hoped to find a repair solution sooner than waiting until Sept., (nearly 2 months to wait) so we did not schedule anything with Kitchenaid on that call date.

But, after 2 more days and my many calls this week to various local refrigeration repairmen, it became apparent that trying to find anyone to do the ‘sealed cooling system’ (need new compressor, etc) repairs was proving a bigger challenge than we expected. And, we decided we should at least ‘get on the list’ for a Kitchenaid ‘authorized tech to officially diagnose” the refrigerator problem – even if that meant waiting until sometime in Sept. Otherwise, there wasn’t any chance at all the ‘extended Kitchenaid limited warranty ( yrs 2-5) on the sealed cooling system’ would pay a dime to repair the residential refrigerator in our MH. So, on Wednesday (8/14/14), I again called the Kitchenaid phone number. (Note: this is evidently a special ph. number for Kitchenaid’s “Trade Partner Support Team (for RVs)” which the Winnebago Svc. Admin person directed me to call in order to pursue the mfr. Warranty coverage on the Kitchenaid residential refrigerator in our MH.

On Wed, 8/14/14, I spoke with a different staff member at Kitchenaid this time, who clarified the following:

• If the Kitchenaid Authorized Tech diagnosis was NOT ‘a sealed cooling system failure’ – the problem is NOT covered; and the cost for the Tech’s diagnosis appointment was NOT covered by the mfr. Warranty.
• However, if their authorized tech diagnosis determines it IS a sealed cooling system failure – the service call and repair would be made under the ‘extended yr 2-5’ portion of our Kitchenaid refr. Limited warranty terms.
• The staff person said he could NOT tell me what the diagnosis service call charge would cost. That is up to the tech to decide. (i.e,, I would be committing to an unspecified charge to diagnose, if it is not sealed cooling system failure.)
• The staff person said he could NOT tell me whether the tech could ‘make cooling system repairs in the space inside our MH, or whether the refr would have to be removed from the MH, repaired off –site, and reinstalled in the MH when repairs completed.’ That is up to the tech to decide.
• Also, I was not sure if the staff person clarified if the warranty paid to remove/reinstall the refr in the MH should the tech decide removal was required in order to repair the refr. ?
• When asked if repair costs were close / equal to price for new, would warranty provide a new refr instead of repairs? Staff member replied, first must diagnose, but warranty is only for repairs.
• The staff member did say we could cancel the appointment later, too, by contacting the authorized tech directly; and the staff member would provide a tech name / ph. Number IF we schedule the diagnosis appointment.
• This staff person made an “diagnosis” appointment for August 28, 2014 (much sooner than the first person I spoke with 2 days earlier at Kitchenaid said was available). That was at least a little more positive news.
• B U T ….at 8:30 am the very next morning (8/15/14), the ‘one authorized Kitchenaid Tech in our area’ called and said to me, “WE DO NOT WORK ON APPLIANCES IN RVs.” So, the ‘Kitchenaid anointed’ repair business (& the only authorized Kichenaid repair business in our area per the 8/12/14 call I made), had therefore just CANCELED our only means of qualifying for Kitchenaid extended warranty coverage! I was so flabbergasted at their cancelling, I simply clarified they indeed had just ‘canceled?’

The “Kitchenaid Anointed repair business:”

An hour or two later, after I thought about it, I decided I should call the Kitchenaid’s authorized / anointed repair business back, clarify, and make sure I had heard them correctly: the appointment Kitchenaid made on our behalf was cancelled? The several questions I asked this business staff member were:

• Is the person I am speaking with now, the same person who called me this a.m to cancel ? (YES)
• Did Kitchenaid give them both the model & serial number/s for my refrigerator needing repairs? (YES)
• Do you / this business KNOW this IS a KITCHENAID RESIDENTIAL REFRIGERATOR, and NOT an RV type equipment? (YES)
• So, I asked, “To clarify, you will NOT come diagnose the problem because it is located in an RV (MH), even though it is ‘Residential’ equipment?” (CORRECT – they do not work on any appliances located in RVs.)
• She then quickly added, “Oh, and your address is out of our ‘range’ “
• I asked, “What is that range?” (Staff person replied, “30 miles.”)
• I replied, “We are only appx. 35 miles from your business address, is there a way we can pay an ‘up charge’ for the extra 5 miles?” (NO)
• I then asked, “Do we need to notify Kitchenaid that you have cancelled, or do you do let Kitchen aid know that?” (She replied, “We already sent an email this morning to Kitchenaid that [the repair business] had canceled the appointment and provided Kitchenaid with [repair business’] ‘reasons.’ “)

