Whirlpool Refrigerator Interior Lights Flickering

What board? Where is board.I don't have a tool to solder it?t

The board is part of the led (main light) or the right side of the fridge. It comes right off. Open fridge and use flathead to release the tabs holding it. Then disconnect the two cables attached to it. Inspect R15 and R17 for any rust. If you can have a local repair shop solder it cheap it heats having to buy a new one. If you can't just order another online.

Thank you DJ AB! What resistor value is R15, or can you read the code on it. I plan to replace it as mine is burned off the board. R17 is 910 which is 91 ohm +/-5%.

My board had same problem R15 burned out .I can fix it ,but I donot know the value of R15. Somebody can tell me? thanks

i belive r15 is the same as r17

I combined this strategy with the one below, using the electrical contact spray. I taped the "on" button down with tape so there wasn't current when I was working. Lights stopped flickering after doing this. Will report back on longer term results.

This solution failed for me by one hour later. Lights flickering again.

Thanks Marshall for the advice. Keeping my fingers crossed it continues to work.

I tried all the above it kept failing after a few minutes. Decided to replace the kit as a whole about $240, this seems to be the lasting solution, hopedully will use this for anothee year, honestly would not recommend buying this model or whirlpool crap.

Thank you Marshall! You just saved me $240. I first removed and reconnected the connection, 4 times, for the 2 LED lights in my Whirlpool refrigerator (only 5-years old). No luck. Then I did the same thing for the 1 light in the freezer. Presto! It stopped strobing and went to a steady light. After I started loading the freezer back up again though... it started again... so I repeated the process on the freezer light. It took several attempts and me tugging and pushing down the wires in the connector, but it started working again. I read above someone used "electrical contact spray" (never heard of that) to keep the connection solid. I guess that will be my next step if it keeps wiggling loose. ... My wife and I have been putting up with this stupid strobing for over a month... as we are presently in this crazy coronavirus lockdown. We both feel our lives just got a whole lot better without worrying about getting some epileptic seizure every time we we got some milk! LOL

Ok. I'm giving this a try! I had given up before and had just disconnected on of the lights... so, like you way, our family could avoid getting a seizure, too!

Previously, I thought I had narrowed things down to the freezer light. So I started with that one. Did just like you said. Took the whole thing apart and gave it a generous spray of WD-40, on both sides of the circuit board. Then dabbed it dry.

It worked, it seemed for a couple minutes... but then strobing started again. So... I went ahead and did the same thing to both lights in the refrigerator side.

So far... things seem to be working again! Steady light. ... I just got up to check it again. Should have heard my squeal of delight! I can't believe it. It's still working!

I'm wondering if my wife will notice when she comes home. THANK YOU for you post! It's 7/10/20. I hope it lasts!

Just posting an update, it has been 8 months and still working great, and has done the strobing only 2-3 times. It started strobing this morning so i took out the unit, sprayed and plugged it in, all in 10 minutes. I am glad that is all i have to do!

@wesgraham I am glad it worked well for you too! Are the lights still functioning well?

Tried this and they are working well so far no strobe, flicker or dimming. Could not find WD40 silicone used PB blaster silicone. Working for now will keep you updated.

POST 1 of 3-

I just had to jump on here to say THANK YOU to everyone for the tips and tricks, and I FINALLY have solved this issue permanently! After replacing the boards almost completely 4 times I was fed up with this and cut them out! I used the existing wiring harness to wire in some new LED 120v lights in each of the three areas. I used the following parts from Amazon:

DiCUNO G8 Base Wire Connector Socket, G8 LED Light Bulb Socket Adapter, Ceramic Bulb Holder, 10 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CG6FFMH/ref...

Makergroup 3W G8 LED Bulbs Dimmable 20W 25W 35W G8 T4 120V Halogen Replacements for Under Counter Lights, Under Cabinet Puck Lights Cool White 6000K 6-Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088H849NR/ref...

I did this for a while until the part broke from being wiggled too many times. I even tried to solder it back together. Our frig was manufactured in 2014 and the part seems to have been made in 2010 ? Could that be right?

My husband is a paralyzed veteran, I try to fix as many things around the house as I can. It's frustrating when a part costs so much to replace when it was clearly defective in the first place. We put a lot of thought into purchasing this frig because it works well for someone in a wheelchair. (Not if you can't view the contents in the dark) Bummer. :-(

Mine worked for 2 1/2 yrs. It is now dim. Why do Whirlpool make this kind of lights that cost am arm and a leg? I will not purchase Whirlpool with led module anymore. They should fix this problem if it is less than 5 yrs old.

How do you get the housing off to get to the led contacts to wiggle? I’ve been wrestling with it with my hands, screwdriver, and nothing. There doesn’t seem to be anything that pops off!?

Now that's an answer!

