RS20DKXFW01 Roper Refrigerator - Instructions

Well first of all, I was afraid that the compressor was shot and I'd need a whole new refrigerator (ack $1000!!!). After googling/reading, I figured out that the starter relay mounted on the compressor was burned out. (loud click as thermal cutout shuts down compressor.) So, I ordered a replacement part, overnight shipping. Unfortunately, this was on a Friday night, so I had to figure out how to keep the fridge cold all weekend (til Tuesday). I'd already moved frozen stuff to a chest freezer, but the inside of the fridge compartment was now nearly warm at this point, so I got 10 lb of dry ice. That got things cooled down initially. Well, turns out that with a short piece of wire, you can momentarily jump across the terminals of the relay and kick start the compressor. It then runs until either the defrost cycle stops it or the thermostat kicks it off. Anyway, all weekend, every six hours or so, I turned off the fridge for a minute to cool down the overheated, stalled compressor, then turned it on and jumped the terminals to start it up. Kind of a pain, but saved lots of food. Overall, the $30+$30 (shipping) for the part saved me from having to get a new refrigerator, so I'm quite pleased. I've used Part Select many times now. Very fast service and shipping, great website/database. I shop around and every time end up buying from them again.

First disconnected the quick release electrical connection. Then loosened the three screws that were holding the motor in the bracket. However, space is limited and even with small hands it was rather difficult as the screws were in there very tight. There are a few sharp edges on the bracket and in the surrounding area of the motor area, and nicked myself a couple of times. Removed the fan blade from the old motor and attached it the new motor with the old flat washer/screw. Reconnected the electrical connection and that was that. All-in-all an easy repair.

After removing all the food items from the door, I popped the plastic cover off of the hinge assembly located on the top of the door. With a fine point Sharpie pen , I marked the outline of around the hinge assembly so I could return it to original position. I then loosened each of the 3 bolts holding the hinge on just enough to allow me to clear the pin of the hinge out of the hole in the door. Once the top was free of the hinge, I lifted the door off of the bottom hinge/pin assembly. My cam parts on the bottom hinge and door were either broken and/or partially missing. I removed the broken and worn pieces by removing each of the screws holding the top and bottom (of the bottom hinge assembly) cam pieces and installed the new ones using same screws. I then reversed the steps and slid the bottom of the door back onto the bottom hinge assembly and then lifted the top hinge enough to allow the hinge pin to slid back into the hole on top of the door. Positioned the hinge so it matched the outline and tightened the 3 bolts. I checked the closing and made a slight adjustment to door as one of the shelves was hitting the interior as it tried to close. I did this by loosening the 3 bolts and pushing the door up and to the right (this door was on the right side of refrigerator). Tightened the bolts and reinstalled the hinge cover.
Pretty easy. My door cams were a little different so I didn't use all the parts in the kit. My shims were metal and did not move when I replace the cams so I didn't use anything in this repair except the 2 lower cam parts. I also put some grease/vaseline on the cams to lubricate them.
I figure the plastic cams just wore out over the years and all the heavy junk we put in the door shelves. I lived with this problem about 2 years before it donned on me that it was probably just a plastic piece or two that was broken or worn out.

Cleaning out the freezer took the longest time. Once the freezer was clean I turned off the freezer which did not deactivate the light in the freezer. This is a tight area to work in and not having to hold a flashlight made the job much easier. I then removed the shelf slider brackets for the 3 lower pullout drawers. The next step was to remove the interior aluminum back panel (6 screws) which covers the evaporator motor and the coil. Before removing the 3 electric wires that are attached to the evaporator motor make sure the power is off to the motor. The removal of the motor was fairly straightforward and I would suggest removing the plastic fan blade first and then the connector wires. It helped knowing in advance that the plastic fan blade would come off with a little prying. Be careful when prying the fan off so that you don’t damage the plastic motor mount bracket. Once you have installed the motor I would suggest turning the freezer back on to make sure that the evaporator motor works before reinstalling the aluminum back panel and slider brackets.