This was not a good result. Thus, my earlier comment posted on this forum, ‘this is a Kitchenaid problem’ stands. Call me crazy, but it is my belief, a Kitchenaid corp. phone line that answers your call with: ‘Trade Partners Support Team’ (i.e., a ph. Number, per Winnebago’s understanding, specifically to provide customer ‘support’ for RV applications/products sold to Winnebago &/or other RV mfrs. for use in RVs) should NOT consider a repair business ‘authorized’ – if that business refuses to accept even the initial repair ‘diagnosis’ appointment for appliances located in an RV!

BTW – if you read Amazon or other similar reviews, there does appear to be a ‘short life span for Kitchenaid Refr compressors.’ These were in stick/brick homes --- not bouncing down rough roads in RVs.

My Call to Good Sam Extended Warranty: I was able to clarify process as follows:

• A “claim” does not exist / get created, until a Vendor calls Good Sam Extended Warranty. (My 2 phone calls to GS EW are noted in their computer system, and do fulfill prior notification, but no “claim” is started until a Vendor calls to seek approval to do the work.)
• A Vendor must be affiliated with an RV dealership, or in our case, would need to be licensed in the state to do the type of work to be performed, and have a state Tax I.D. (I don’t see this item as any problem to fulfill, just noting – fyi steps.)
• GS EW analysts decide whether to approve, deny, or may require an inspection prior to deciding the claim status. Also, this can all be done by phone, fax, or email – ‘paperless’ said the GS staff member with whom I spoke.
• When I asked how long it takes ‘on-average’ for the approve/deny step, I was told usually while on-phone with vendor, within minutes. But, if GS EW wants an inspection, that would be done usually within 24-48 hours of Vendor’s call for a claim, before it could be approved/denied.
• If, after the vendor calls for a claim, and if claim was already approved by GS EW – but you or vendor change mind and decide not to proceed …. ONLY the Vendor can call/contact GS EW to ‘CANCEL A CLAIM.’ Yes, you heard me correctly. I commented to the staff member … that sounds crazy. I paid for the extended warranty, it is my coach, but I cannot cancel? This means once the Vendor is IN the loop – the policy owner is OUT of the loop? To be fair, staff member said that is correct – only Vendor who files claim/starts/ receives GS EW approval step can be the one to cancel said claim. But added, “You [MH owner] are still welcome to call GS EW to check on status, call with questions, etc. anytime (normal business hours, M-F).”
• So… the moral of that seems to be: make sure the Vendor who calls about your repair IS without a doubt the one you want to make said repair?
• And, staff member said – if the Vendor cancels, then no claim exists any longer, and you start over.
• When I then asked, can we pay the cost directly to a vendor, and be reimbursed by GS EW, i.e., because repair person refuses to do ‘warranty’ jobs? Staff member replied, NO, only a vendor will be paid. If we/owner of MH pay any costs on our own, it is our choice, and GS EW would not reimburse us.
• When I also asked, if the cost for repair is equal to, or close to, the cost for a new refr; or, because the ‘known issues with existing refr brand’s compressor history,’ we would prefer to buy a new refr from a box store, does GS EW pay for a replacement? Staff member says, NO, GS EW only pays for ‘repairs’ as set out in [your] contract terms, and does not reimburse you/MH owner for any expenses you choose to do on your own.
• At this point, I admit, I complained albeit mildly, not angrily, that the process is confusing, and that I can see now why people on-line grumble about the extended warranty contract process.

