<p>So, in order to relieve the empty nest Easter anxiety, H and I went away for romantic weekend. Back home at 1 PM today, enter kitchen, refridgerator is making horrible grinding noise… I open freezer door and am showered with the entire melted contents of the icemaker. Evidently the compressor motor failed and continued to try to work, resulting in heat… the freezer contents were warm to the touch. A few things in the bottom of the 'fridge section were still cool but the rest went in the trash or down the drain… and we ground too much down too fast - now have a plugged drain to deal with also!!!
After 18 years it’s probalby not worth fixing. Went to Home Depot and lusted after a cool new 3 door model with ice and water in the top part but came home to read bad reviews. Anyone have experience withe the GE profile with ice in the top door?</p>
<p>my father swears by all whirlpool products. he claims they last for years and from what i have seen he is right.</p>
<p>We’ve had a Kitchen Aid Superba side by side since 2001, and I’ve been waiting to rant about it. The water dispenser dribbles water down the front of the unit, causing streaks in the stainless steel. Pieces of plastic (re-attachable, but irritating) fall off the dispenser and the bottom of the freezer door. The ice maker has malfunctioned. Cans of soda freeze in the bottom bin of the fridge and explode. In the freezer, the drawers regularly come out of their grooves. I guess I’m trying to say, give Kitchen Aid a wide berth!</p>
<p>Although I like the look of stainless, I long for the days of refrigerator magnets . . . you might want to consider this.</p>
<p>Good luck, and let me know what you choose and how you like it. I may be in the market soon!!</p>
<p>Not a GE 3 door, but I got a GE Profile Energy Star side-by-side not quite 2 years ago. Some convenient features, some things that’s I’d change. Overall I’ve been happy with it. (And so far no dribbling with the water dispenser.)</p>
<p>Mine’s black and the kids named it “Darth Fridge”.</p>
<p>I hope you had a good weekend away, but sorry to read you came home to a mess. Anyway…</p>
<p>Love, love, love our 14 yr. old bottom freezer Amana. Have never, ever <knock on=“” wood!=“”> had a problem with it. Would never have anything but a top fridge, hardly any crouching, can see at eye level, which is paramount for me.<br>
<a href=“Amana U.S.A | Amana”>Amana U.S.A | Amana;
<p>Happy shopping!</p>
<p>I have a Kitchenaid stainless fridge (Kitchenaid is made by Whirlpool as are many Sears Kenmore appliances) and luckily haven’t had ‘Suna’s’ problems. It did have start relay break once which caused the symptoms the OP is seeing. I diagnosed and fixed it myself so it only cost around $50. I had another fridge for many years before this one and it’s only problem was the compressor fan failed once. This also caused similar symptoms (motor overheats and switches off). I diagnosed and fixed that for < $50.</p>
<p>If you really want a new fridge, go for it. If you just want a working fridge, get yours checked because a lot of fridge (and washer/dryer) problems are fairly simple to diagnose and fix. These aren’t complex devices. If the whole motor/refidgeration unit has failed, it’s much more major and usually isn’t worth fixing an 18 y/o fridge.</p>
<p>I do not recommend JennAirs. They are Crap. H had to relace two thingamajigs in it already, and the fridge is only 9 yrs old.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, buy a SubZero. We had a fancy one at my former workplace, and it was the object of everyone’s admiration. These fridges are designed for <em>perfect</em> temperature control in their different compartments. You icecream will not be hard as a rock but will be scoopable right out the fridge. Of course, we all can dream 
In the meantime, H is going to buy another thigamajig.</p>
<p>We bought a Maytag a couple of years ago and have regretted it every day. Shelves on the door fall out and break. Lettuce freezes while the milk is warm. Ice compartment freezes up twice a year. </p>
<p>When this thread determines the right fridge to buy, I’m replacing this thing.</p>
<p>We bought a GE profile side by side about 5 years ago. I am happy with it, with the exception of the cheap inner casing. It is a very cheap plastic, IMO, and shows dents from sliding shelves in and out, which I need to do to clean. I am happy with the shelving. We have one of those icemakers with the dispenser on the outside of the door. We have been satisfied overall, but look at the plastic that line the fridges (such garbage, IMO).</p>
<p>I have an Amana that has strange freezing issues in the refrigerated side as well. I have the temp down as low as it can go and still get frozen items in the bottom drawer and sometimes on the top shelf. It is annoying.
