Amana AFI2538AEB French Door Refrigerator

by Bob
(Mesa, AZ)

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When we bought our Amana AFI2538AEB french door refrigerator we thought it was top of the line unit since the reviews were great. However, that has not turned out to be the case.

The refrigerator was only 2 1/2 years old when it died. Guess what? We hauled out the sales slip and called the number for an extended warranty, which we thought was with Amana/Maytag/Whirlpool only to discover that it was with an aftermarket warranty provider.

We called the Amana folks again and were told the refrigerator is only warranted for one year even though we paid a premium for it.

To make a long story short, we finally called the repair division from the same company that sold us the refrigerator. They are still on the Amana-approved service list, as the aftermarket company kept stalling us.

The repairman discovered that some contaminant inside the refrigerant lines had eaten through, allowing the refrigerant to escape. In the process, it contaminated the moisture collector, so it had to be cut out and replaced, and the corroded section of the line. The repairman serviced the refrigerant system, and we thought we were on our way $268 later. He did not charge for the parts, just the labor, or we would have been a brutal hit.

The doors where the electronic display unit is located were extremely hot to the touch. I later discovered several Amana refrigerators overheated and caught fire due to an overheated circuit board.

In retrospect, I have to wonder if the loss of refrigerant may have led to the overheating situation. I am seriously considering filing a report with the Federal Consumer Safety Board, as this may be the root cause of the component overheating problem in the other units. I have observed that the areas that were extremely hot before are no longer warm.

Three weeks later, there is a loud hum inside the refrigerator in some parts of the system. We must call the repair service again next week, assuming it makes it through the weekend.

By the way, when I contacted Amana/Maytag/Whirlpool, or whatever they call themselves these days, they basically blew me off and said they would graciously extend us a 50% discount on any parts we had to purchase.

My wife and I learned a valuable lesson from all of this. Please don't assume you are purchasing great quality products because the reviews are great, and it is an American product.

I stopped by some appliance stores and examined competitor products' sealed system components warranties. They have a seven-year contract on the sealed system VS the one-year for Whirlpool products. If I have any more issues, I will dump my $2,000 Amana product and buy an LG or Samsung refrigerator.

I certainly hope other Amana owners have better success with their products. Incidentally, the old Hotpoint refrigerator we had previously perked along for 20 years before my wife got the urge to buy the French door model.

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