Every conversation about an older machine starts here, because the model and serial decide three things at once: which generation of control is in front of you, what the part costs, and whether it is still made at all. Guessing the model from the width of the cabinet is how people end up with a fan motor that does not fit.
One row per product family
| What you own | Where the plate sits |
|---|---|
| Built-in all-refrigerator or all-freezer | Inside its own door, up near the top hinge |
| Built-in, over-and-under | Inside the refrigerator door |
| Built-in, side-by-side | Inside the freezer door |
| Built-in, French door | Inside the left-hand door |
| Column refrigerator or freezer | Inside the middle drawer, on the runner furthest from the hinge side |
| Tall and drawer units | Inside the cabinet, to the left of the upper drawer |
| Wine storage, older undercounter and 400 Series | On the ceiling inside the unit, or under the control panel |
| Wine storage, Designer | On the handle-side wall just below the panel |
| Undercounter refrigerator | Upper left of the cabinet interior |
| Undercounter ice maker | Left-hand side wall |
Two rows want a caveat. On some column refrigerators the plate is behind the middle pair of drawers rather than inside one, so the drawer has to come out before it can be ruled absent. And the wine units vary more than any other family, which is why two rows of the table are given to them.
What the plate tells you once you find it
Beyond the model and serial, the plate carries the manufacture date and the refrigerant the cabinet was charged with — which is why a photograph of it is the single most useful thing to have in your hand before calling anybody.
What we usually find
-
A caller reading a number off the back of the cabinet or off a sticker on the door front
Not the rating plate. Those are shipping and compliance labels, and the model they carry is frequently a partial one, which is how the wrong part gets ordered.
Quoted after the diagnosis
-
A combination cabinet where the plate is not inside the door the owner expected
The side it is on follows the layout: over-and-under cabinets carry it inside the refrigerator door, side-by-sides inside the freezer door, French-door models inside the left-hand door.
Quoted after the diagnosis
-
A column or drawer unit with nothing visible anywhere in the food compartment
A plate that only appears once a drawer is out. On the column refrigerators it sits inside the middle drawer by the guide, opposite the hinge.
Quoted after the diagnosis
Which of these it is gets settled at the visit, before a part is ordered — Sub-Zero Repair Pro Los Angeles, (310) 844-1973.
- Written by
- Yuki Tanabe
- Role
- Refrigeration technician — controls and sensors
- In the trade
- 18 years in the trade
