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My Fridge light arghh!!!

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Dave Smith

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Nov 19, 2019, 10:45:41 AM11/19/19
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This past February I had to get a new fridge and ended up with a
Whirlpool with a bottom freezer. We have been quite happy with it. The
only problem I had was a light bulb dying in it. It was easy enough to
figure how to get it out and it turned out to be an LED. The fridge is
under warranty but I figured I could pick up a replacement. That turned
out not to be so easy. I went to the local Home Hardware, but they had
nothing like it. Canadian Tire didn't have them. I searched online and
found that Home Depot has them, but when I went down there to get it
they were not recommended for damp enclosed spaces.

I headed over to the appliance store where I got it. They don't have a
parts department and referred me to an appliance repair business down
the road. They did not stock them but could order me one.... $46.95.
Nuts to that. It was time to call for warranty for a bloody light bulb.

I called Whirlpool and was on hold for 15 minutes before I got to speak
to someone. First he had to set up an account for me. He had problems
because he thought I had the wrong postal code. Nope... he had entered
the wrong town. It was close to 15 minutes to get the account set up
before I could tell him my simple problem. He had a simple solution. He
would send me a new bulb. Oops. They are out of stock and on back order
and should be in next week.

It's not good enough to take the information and send it out when it
comes in. I have to call back next week. I suppose if it is not in next
week I will have to call back in another week ....



John Kuthe

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Nov 19, 2019, 12:26:28 PM11/19/19
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Isn't the Globalization of Manufacturer wonderful? ;-)

John Kuthe...

itsjoan...@webtv.net

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Nov 19, 2019, 12:32:40 PM11/19/19
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On Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 9:45:41 AM UTC-6, Dave Smith wrote:
>
*SNIP*
>
> It's not good enough to take the information and send it out when it
> comes in. I have to call back next week. I suppose if it is not in next
> week I will have to call back in another week ....
>
Did you look on Amazon or even eBay?

penm...@aol.com

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Nov 19, 2019, 1:37:19 PM11/19/19
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Why does it need to be an LED bulb, it's not like anyone leaves a
freezer light bulb on long enough to rack up their electric bill. I'd
think an ordinary appliance bulb you can buy for a buck at the
stupidmarket would work just fine. I never thought to replace the
refrigerator-freezer bulb with LEDs In fact our fridge/top freezer
has never needed it's two bulbs replaced and they've been working more
than 20 years. I replaced the stove's oven bulb once after some 20
years.

The new Toshiba microwave we recently bought has an LED bulb, however
the GE microwave it replaced was about 40 years old and never needed
its ordinary bulb replaced, and a microwave oven light is on whenever
it's operating.

Now I'm curious, I need to look at how an LED microwave bulb is
replaced. I see no way to access the bulb and the owner's manual
doesn't mention the bulb. So I just got off the phone with Toshiba
and was told that they do not replace bulbs, some appliance repair
places might but Toshiba does not. If the bulb burns out I can
continue to use the oven, so that's what I'll do. The Toshiba fellow
I spoke to told me that during the one year warranty period if the
bulb burns out to ship the unit back to Toshiba and they will send me
a new unit, they don't do bulbs. Perhaps the LED bulb supplied will
last 20 years, I may not be around then. If the unit dies in the next
five years I'll simply buy a new microwave oven, they don't cost much
anymore. My first microwave was an Amana Radar Oven, It cost well
over $500, and weighed close to 500 pounds, so it seemed. This
Toshiba cost $75, weighs perhaps 25 pounds... it works perfectly and
has programable features we'll never use... so far it's been used to
reheat a cup of tea and to defrost... an hour ago it defrosted a quart
of beef mushroom barley soup, dinner tonight.

I'm thinking now that the LED bulb won't burn out during this century
so why make it accessable. The techie I spoke with said I'm the only
one who ever asked about how to change the LED bulb.

Cindy Hamilton

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Nov 19, 2019, 2:17:00 PM11/19/19
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On Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 1:37:19 PM UTC-5, Sheldon wrote:

> Why does it need to be an LED bulb, it's not like anyone leaves a
> freezer light bulb on long enough to rack up their electric bill.

Because it's cool. People think LEDs are the cat's ass. Companies
can charge a lot more for the fridge. Have you seen newer cars with
fancy LED taillights? Same thing. It's all about appearance.

My fridge has a row of little white LED button lights. I imagine that
assembly would be a pretty penny to replace, and I'd be amazed if you
could replace just one of them. I think this would be the replacement
part:

<https://www.amazon.com/compatible-KitchenAid-Refrigerators-WPW10515057-Primeco/dp/B07WX34LZH>

I saw a different kit for about $100.

Cindy Hamilton

Ed Pawlowski

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Nov 19, 2019, 2:24:01 PM11/19/19
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If not there, www.repairclinic.com

Julie Bove

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Nov 19, 2019, 3:46:45 PM11/19/19
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"Dave Smith" <adavid...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:A6UAF.115242$FF4....@fx40.iad...
Mercury is still in Retrograde. That will change tomorrow and go direct on
the 23rd. Wait till then. Mercury in Retrograde causes communication errors
and causes things to malfunction.

Thomas

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Nov 19, 2019, 4:59:47 PM11/19/19
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Best post ever from Julie.
Plus 1.

Bruce

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Nov 19, 2019, 5:14:46 PM11/19/19
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lol

Dave Smith

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Nov 19, 2019, 5:36:18 PM11/19/19
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Nope. I thought it would be easy enough to find and cheap enough. When I
found out how much they cost I opted to get it free under warranty.




Dave Smith

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Nov 19, 2019, 5:39:07 PM11/19/19
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On 2019-11-19 1:37 p.m., penm...@aol.com wrote:
> On Tue, 19 Nov 2019 10:46:57 -0500, Dave Smith
>
>> It's not good enough to take the information and send it out when it
>> comes in. I have to call back next week. I suppose if it is not in next
>> week I will have to call back in another week ....
>
> Why does it need to be an LED bulb, it's not like anyone leaves a
> freezer light bulb on long enough to rack up their electric bill. I'd
> think an ordinary appliance bulb you can buy for a buck at the
> stupidmarket would work just fine.

That is what I ended up doing, but since part of the cost of the
appliance is the warranty, so when I found out how much it would cost I
went to the company for a replacement. There is always the concern that
using something other than the proper bulb might affect my warranty.

itsjoan...@webtv.net

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Nov 19, 2019, 5:48:08 PM11/19/19
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Good move.

Hank Rogers

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Nov 19, 2019, 5:48:46 PM11/19/19
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It's for the best. That LED could be driven from some control
circuit board or such ... it might not handle the load of an
incandescent bulb.

I wouldn't listen to Popeye anyway, yoose could get into real trouble.






Roy

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Nov 19, 2019, 11:40:17 PM11/19/19
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OH my GAWD!!! Julie has really flipped this time.
====

Cindy Hamilton

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Nov 20, 2019, 5:52:52 AM11/20/19
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No. Just par for the course. She's expressed a range of beliefs in
everything from mysticism to junk science.

Cindy Hamilton
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