FYI - I made 6 unsuccessful calls to refrigeration businesses trying to find a ‘repair person who IS licensed/trained to do sealed cooling system repairs,’ & who is willing to come look at the refrigerator (out of the cubby), but while refr is still in the MH. We wanted to find someone to look at it, who has the specialized equipment needed for cooling system repair, to tell us if they would be willing to do our repair. Finally, 1 “cooling system licensed” repairman came to see our refr yesterday. We still had the Refr setting on the riser, out of the cubby, in the aisle of MH. He gave us an additional reason why NOT to have it repaired inside MH. But said space was large enough to lay it on the floor, face down to do the work if we didn’t want to remove refr from the MH. He explained, when heating the copper tubes to 1200 degrees or more, the gas inside turns to acid, making a very strong, acrid odor. And indicated it could take a while for that smell to ‘leave.’ Fyi – However, this person would also want direct payment from us. He does not do ‘warranty’ work – saying ‘it just takes way too long to get paid.’ Thus, if we want Kitchenaid, or GS EW warranty to cover this repair, this repairman could not do the work. In addition, upon hearing his info for odor concerns, we believe whatever option we choose will have to include removal of the refr from the MH, repair or replace, and reinstall the Ref. into the MH cubby. If we take the MH to an RV dealership, say in a larger city, perhaps there would also be other ‘authorized’ Kitchenaid repair businesses available. And, if removed from the MH, the refr could be worked on at the refrigeration repair business’ address, then returned to RV dealership to re-install refr to MH cubby?

So, Where Are We NOW?

Well, we have lots of new information. We have returned Refr to the cubby, and secured the brackets, so the ‘dead’ Refr is back in the cubby again (still non-operable), and the MH ‘could’ be driven on the road. The RV trip we had planned, had to be canceled when the Refr failed.

And we are left to decide # 4. – do we NOT travel until all repairs are completed? Or, do we WAIT to make repairs until Nov-Dec time frame for repairs, so that we can travel in our MH – ‘without an operating refrigerator’ in the MH for now?

What would you do?? What option would you / have you pursued if you had a refrigerator fail?

Thanks again for all the help, caring, and support! Happy RV Travels to All !

[westend]

How wide is the entry door in your MH? A standard french door 20 cu. ft. has a depth of 28.5 inches with doors removed.

[rkentzel]

Reimbursement rates are so low you can't get anybody to do warranty compressor R&R. We were authorized service for many but would not do sealed system work for none of them due to low pay.

[HiHoHiHo]

8-12-14 OP Update:

First, let me say a big “Thank You” to the fellow RVers who took time to read and reply to my post this morning asking for help and advice. Thank YOU!

This update is a bit long, so read, delete, or skip as you wish. But since there are more and more RVs with a Residential Refrigerator, I wanted to share what we have learned today. I will post again when we see where this situation shakes out. Hopefully, by sharing details of whatever we learn may help someone else :- )

Second, a disclaimer: neither I, my spouse, nor anyone in our family or close friends work for, or receive benefits of any type from vendors which are mentioned below.

Okay ..without repeating my original post details, here is the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY –IMHO –based on what we have learned thus far. These are our opinions – ymmv.

The GOOD: There are really two people today who deserve our personal, and heartfelt Kudos today.

The first person, a Good Sam Elite Service Concierge who will continue his aid until we reach resolution. I really admire the GS Concierge’s ability to listen all day to people’s RV troubles, his knowledge of the system/processes is a great help. We know from prior experience working through 1st year ‘bugs’ that many new RVs experience, he sincerely extends his personal interest in helping each one of us! His help was invaluable again today! Thank You to Jeff, at GS Concierge Service.

And, a second person who deserves a GOLD STAR. With probably the least $ benefit of anyone in the process! Nevertheless, he literally continued searching all day to try and help us find a way to get our Residential Refrigerator operating again. He understood our situation, and went above and beyond what we expected so we could hopefully take that RV trip we had to cancel due to a refrig that was not cooling. And, YES, I will tell you who this Gold Star person is, what he did, and I will give you his business phone number!

The Concierge: So, when we purchased our MH, it came with an ‘Elite’ Good Sam membership, which includes a GS Concierge Service phone number which we called today. The Concierge was able to clarify who we needed to call before we engaged someone to make whatever repairs might be determined in the Diagnostic Service Call. Which we had already scheduled for this afternoon with a local repair service. (Reminder: we are beyond the 1 yr. all-inclusive Winnebago warranty on this 2013 MH; but had a question of whether Kitchenaid warranty might apply; and how to access GS Extended Warranty coverage, if necessary.) I felt relieved that someone familiar with how the ‘system’ of repairs worked was there to guide us. His list of calls I should make, to help us either have repairs paid direct/or to reimburse us were these:

Call Winnebago’s Service Administration Department: ask how to handle the 6 yr Ltd. warranty described in our Kitchenaid Refr. Owners manual; and ask Winnebago for the best phone number to contact the Refr Manufacturer (Kitchenaid).

