How The,...?

Recently we noticed kitten foot prints headed down

on the front of the refrigerator.

There are several prints
one-two feet from the top.

Pretty talented.

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Vladi's Perch

Last night we were watching TV when movement

near the kitchen ceiling caught my eye.

Vladi had gotten on top of the refrigerator.

Nobody here but us oats,...

Wait a minute, this one likes petties,...

Gotcha'

Nooo, Daaadd,...


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Kenmore Elite Trio Refrigerator Evaporator Fan Motor

Details on the repair below, read on.

Look out, I think dad has had it,
and is "fixing" the refrigerator.

I'm a good Tanji, I will stay out of the way.

Wake me when you're finished.

We have been with-out a refrigerator for a week. Luckily the compressor wasn't the problem, so the freezer has been working, enabling us to moving ice packs back and forth to a small cooler to keep some basic refrigerator items cool. It is amazing how much we rely upon a refrigerator for leftovers, and various components of a meal, that you don't eat all of when you make something, like jarred pasta sauce.

Anyway, last Sunday, I had diagnosed that the Evaporator Fan Motor was the likely culprit for the lack of cooling in the refrigerator compartment, but I doubted myself and had a repairman come out to fix the fridge. This took four days and cost $55, but of course he didn't have the part, and had to order it. With his confirmation of the problem I told him that I would install the motor. Now one week without a refrigerator I checked the status of the order,... the motor is "Factory Back-Ordered," which means who knows when the part will arrive. So I got right online and went searching,... no luck, I also called all the "local" companies,... "Factory Back-Ordered." Finally, one of the guys said that he typically uses a different motor (Maytag Evaporator Fan Kit #12002744) for the replacement and he had one in his hand. I wasn't sure, even though it had all the same specs (115 volts, and 0.14A),... it wasn't the "exact" factory motor for our very expensive refrigerator. He said it would only be $18.00, so we jumped in the car and drove 45min (a few towns away) to get the motor. I was certainly willing to risk the relatively little $$ to take a shot at getting the fridge back up and running. Additionally, I had seen that motor recommended as a replacement during my online research.

The Evaporator Fan Motor for the Kenmore Elite Trio (model #596.73503201) is located behind the back wall in the freezer compartment. It is a simple matter of pulling out the two food bins, unplugging the ice-maker, popping off the plastic vent cap, and then removing a few screws to get the back panel off.

Behind that panel it looks like this, the motor goes in that white bracket hanging from the ceiling of the compartment. Those metal evaporator fins are very sharp.

The sealed white dead motor and replacement
are both 115v 0.14A even though they look very different.

I think dad is going for it,...
Go Dad Go

Can I be of assistance,... ?

Need any tools ?

Installing the motor is easy.

Motor installed, in less than 5 minutes total time.

The motor came right on and started moving
cold freezer compartment air up the duct,
into the refrigerator compartment.

Wooooo Hoooooo !!!

Might as well wipe down the inside
of the freezer while it is all open.

Vladi looks proud,

Way to go dad !!

Food Time!!!


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Refrigerator Repairmen

"This looks broken..."

Living in a small home, we decide to keep our appliances to a minimum: refrigerator, microwave/oven combo, dishwasher, and Washer/Dryer. We bought all of these new a few years ago when we moved to our new (and basically unfinished) home. We purchased top "quality" brand appliances (Kenmore Elite, GE Profile, Bosch, Whirl-pool Duet). Well, the microwave/oven has never worked quite right, the dishwasher has stopped dispensing soap, and today was the big one: the fridge stopped cooling. Of course this happened on a weekend after business hours. I got on the phone and called Sears customer service, and found out the earliest a repair-person could come out would be Wednesday. So, I decided to take a look. After pulling the fridge away from the wall, I checked to make sure everything was safe for the boys, who were on their way...

Vladi is the first to arrive...

He is absolutely fearless and zipped behind the fridge.

Tanji and Uschi are close behind, their
postures are a little less certain.

Soon all three are in the back offering advice.
Mice have gotten back there through a hole
in the wall, so this smells great to the boys.

"This tag looks O.K.!"

"Yep, the counter is O.K. too!"

Uschi checks out the removed shelves.
"Hey, this is where my open canned food goes!"

I took off the back plate, as Uschi watched intently.
He has always been a good helper.

Vladi is watching me closely too...

"Do you know what you're doing??"

This is new to me Vladi.

Tanji knows better, he's napping next to Les
as she edits these photos.

Later I Googled refrigerator issues, and under
"compressor is on but does not cool" the verdict
is something like you might as well "buy a new fridge."

Uschi's wide eyes sum up our reaction to this news!

The only thing that looks strange is that the
evaporator fan isn't turning fast. It is moving, so it
is getting power/signal. A few sites said this
is typically the problem.

Well this week we are probably going to be visited by
a repairman and/or an appliance delivery man, so
at least the boys will have new adventures! (eek)


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Fridge Frenzy

What's for dinner?

Tanj and Uschi are "try it once" kinds of kitties. They will try something once, but if they are scolded or it isn't as fun as it looked, they typically won't do it again. Good kitties!! The first week we got the boys, Les warned them away from her little computer, and they still don't touch it (doing some amazing mid-air contortions to avoid being "bad"...). There are a lot of things to try once, and this week it was shopping for dinner in the fridge.

Uschi is tired of waiting for his dinner
and makes a leap to the bottom shelf...

Tanj gives Uschi a little boost and...

keeps a lookout for the parents.


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