Count me in!

after reading up on the industry it seems whirlpool is one of the better mfg's

but the lighting thing is weird ,and the ice maker is not in the door where it's said other's see failure's . our's is temperamental and I'm keeping it ice or not.i'm retired and enjoyed the chase somewhat of this light repair , I might have botched the resistor replacement and will try it with a lower rated SMD resistor ,if that fails im following your recommendation of motion activated lights !!

Thank you for that part number. Everyone says resolder R-15 which I did but why did this resistor look damaged to begin with? Perhaps the modules down line of it are drawing too much power through this "ant-sized" component. Enough people here have said the R-15 fix does not last. We will see. If mine flickers again, I'll will have the three modules on hand and ready to go 😁

Nice work. I’m an electrical engineer and after a bit of searching I found this solution. You were correct and the fix does work.

I obtained a couple SMT resistors from work of the values you called out and was immediately rewarded with a steady light after replacing the old ones. Unfortunately about a year or two later it’s doing it again.

So I get to replace them again - still a couple pennies for resistors beats the HECK out of around a $200 replacement for what is essentially a glorified lamp.

The problem stems from the fact the circuit was improperly designed. The resistors simply do not have the proper wattage rating to handle the power going through them and consequently, as you mentioned, begin to burn out. This changes their value to a much higher value than nominal and causes the malfunction you see. (The strobing.)

The manufacture really should make good on this and fix it or offer replacement rather than just gouging people out of more money.

Scott, can you confirm the values for R15/17?

@cliff_barnes Sorry I never saw your question for some reason so I’m six months late but it’s 127 ohms for R15 and 91 ohms for R17.

I’m sorry I can’t remember if the physical package size was 0805 or 0603 but they are both dirt cheap so I’d just get both sizes to be safe. 1210 even if you can get them to fit,

Since they apparently have a problem taking the heat dissapation.

where did you buy the resistors ?

https://www.mouser.com/c/passive-compone...

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/588...

It’s a shame because Whirlpool always had such excellent products. But when you stop caring about your customers over the bottom line - that’s when you cut your own throat.

I am glad this is working for so many people. I will tell you that I have had to change the light in the freezer twice since I did this fix, but I think it’s because the light really isn’t rated to be that cold. The bulbs are relatively inexpensive, so I’m good with having to change it once a year if necessary. I keep thinking I’ll do a YouTube of this fix, but I don’t really do that :-)

Had same issue. Replaced one board already then the master went out. I don’t want to play this game because these boards are ridiculously expensive. I followed Sethgrant’sInstructions using the same materials from Amazon and works great. Once I had the master working the freezer light turned on so I left that alone. Thank you sir for a solution and detailed information

@Scott Faller I spent a lot of time and money dealing with this issue, and still go open the doors occasionally to admire my work :-) Glad it worked for you too!

Seth- I ordered the LEDs and the Dicuno connectors and am ready to dive into this fix. Could you elaborate on running the wire to the freezer? When I removed the four bolts there were quite a few wires running back there and wasn’t sure what you meant in that part of the instructions. Any additional details in this phase of the fix would be greatly appreciated!

I was also wondering about the freezer wiring I got the main refrigerator lights working but looked into the freezer behind the bolts and was confused also I can’t figure out why just wiring the two wires in the freezer one to one side of light and the other one to the other side of the light wouldn’t work I didn’t want to cut off the plug that goes into the board off and try it till I was sure it would work any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Jamie

@tikitime

When you take the light out of the freezer there should only be one plug with two wires going to that light board. You have to connect these two wires (together) to one side of the new light fixture. Land the other side of the light fixture to the metal frame somewhere to act as a neutral.

Unfortunately that will always be temporary. My fix I posted has worked well for many people, and has been working great for me… it’s inexpensive too!

When this SAME WONDERFUL MODEL REFRIG STARTS freezing over >> sheet of ice at bottom of freezer side along with frozen coils...ice buildup and poor refrig cooling due to aforementioned complication, the problem / solution is the following ( in most cases) >>> The freezer drain tube which drains to built in drain pan clogs up, to correct, slide out unit from wall, remove (cardboard) bottom kick-plate, observe 6" white plastic drain tube, remove screw clamp to it....flush out debris from tube, reinstall, back in BUSINESS.

Yes we also constantly had the problem with the freezer. We finally bit the bullet and bought a new one I couldn’t take the flickering anymore.

I've been trying to get the stupid lens off for a while now. My husband removed the screw with a Phillips screwdriver and wrestled with getting the lens off. I was afraid he was going to break it, so thought I could be more gentle. On the you tube video, it showed the lens coming down easily after the screw was removed. Ours won't budge. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!!

Wedge a small flat head screwdriver or puddy knife in crevice/ edge on side and pry up....if that side doesn't pop up and out try the other side... believe there's just a couple "teeth" on one side holding it in.

I wish I had seen this one.week ago, before calling a repair company. That's exactly what has happened next with this model. This same repairman warned that the next thing to go will most likely be the wster.filter door or housing will go. I also had to replace he ice maker once, and lights 2 times!!!