I saved my Whirlpool Refrigerator (Model ET21GKXHN00) and learned a lesson. Don’t put off cleaning the refrigerant coils underneath the refrigerator. I replaced the refrigerator about 10 years ago and began to notice that the sound of this one running had changed slightly. I remembered that’s what happened to the first one just before it died. I removed the panel on the bottom front and saw that the refrigerant coils were covered with dust. It was really bad. I vacuumed them with the “radiator attachment” on the vacuum cleaner and plugged the refrigerator back in. It still didn’t sound right and I couldn’t feel the air blowing out like it should. So I rolled the refrigerator out and removed the back lower cover to see the compressor and the cooling fan. The fan was clogged with dust so I vacuumed that as well. But the fan wouldn’t spin freely by hand. The fan motor only had 3 screws holding it onto the plastic fan bezel and was easily removed by unsnapping the electrical connector on the motor. I removed the fan motor and tried to clean it with a few drops of WD40 on the shaft. But when I put it all back and plugged it in the fan just barely started turning. I unplugged the refrigerator and ordered the fan motor from PartSelect.Com (Item Number PS371043). The picture looked exactly like the motor that was in my refrigerator. I threw everything away in the refrigerator, cleaned it out and left it unplugged until the motor came. The motor arrived in a few days and it looked exactly like the one I had removed. It had the same electrical specifications stamped on the back and the electrical connector was the same and in the same location on the motor. I put the fan blade on the new motor and installed it exactly like the old one was. It only took 15 minutes or so and was very easy to install. When I plugged the refrigerator in the compressor started right away and so did the fan. It ran like a champ. In a few hours the refrigerator got cold and began to cycle on and off like normal and the fan blows like new. The sound is normal and the total running sound is quiet again like a new refrigerator. So for $84.67 I saved my $1300 refrigerator and learned not to neglect checking the build up of dust in the compressor fan section. I’m sure that’s what happens to most of the refrigerators people put out for trash pickup in front of their houses. The cause of the problem is when air flow is restricted across the refrigerant coils too much heat returns to the compressor and eventually causes the compressor to fail. I appreciate that we live in a time when you can order exactly what you need on the internet and make home repairs when you need to. Thanks Part Select for sending me the correct part. It’s nice to have milk and cold drinks again.

This product comes in a bottle with a brush like Liquid Paper. It goes on incredibly easy. A second coat might be needed. I wanted to prevent rust from setting in so I covered the scratches and dings. The paint is a little brighter since my washer is 10 years old but it still looks great.

I have a side by side so in order to access the bi-metal switch I first had to empty out the freezer. The switch is clipped on to the top of the evaporator coil. I had to remove 8 screws to remove the back panel of the freezer compartment. The bi-metal switch was right there in plain view. There are two colored wires that come out of the switch. I tried pulling them out of the socket they were plugged into but gave up for fear of breaking something. I ended up cutting the wires and splicing them together. I used the plastic twist caps. I made sure when I closed everything back up that the open end of the caps were pointing down so no water can accumulate in them. It has been 3 days now and so far so good

DISCONNECT POWER. Removed all shelves/baskets.Popped upper panel off (just clips in) Removed 6 screws in lower back panel ( 3 each side) slid panel in place but down. You can then easily see the defrost thermostat/defrost termination switch. Cut the wire connectors (pink n brown wire) stripped back wire, attached new defrost thermostat. Thermostat clips on. New thermostat ohm's at 5.5, old one was "open". Slid cover back up meeting the upper cover grooves. Screwed lower panel in. Put shelves etc back in. Plugged in. Turns on, put a bottle of water in freezer. Checked a while later, frozen. has been frozen for a week.
-James

I loosen the screws with a nut driver just enough to pull old gasket away from door. This way the door panel and gasket retainer stay in place. I placed gasket from top and worked my way down one side. It took a little more time to slip gasket under retainer evenly, tighten each screw to keep gasket from pulling out while working around door.
30 minuets tops,never had to turn off refrigerator.

Remove the knobs and faceplate to get at the screws behind it. Removing the sensor is a bit involved but everything else is fairly straight forward. See other postings for description / order of operation. Replacement took less than 30 minutes.
Works great now!

Removed food itmes on broken shelf. Removed old glass shelf cover. Removed broken shelf bracket. Installed new shelf bracket. Intalled new glass shelf cover. Replaced food items back on shelf

I had read here from someone that fixed there shelf support stub and it was very loose, so I was trying to advoid that problem. It took me less then 5 minutes and my only tool was a pair of pliers. A short turn clock wise from the 9 on a clock to the 12 ( which is the top left corner ). then pull the broke shelf stub straight out. Put the new shelf support in the same way you took the old one out and turn counter clock wise 1/4 or from 12 back to 9 and you should have a tight fit. I hope this helped.

Turn off the fridge and unplug the power. Inside the refrigerator unit, remove two plastic panels extending from the front to the rear cooling vent by unscrewing two screws. Gently unhook the thermostat tube from the rear vent.

On the control panel, gently pry off the two control knobs and the front control panel. Remove four screws to drop down the control assembly. Unplug the left electrical connector and unscrew the lever control arm being careful not to bend it. Disconnect the right side electrical connector and you can now remove the control unit to a table to easily work on it.

Undo two screws to remove the thermostat bracket. Undo two more screws to remove the thermostat assembly. Install the new thermostat and reverse the process just described. It takes about 15 minutes if you know what to do ahead of time. You will have to reuse the plastic tube that covers the thermostat sensing tube.

The plastic lower door closing cam was worn down. Replacing it was very simple: remove the top door hinge by unscrewing three nuts; lift the door off the lower hinge; unscrew and remove the lower door hinge; screw the new plastic lower door closing cam on to the new door hinge; screw the new lower door hinge; lift the door back on to the lower door hinge; screw the top door hinge.

Removed six screws from cover in the back of the freezer. Removed old fan . Removed power wires from old motor. Unclipped old motor from the mounting bracket. Replaced old motor and reversed the rest of the parts. Done