Call GS Extended Warranty Administrative Number: give them our Extd. Warranty contract number, tell them what happened, and ask how to proceed under our contract, so that we can fulfill the ‘prior notification’ requirement before engaging repairs to be made.

Call the Refrigerator Manufacturer phone number which Winnebago Svc Adm gives to you: ask if the refrigerator is covered by mfr. Warranty at this time, and if so, how to proceed for that process. Also, ask who they will ‘authorize’ to make repair. Concierge clarified that most refrigerators have some type of extended warranty that covers ‘sealed cooling components’ (compressor, etc. which can be quite expensive). Concierge hopes these steps will get as much repair cost covered for us as possible either through mfr warranty, or GS Extended Warranty contract we purchased with the MH.

The Gold Star: Yesterday, when we realized the Refr was not cooling, and the usual steps (checked plugged in securely, doors were closed with travel lock engaged so no doors were left adjar, check for dust bunnies under front kick plate, unplug, wait, plug in again, in case that would ‘reset’ electronics – nothing helped – after 36 hours of trial, looking, reading owners manual, we still had a refrigerator at 83 degrees / freezer compartment at 79 degrees – pretty much the ambient temperature yesterday here.) It was after 5 pm, so I googled ‘Kitchenaid Refrigerator Not Cooling.’ One of the search results was:

Mr. Appliance of West Central Indiana. We called the phone number, left a voice mail for a return call. The voice mail said to go on-line to www.MrAppliance.com to schedule your own appointment time. This is a franchise service, with locations all over the US, you enter a Zip Code to schedule service in your area. To our surprise, it said we could schedule the next afternoon (today 8/12) for a Diagnostic Service Call. Website asks what type of payment: Cash/Check/Charge, Service Contract, Warranty. The Diagnostic Service call fee for this our location is $79. We checked the Cash/Ck/Chg option since we had no idea if mfr or service contract would apply, and because we didn’t want to lose any more days waiting on authorization just to ‘find out’ what was wrong. So this morning about 8:30 am, Mr. Appliance of W. Ctrl Indiana called to verify they would come between noon and 2 pm. Folks – for having initiated our contact after normal business hours, to get that phone call 1st thing the next morning was a good sign!

So, before he arrived, we looked at the possible ‘needs’ should we have to move the Res. Refrig out of its cubby for the diagnostic and/or for repair. There were several obstacles! First, our floor plan has the Refr in a full-wall slide. We would have to put down wooden blocks on the driveway which is gravel where the MH is parked/connected to 50 amp service; extend jacks, and extend living area slides (both sides of MH) to make sure we provided as much working space as possible inside the MH. Second, even when slide is extended, the Refr sits on top of the slide frame, roughly a 3” rise from the ceramic tile flooring. It would be helpful to make a riser that had to be strong enough to support a couple hundred pound Refr weight, and cardboard under that to protect the ceramic tile. Also, the ‘riser’ had to make a ‘level’ surface to pull refr on to from cubby, which would also be easier to return to cubby and not have to ‘lift’ the weight over the slide 3” carpeted edge. Third, the Refr was secured at the front, both bottom corners, with metal brackets bolted to the slide floor frame. Fourth, using a flashlight, we could see two more brackets bolted to the Refr rear corners inside the slide enclosure. Fifth, there is a wooden trim board above the Refr top surface that would need to be removed to give access to remove the bolts holding those brackets at the rear corners (ideally, not damaging other trim on cabinets or ruining that trim piece). These are anti-tip safety brackets similar to what TVs or tall bookcases should have, not to mention, this Refr must remain secure on those rough winter-pocked roads this summer – LOL.

My husband gets a kudo here too! He made the riser from 2x4s and plywood (48”L x 37” W x 2 ¾” H) while I gathered cardboard large enough to cover the same space as the riser and protect ceramic tiles, a step stool, and then I proceeded to the stick/brick to continue the calls as suggested by the Concierge.

The repair person, Alex Miller, Mr. Appliance Expert Appliance Repair, business phone 765-323-4216 (W.Ctrl Ind area) arrived at 2:00 p.m. – another good sign – he was on time!

