After a lot of thought we bought a Frigidaire Refrigerator FRS6L9EFSS4 and we were generally quite happy until the water dispense broke when a visiting teenager pressed it too hard (it was only then I realized that this part should have never been made from plastic considering how heavily it is used and how someone can apply extra pressure). When I called Frigidaire, I was told that they could install it at a cost of $200, which sounded way too high considering that we paid a little less than $1,000 for it. That is when I decided to research if we could repair it ourselves, even though I had never done a job like this, nor does the manual have any instructions on how to do it, but there are YouTube videos from DIY types, who make it look quite easy.
After buying the part on Amazon for about $40, I could not even make myself open the water dispenser unit because I was afraid that I might damage something. This is where Craig's List came handy and I put an ad for a handyman who had some experience and was willing to do it. A pleasant man came by and I was happy to pay him $50 assuming that it would be a quick job. Well, as I saw it, the plate at the bottom comes out if you apply a lot of pulling force with your hands or with a knife at the bottom. Then you need to unscrew the assembly and pull the water tube out. Installing the actuator arm itself is fairly easy but the nightmare starts when you try to put it back together. The refrigerator has a major design flaw in the sense that there is absolutely no slack in the water tube. So if you try to mount the unit back on there is no way you can insert the tube back into the spout (I guess that in the factory they first insert a long tube through the spout and then snip it). Since the handyman was getting frustrated and cranky after trying hard to do it, we made a trip to Lowe's to see if we could find a hose barb and extend the tube. Sad to say that the sizes simply do not match. At that point the handyman did not want to stay for a minute and left with the suggestion that we should try to find a barb that would fit in the tube and try to extend it.
Not being super-good with these things, I tried to buy a few barbs and tubes and tried to extend the tube but nothing really fits because of its non-standard size (I wonder if Frigidaire deliberately made it so that customers will be forced to pay them big bucks to do such a small job). After being without filtered water for a few weeks and several weekends wasted in disassembling and trying something new, I was getting quite angry and was about to trash the refrigerator, until I decided to try a low tech solution. I basically bought a plastic tube in Lowe's that was smaller in diameter than the one in the fridge (it was basically the smallest I saw in the store) and when it still would not get inside the tube, I shaved off some of the plastic with a box cutter. That is when I could insert it inside the tube. You can also buy a clamp in Lowe's for about a dollar that can be tightened to make a tight seal between the two tubes. I am sure plumbers will disagree with me about how professional this was but after this it was easy to guide this tube through the spout and once it all looked good, with a pair of scissors I chopped off the tube at the edge of the spout. I am happy to say that it is working just fine now.
In conclusion, if you do not have the patience that I had and are absolutely a novice with projects like this, just pay Frigidaire. It hurts to spend so much on something so small, but if you want to save the money, buy the part online and try to do it as I suggested.
After buying the part on Amazon for about $40, I could not even make myself open the water dispenser unit because I was afraid that I might damage something. This is where Craig's List came handy and I put an ad for a handyman who had some experience and was willing to do it. A pleasant man came by and I was happy to pay him $50 assuming that it would be a quick job. Well, as I saw it, the plate at the bottom comes out if you apply a lot of pulling force with your hands or with a knife at the bottom. Then you need to unscrew the assembly and pull the water tube out. Installing the actuator arm itself is fairly easy but the nightmare starts when you try to put it back together. The refrigerator has a major design flaw in the sense that there is absolutely no slack in the water tube. So if you try to mount the unit back on there is no way you can insert the tube back into the spout (I guess that in the factory they first insert a long tube through the spout and then snip it). Since the handyman was getting frustrated and cranky after trying hard to do it, we made a trip to Lowe's to see if we could find a hose barb and extend the tube. Sad to say that the sizes simply do not match. At that point the handyman did not want to stay for a minute and left with the suggestion that we should try to find a barb that would fit in the tube and try to extend it.
Not being super-good with these things, I tried to buy a few barbs and tubes and tried to extend the tube but nothing really fits because of its non-standard size (I wonder if Frigidaire deliberately made it so that customers will be forced to pay them big bucks to do such a small job). After being without filtered water for a few weeks and several weekends wasted in disassembling and trying something new, I was getting quite angry and was about to trash the refrigerator, until I decided to try a low tech solution. I basically bought a plastic tube in Lowe's that was smaller in diameter than the one in the fridge (it was basically the smallest I saw in the store) and when it still would not get inside the tube, I shaved off some of the plastic with a box cutter. That is when I could insert it inside the tube. You can also buy a clamp in Lowe's for about a dollar that can be tightened to make a tight seal between the two tubes. I am sure plumbers will disagree with me about how professional this was but after this it was easy to guide this tube through the spout and once it all looked good, with a pair of scissors I chopped off the tube at the edge of the spout. I am happy to say that it is working just fine now.
In conclusion, if you do not have the patience that I had and are absolutely a novice with projects like this, just pay Frigidaire. It hurts to spend so much on something so small, but if you want to save the money, buy the part online and try to do it as I suggested.