Incident date: 12-24-2008 / 0900am
Whirl pool Gold "Conquest" refrigerator with white doors.
Model: GS5SHAXNT00
S/N: SR2044054
Manuf. date: 05-04
The bottom refrigerator door hinge broke away from the bottom door (exposing the white foam core) and the entire door fell off spilling milk, condoments, salad dressing bottles, ect. all over the kitchen floor. (Also hitting my elderly mothers' hand as she was openning the door at the time, creating a large bruise. Luckily, my grandchildren weren't hurt as they are often in and out of the refrigerator when they visit. My point is that this is a potentially severe safety hazard.) I stripped the shelving off the door to lighten it. I temporarily repaired the doors' lower hinge using a combination of Cut out cardboard material from boxes as filler material to level out the hinge and duct tape to tape the hinge in place.
The temporary repair is holding for now and was needed, as this happened on Christmas eve morning with the fridge full of food preparations for the next days cooking which would have been ruined.
I have examined the freezer side door and have noticed that it too is showning cracks at both the upper and lower hinge plastic areas.
I purchased this unit new from our local Lowes hardware and I have had the same other problems with this units' ice maker and refrigerator thermostatic temperature controls suddenly turning off for no apparent reason as other people who have entered their complaints on this and other complaint sites. However, since I am a rather resourceful mechanic with a Universal Refrigeration license, I have overcome these other problems.
I must remark however, that this refrigerator has been the absolute worse functioning unit that I have ever had dealings with in over 25 years of working in this field and I have never had door hinges break away from thier mountings in this fashion. ( I have had them strip their screws out before but nothing like this where the door integrity itself has failed.)
I looked up the cost of a stripped down replacement door and was shocked to find an almost $500.00 price asked for just the refrigerator side! I can probably make a substantial, permanent repair using Epoxy and Fiberglass. However, I would hope that you could offer a better alternative solution, such as new replacement doors (which I would then strengthen), as this unit should still be under its 5 year warranty.
I have been a past loyal Whirlpool customer and currently have both a Whirlpool stove and dishwasher. This refrigerator was a replacement for a much older Whirlpool refrigerator which is still functioning excellently at my youngest daughters house.
However, my experiences with this unit, which was supposed to be the best of the best and was the first time I ever purchased the most expensive model available at the time instead of spending less on a unit with less features, has caused me to have serious doubts about future Whirlpool purchases if your other newer products will have similar design flaws and shoddy workmanship.
I would appreciate any information on replacement doors as soon as possible as I will have to make a decision soon on more permanent door repairs or purchasing of a new refrigerator. Thank you in advance for your help.
Mark Harrison
Same problem same epoxi fix. will do more homework before I ever purchase a whirlpool product again.
Mr, Harrison although I'm sympathetic to your issue, there is no solution that I or anyone at this sight can offer you, for this is merely a do-it yourself-er, repair site,. I would suggest that this be re-posted with an appropriate Whirlpool customer service related site. Good luck with everything!
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