We made the appointment on-line, so other than identifying a Kichenaid Residential Refrig, model, serial number – we did not specify it was in a MH. We wanted the diagnostic done, and we were prepared to help move the Refr from the cubby if needed. Then we hoped the repair person would not flee when he realized it was inside a MH. Again, the repairman never flinched… followed us inside the MH, said it would need to be pulled from the cubby. And, another good sign …. He helped get the bolts out and helped my husband muscle this big Refr out of the cubby on to the riser we had in place ready to go.

The BAD:
Diagnostic result: compressor running, but not compressing. Compressor failure. Repairman does not do (doesn’t have the expensive equipment req’d) to replace ‘sealed cooling system/compressor etc.’ We need to find someone to replace the compressor, and fill with correct gas used to cool. And when we asked, he said the compressor is fairly common so getting parts should not be a delay, and when asked a cost ‘range’ – he suggested probably in the $700 range (parts & labor). He asked, “You might want to just replace the refrigerator for the cost of the compressor/sealed system expense.” Adding, “Most people do.” We replied… yeah, but we would have to take the MH someplace to have the windshield removed to get the Refr out; we would rather get it repaired if possible instead of what is involved to get it out of the MH and a new Refr moved into the MH.

Now, back to the GOOD: The repairman gave us the name of another local business that does sealed cooling / compressor replacement repair work. And said, if that man isn’t able to get to us, call our repairman at his Mr. Appliance number and he would give us more names. Now for the Gold Star I mentioned. This repairman made multiple calls to us with several names, even called one person himself and had that business call us directly. Now folks, this was way above and beyond… this man had helped get the frige out of the cubby, and continued good on his word to help us find someone to make repairs … he was still looking for someone and calling us at 6:00 pm this evening. WE WANT TO GIVE HIGH RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS PERSON, WHO WENT BEYOND THE EXPECTED JUST TO HELP !! So if you have any appliance issues living / Rving in the West Central Indiana area (stove, Refr, washer/dryer, microwave, dishwasher) … call Mr. Appliance of Central Indiana, 765-323-4215, www.MrAppliance.com That $79 diagnostic service charge was a bargain. Thank you to Mr. Appliance, and Alex Miller.

Now, the UGLY:
Kitchenaid person told us lots of uglies: first, they only have 1 tech. who has a huge area to cover, he is the only ‘authorized’ person for Kitchenaid warranty work in our area. Second, because Mr. Appliance isn’t their ‘authorized’ tech, they will not accept his diagnosis; we would have to get on the schedule for the 1 tech. in our area to come make an ‘authorized’ diagnosis, and then he would decide what work/parts/repairs need to be made. Third, their 1 tech is booked until late Sept – meaning our RV would not even be ‘looked at’ for close to 2 more months. Fourth, we were told other options were to take it to an RV dealer, have the dealer ‘pull’ the frige and take it to an ‘authorized’ repair person. Fifth, said that most appliance dealers won’t service anything if they didn’t also ‘sell’ it to you. Sixth, when asked the purchase date/date closed on MH – the lady said yes, but Winnebago installed the frig June, 2012 (we purchased Feb. 2013), so technically it is not in the first 2 yrs of warranty period. So, the only positive thing we were told by Kitchenaid …but ONLY IF their authorized tech found the problem is the sealed cooling system/compressor … it ‘may’ be covered. Their authorized tech would have to call Kitchenaid before that would be determined. To be fair, she was pleasant, sympathetic, and took time, when I asked, to look and see ‘how far out’ the earliest possible tech appointment would be available.

Calls to find a Sealed Cooling System repair person/business – more bad news.

When we started this process, we thought our biggest problem might be how soon anyone could diagnose and then fix whatever was found wrong.

What we found out to be the biggest problem today: Of Five businesses/repair persons we called today, NONE will do the repair.

Reasons we were told:

“because I don’t do warranty work”

“why don’t you just replace it with a new one? Its so expensive to replace the sealed cooling system/compressor, no one ever fixes the compressor anyway, they just buy a new refrigerator.”

“because I just don’t want to work inside an RV on a Refrigerator, not enough space to spread out my stuff”

“why don’t you just ask Kitchenaid to send you a replacement compressor under warranty, and then you won’t have to wait to late September, and you could bring the refrigerator to us to put it in” (sigh…had to explain, Kitchenaid won’t DO anything at all until their ‘authorized tech’ can come in late Sept …so not going to send us parts, only will give parts to authorized tech to install, yadda yadda).

