RS20EKXFW01 Roper Refrigerator - Instructions

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.

Replaced the door cam on bottom of fridge door. ONE THING TO UNDERSTAND- THERE ARE 2 CAMS ON THE DOOR, LOWER AND UPPER, BUT THE UPPER CAM IS NOT LISTED ON THE "DOOR HARDWARE" DRAWING, ITS LISTED ON THE MAIN BODY DRAWING! BE SURE TO GET BOTH CAMS! (PARTSELECT COULD MAKE A NOTE THAT WHEN PEOPLE LOOK UP LOWER CAM, PUT A NOTE IN THERE SAYING Y0U NEED UPPER TOO!)So I had to order the upper cam later and install later. BUT it is quite easy to replace, unlike the video, I only needed 1 tool! The nut driver (electric screwdriver w nut driver head). Thanks -RF

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 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

Parts arrived at 2:30PM.

Read instructions, gathered tools, and went to work. I'd already watched an online video at your site on how to do the repair.

Removed the hinge cover covering the hinge top by using a nut driver to remove the single screw holding it in place. (The video described an older frige and it did not have a screw. I figured that out when I finally went and got a ladder. I had tried to pop it out like the video shows.) There are three screws holding the hinge top in place. I tried using the nut driver to remove the screws but they were pretty firmly in place. I resorted to using my ratchet wrench and that made it easy. (Keep track of your screws, one of mine rolled under a cereal box on top of the frige and I thought I would never find it.)

I had emptied out all the items on the door of the frige, removing the shelves. It was easy to lift the door off of the bottom hinge and lay it on its side against the ladder. At this point I had my son hold the door steady (its kind of unwieldy and 'slippery' when you are trying to remove a screw from the bottom of the door.)

I removed the screw that held the plastic Door Closer, Upper Cam using the nut driver. I used a straight bladed screw driver to pry the old part out of the door (it has an insert for the hinge pin and it had been in place a long time). I also cleaned off the bottom of the frige door (you would be surprised what gets stuck on there - obviously someone spilled oranged juice on the floor and it splashed up on the bottom of the door). The old part had a lot of particle dust that came off it when I removed it. The new part popped right into place and I screwed it back in. The video shows that the repairman had to use a drill and tap set to rethread a larger hole but I just put the old screw back and it held fine. The video also showed the repairman adjusting the Door Stop Bracket but I didn't have to do that, the new cam installation wasn't impeded by the bracket.

I moved to the frige cabinet (again, good to have a second pair of hands to keep track of the door and not let it get damaged while I turned my attention to the Door Closer, Lower Cam. I used the nut driver to remove the screw holdin it to the hinge bottom. It came off easily (it practically fell apart and turned to dust). I placed the new cam and screwed it in using the old screw. No problem.

You could put the door back on with one person but it helps to have two. One to manhandle the door and the other to place it on the lower hinge post.

I put the upper hinge back on and put in the three screws but I left them lose so that I could adjust the door. When I tighted the single screw closest to the door after positioning the door, we tested how it opened and it was hitting the side of the interior cabinet when it closed - you could feel it dragging and it made a clunk/swoosh sound. We readjusted the door using the outside upper corner as a guide and retightened the screw. This time there was no problem. We tighted the other two screws using the ratchet wrench and then put the plastic hinge cover back on with the single screw using the nut driver.

Took us about 25 minutes and made my wife very happy (biggest benefit). The door now 'locks' open and 'locks' closed just like when we bought it and the two doors are aligned (level accross the top) which should have been a dead giveaway that the door closing cams had worn down.

Done by 3:00PM.

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.

The design of this refrigerator door (it's a side-by-side) is somewhat unbelievable. The door is designed to hold things, yet when you do the weight of the door wears out the lower door cams. The cams are designed to "complete the door closing", i.e. when you gently push on the door the cam mechanism takes over. When the cams wear, the door fails to close. Note to others - you may mistakenly think that the failure of the door to close is related to the seal; it is not.

The repair is quite easy; remove the upper cover, using a not driver (socket), then remove the upper door bracket. Make sure you hold the door or have someone else hold it. After the fasteners are removed gently lift up on the door and remove it from the lower cam assembly. You will see two plastic cam pieces; one on the lower bracket and one on the door. Both need to be changed to effectively "renew" the door closing mechanism. Once the cams are replaced the door can be reassembled to the refrigerator.

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