Life: MayTag Refrigerator Fixed Finally (Broken Fridge, Working Freezer)

My bottom-freezer refrigerator (MBF2258XEB6) was broken for almost a month. The first week, I was not available for the first week. Second week, I supposedly filled out the service form incorrectly. I should have figured something was wrong when I didn't get an email. I may have been distracted by a very highly urgent call from my mother that turned out not to be important at all. So finally the third week, I correctly scheduled a service through Maytag.

The work was contracted out to a local company. The time range was between 1-4pm. The technician (Vince) came around 2pm and finished by 2:40pm. Although he said it was better to have had the fridge turned on (I turned it off since I figured it was better that way and I wasn't using it for 3 weeks). [Advice to anyone with a fridge problem - leave fridge on at least 24 hours prior to service]

To reiterate the problem (see reference 1), the freezer was working but the refrigerator (top portion) was not cooling. Vince was able to find the problem and replaced a motor that blew the air into the fridge. Supposedly the one that I had would turn on for a few seconds but then would shut down. He explained that it was just a mechanical problem. To my ears, I did not do anything wrong to cause the problem.

He had to take out quite a few parts of the freezer to get to the motor. There was the freezer door, then the shelves, then the ice maker, then the back panel, and finally some other electronic piece.

Reference
1 - http://douglastclee.blogspot.com/2014/08/review-maytag-bottom-freezer.html

Review: Maytag Bottom-Freezer Refrigerator MBF2258XEB6 (~3 Months)

After about 3 month, I seem to be having some problems with my refrigerator. It does not seem to get as cold as it should be. The freezer appears to still be functioning as usual. I changed the settings to be colder but does not seem to be getting any colder. The temperature almost seems slightly cooler than room temperature which is around 75F.

I do not have much food in there so I will see if it gets cooler in the next day or two. I have not moved or done anything to the fridge since the installers put it in.

Update 20151204:
The fan that pushes the air into the refrigerator broke. I used the Maytag site to report the problem. The Maytag technician came, found the problem pretty quickly, and fixed it. I think it was all done within 30-45 minutes. The fridge has been working fine since.

The fridge does seem to make a little more noise than when it was new. I think I am a little more sensitive than others to noise level so the change may be negligible. Also, it is the only thing that makes a sound except for my computer.

Reference

http://douglastclee.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-refrigerator-washer-and-dryer.html

Review: Refrigerator, Washer, and Dryer (General and Maytag)

I purchased a refrigerator, washer, and dryer not too long ago. Overall, I am rather happy with my purchase.

Refrigerator

I purchased a bottom-freezer refrigerator (MBF2258XEB6). I like the idea of having the freezer on the bottom since I use it much less often. My freezer is the type that pulls out. I think this is much less efficient than have a regular door because all the code air will just be pulled out too (assuming that air is difficult to keep at a low temperature). Personally, I still this better than the traditional top freezer. I did not realize there was an automatic ice-maker. I would have personally went without it as it takes up space (which was the reason I did not go with the side-by-side refrigerators).

I like having extra width which allows me to put pizza boxes and pots directly into the refrigerator without having to repackage them into smaller containers. I do really like the French door fridges but they are just ridiculously more expensive.

CON

There is one problem that does not bother me, but my mother just complained that the freezer drawer is heavier to open than a regular door. There is not much in my freezer either, so it could potentially be heavier to open when it is full. 

Washer

I purchased a high efficient washer (MVWB880BW0). I did not know what high efficient was prior to purchasing this so I put in quite some time reading when I went through the instructions because it requires different detergent than a normal traditional washer. There were a couple articles that stated that the regular detergent can be used, but overall it seems people still recommended the high efficient detergents. Well, I did not want to ruin the new washer so I played it safe by going with HE detergents which is slightly more expensive. I use less detergent so the container (same size as normal detergent) will last longer. 

To me, my clothes do feel much cleaner than before. There are many factors to this though. This is a brand new washer. The washers I have used in the past were old traditional washers (enphasizing "old" as in more than 5 years, maybe 10).

This could be a little "complicated" for people who do not adapt to change easily (for example, my mom). Although it is as easy as putting the clothes in, put in detergent, then press start, my mom was watching the washer the other day. She panicked when she realized the washer does not fill in enough water (which is normal, as stated in the instructions). She powered off the washer.

CON

I am going to segue to the cons here because this is where I found the first problem (to me). If you power off (by pressing the power button), it turns off the washer (obviously). The problem is when I turned it back on, my only option seems to only redo the entire cycle. There did not seem to be a way to continue from where it continue where it last stopped. There is a pause button that does exactly this, but not everyone seem to enjoy reading the instructions prior to use. 

Dryer

I purchased a high efficient dryer (MEDB880BW0). To me this seems very standard to me. It is nicer with a more digital controls than the standard knobs. I have no problems with the dryer.