“because it freaks him out to think of doing the steps needed, high temp 1200 degree on copper tubes, inside an RV – nope, just not willing to try it”

And, “if you could take the Refrigerator out of the RV, and you bring it to us (he is 1 ½ hours North!), he would do it, and then we could come get it when ready, bring it back and re-install in RV cubby ourselves” (we had to explain the windshield removal issue).

So, where are we? We know what is wrong, which is more than we knew yesterday. We know waiting on Kitchenaid to ‘maybe’ cover it means no RV travels the rest of the season (unacceptable --- we will try to find SOME other way. Don’t know if mfrs figure if you give up it’s less cost for them, so who cares if your 2 yr old refrigerator compressor fails? Yes yes, I understand … sometimes parts fail, no malice here really, but truly sad and disappointed at the hassle). We also now know we were right to be concerned about repairman ‘flight response’ when they hear the word MOTORHOME/RV in the same sentence as , “we need someone to ….”

Again, Thank You to our local Mr. Appliance repairman ....who really went out of his way to help all he could today. AND, he came in less than 24 hours of our call/web appointment step. How cool is that!!

Tomorrow is another day, and we have 1 more name to contact, and some brain storming to do for ‘other options.’ We still have the Refrig setting out of its cubby and if we cannot get a repair pretty soon, we will at least have to put the ‘dead’ back in the hole.

This is not a Winnebago problem. This is not a Good Sam problem. But it is a Kitchenaid problem. And for now, its still also OUR problem.

We will post another update when we have a solution to share.

Last? Thanks for caring, sharing, and Happy RV Travels to all!!

[rkentzel]

Installed in a motor home is not considered a normal installation and yes they can and do deny warranty for these types of installations. You can try to play it any way you want but it can be denied.

I owned a appliance repair service and would never touch one unless it was out of the cabinet. The only way we would even consider it was if it was at a rv dealer and they had removed it from the cabinet for service. I have warned people here before that a lot of these refers has the electronics in the back of the refer some in the compressor compartment and some up on the back.

You will pay for two techs if you can find some one to do it. Most companies will not let the customer help due to the risk of injury and insurance.


I would make sure you did not put it in demo mode trying to get it to work. If in demo mode the lights can be on but wont cool.

[ScottG]

Check the easiest thing first, is the fan running at the back or bottom of the unit? If it's running very slow or not at all then that's your problem. Maybe it's just plugged up with something like dust or a nest.

[wa8yxm]

You may need to pull it out of the wall so the service man can get at it.. If this can be done quickly (I suspect it can) then wait till he requests.

As for invalidation... Well you could argue that the Motor home IS a single family residence (Your "Summer cottage") but how well it will fly, I can not say.

[dougrainer]

Residential refer repair people will NOT remove the refer from the built in cabinet to do warranty work. Even if it seems all you have to do is remove the mount hardware and roll it out. As a RV Service Center, we remove the refer for the Refer Service people so when they come out it is ready for them to do the work. We also charge for that work. The OEM's pay us our labor to do the pull and reinstall under warranty. If it is a Electronic control problem or something accessed from the inside doors, they may not have it pulled. Doug

[Handbasket]

No such experience, but some general advice... Look in the packet of instruction manuals that came with the Moho. Find the KitchenAid one for the reefer. Find out what it says about warranty.

You're probably going to be on the hook for the diagnostic visit, since it was arranged without prior authorization. But unless there's specific warranty info in the manual, call Kitchenaid with specific model # and in-service date before proceeding any further to maybe avoid more charges.

Jim, "Always drink upstream from the herd."

(On late edit, also call the dealer and Winnebago. If nothing else, ask Winnie if the install is approved by Kitchen aid.)

[Roadpilot]

We people that have had their refrigerators worked on in a class A. One had the compressor replaced and they used the outside small access port to get to it. They also moved it out from the rear a few inches. I don't know of any that failed during warranty though so can't tell you what Kitchen Aid will say.

We had a MH with a residential fridge and a non pure sine inverter. The fridge and microwave didn't like that so we swapped for a pure sine inverter before anything died.

I believe you are correct on the extended warranty.

[past-MIdirector]

No warranty after 90 days so be prepared to pay labor!!!Did you ask if they honored the extended warranty or better yet call and find out if they cover the fridge. Sounds like either control circuit board or compressor which both are expensive if the extend warranty does not cover. You may also have to pay for 2 techs if they have to pull the fridge out. Keep us posted there are many people who would like to know how this goes.