Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer Fault Codes

Fault codes that are displayed on Whirlpool American-style side-by-side fridge-freezer models and these fault codes may be the same as are used on other Whirlpool fridge models. You may also find these same fault codes being used on other side by side fridge freezers from Smeg, Hotpoint and a few others who have their American-style fridge freezers made for them by Whirlpool.

The error code is displayed as the error codes as shown below flashing on the LED display along with the red “Alarm” LED flashing and the buzzer will sound at the same time.

Since the fault codes for these Whirlpool fridge freezers are not intended for the general public’s use they may not offer a lot of help in many cases. For the service engineer they give a steer in the right direction but, that’s about it really. Beyond the general meanings, it is down to investigation and proper fault diagnosis.

Before you start any investigation of the fault on your Whirlpool American fridge please read and fully understand this article in full and pay particular attention to the safety and information notices at the bottom of this page as they contain extremely important information!

Please remember to support our site by buying spares from our spare part store here and, if you decide that you really need an engineer, please support the local repairers that help make this site possible, you can search for a repairer from this link.

  Whirlpool American Fridge Freezer Fault Codes

These fault codes are written for appliance repairers and not for the general public by Whirlpool and UK Whitegoods and they assume a certain level of competence and in some cases specific training on the part of the user in diagnostic routines. We have added some notes to try to assist you in determining the nature of the fault you have but, you will still need to investigate each failure on its own merits. For more help and advice on fault finding on refrigeration, please refer to our basic refrigeration fault finding guide from this link before you begin.

Fault codes are not a substitute or replacement for skilled and experienced diagnosis. If you choose to repair yourself you will need to logically deduce what is wrong by investigation.

Further help on how frost-free refrigeration works can be found in this article.

The air damper is a motorised baffle unit that allows cold air to be drawn from the freezer into the fridge. It will either be this one or look very similar but there are a few of these used across the range of Whirlpool US fridge freezers so it may be worth checking with the 12NC number to make sure you get the correct one.

The fridge sensor rarely gives trouble in these models and, to date, we’ve not had to use one.

This is slightly different.

The sensor that does give trouble, often along with the main control PCB at the same time, is this one, the freezer defrost thermostat. Again, please do check that this fits to your particular model as there are a few different ones used but that’s the most popular one by a long way.

This can be the wiring but, usually, it’s one of the two PCBs that have failed, usually the main rear one.

Multiple causes for this error code. Usually however it will be a fault with the evaporator fan, compressor fan or the compressor itself.

Over voltage warning, a problem with the electrical supply. Pressing the alarm reset will clear it usually.

Shut the door!

If that doesn’t work then there is a possibility that there is a wiring or PCB fault.

Shut the door! And, as above

  Whirlpool Spare Parts

Please check that any Whirlpool spares recommended are suitable for use on your particular model and 12NC number. If you are unsure about the suitability of any spare part please ask to ensure that you get the correct spares for your fridge freezer. Please, don’t guess or assume as spares can be altered on a production run with the same model number having several different alternative components used and with Whirlpool this often proves the case.

Please contact us if you’re unsure about any spares parts and if they are suitable for your Whirlpool fridge freezer but do have both the model number and the 12NC number, the 12NC is actually the more important of the two, from the rating plate inside the fridge.

  More American Fridge Freezer Help, Advice & Guidance

Should you need more help and guidance please use the links from this article as most of them will help you to understand your Whirlpool fridge freezer a lot better and probably very much help you in diagnosing the fault you have. Of course there are many other articles on the site that will also help you do this.

In addition you can post in our help and advice forums after registering but please do pay heed to the information below before doing so and read the guides, they are there to help you.

You must understand certain things before you begin or attempt any repairs on your own and we want to make these points very, very clear to anyone that decides to investigate one of these or any other American fridge freezers:

• We are not responsible for your safety, you are and by using this guide you accept that and accept that any damage that you may cause and work undertaken is entirely at your own risk.
• We will advise the common causes of the fault codes but we cannot guarantee that any parts or work recommended will resolve the issue. It is entirely your responsibility to diagnose your particular problem and resolve it.
• We are not responsible for you buying spares that do not resolve the problem, this is down to your own diagnosis not ours.
• No warranty is inferred, implied or given.

You also have to be aware that these Whirlpool fridge freezer fault or error codes are not a “magic bullet”, they will not tell you what the problem is, they will only offer you an indication of where the problem lies and they are no substitute for diagnostic skills. You can find out more about what fault codes actually tell you in this article. So please be well aware that, even with this new found knowledge you will still have to actually be capable of investigating and diagnosing the problem and this means adhering to basic appliance safety for working on them.

Please note that manufacturers can and do change fault codes without notice and we cannot guarantee that these error codes will apply to your particular model as all codes apply to a wide range of appliances and not normally any one specific model. To determine if these fault codes do apply to your particular Whirlpool fridge freezer model please post a request to confirm this in the forums.