If you have never had a side by side before, be very careful in your choice. Although mine has more cubic ft of storage than my old top freezer model, I can fit less in it. I kind of wish I had stuck with the old style, although this one looks a lot cooler.
Not something you replace every year so it is frustrating when you make a poor choice! ( like a mattress! )</p>
<p>We have a Frigidaire, about 12 years old, that has never given us any trouble. It’s a standard freezer on top model–we just walked in the appliance store and said, we’ll take that one, and they delivered it the next day.
No ice maker or water dispenser, as we have heard those are the things that break down most frequently.</p>
<p>After having a stainless, I went back to black. I am constantly cleaning finger prints off of it and it is true, everything needs to be put on the sides because magnets don’t work.</p>
<p>This time we bought the kenmore elite trio, which I love. I am a huge fan of bottom freezers, they hold more and you are not fighting with it when its stuffed to its gills by keeping one hand on the food while you quickly close the dooe with the other hand. I also like the fact that it has a sensor so if the kids don’t close the door all the way it will start beeping at you. The trio is great for platters for parties also.</p>
<p>We have a Maytag “french door” (same as Trio, I think) model–bottom freezer is great and having 2 doors open out on top is great for bulky objects. I would suggest looking at Consumer Reports either online or in the magazine. I always follow their recommendations and have not been disappointed yet. Good luck!</p>
<p>My mother didn’t like magnets not working on a stainless fridge. Our fridge is a Kenmore. It works fine, but it has one feature I will be on the lookout to avoid in future fridges. The shelves stop a good inch or more from the back wall. This means that small bottles are constantly tipping over (and frequently spilling) or getting lost back there. It’s extremely annoying.</p>
<p>Yeah, my Kitchen Aid also has that unfortunate feature. Items flip off the backs of the shelves and lodge themselves under the bottom drawers!</p>
<p>One thing I have noticed on every refrigerator I have ever had…often the bottoms of shelves & slider thingies are not cleanly finished, so you risk a scrape or cut when you clean it. Guess these are designed by people who never clean refrigerators! But only look at them, and in them.</p>
<p>I never got cut on my fridge because the glass shelves are framed in a plastic. I find that plastic to be a better grade than the inner lining of the fridge so they have not cracked. There is a clip that is used to keep shelves from sliding around. You need to be careful to grasp them after pulling out the shelf, so you don’t lose them. I have not had anything slipping behind the shelves. I do find the bins slightly difficult to slide back after cleaning, but I do manage.</p>
<p>I have a Kitchen Aid counter-depth side by side in brushed aluminum. Looks like brushed stainless and fingerprints are NOT a problem. There is a little bit of water dribbling from the ice dispenser but not enough to cause a problem. I got a tall one to make up for the loss of depth and I really like it (I’m tall…so that may explain things). Didn’t like the price though…counter depths are SOOO expensive.
My friends all told me to get a french door fridge - it’s all the rage. They LOVE their french doors and would “never get a side by side again”. Well, I checked them out and I didn’t like the idea of bending down to get my freezer stuff. Maybe because I’m tall? I also love neatly putting things on the shelves in the freezer vs. stacking stuff in a drawer. So, I went with my instincts on this and I’m happy.
Re the magnets - yeah I was pretty upset to lose space for special pics and such. I found this great place online though <a href=“http://www.mayfairlane.com%5B/url%5D”>www.mayfairlane.com</a>
They sell clips and photo frames that stick on stainless steel and other aluminum. They work great and they’re really pretty. They are expensive so I don’t have many but just enough to allow me to display special items - plus it looks less cluttered than before.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any feedback on Kenmore Elite’s side-by-side refrigerators? Its ice maker bin is on the door whereas GE Profiles ice maker takes up the entire top section of the freezer. One salesman told me that in the former case, the ice cubes tend to clump together due to increased exposure to warm air. Has anyone experienced this problem described by the salesman?</p>
<p>rods - my fridge is not a Kenomore, it’s a Kitchen Aid - which I think is made by the same manufacturer. It has the ice maker in the door - which saves a lot of room in the freezer. But yes, the cubes DO clump together a bit - not so much as to cause a problem so far. The dispenser in the door works fine, and it’s pretty easy to get ice manually if I need to. Now I suppose it might be an issue if I needed to transfer the ice to a cooler or something.
IMO - some clumping of ice is worth it for the space that is gained.</p>