Romalon Upgrade 2198202 Refrigerator Cold Control Thermostat

Awesome product! Did a quick diagnostics based on a 2016 youtube video "Whirlpool Side by Side Refrigerator Not Cooling at all - How to Troubleshoot" from Bill Newberry and found out that the thermostat was not working. A simple replacement brought the 26 years old Whirlpool ED25UEXHT01 back to life! Thanks!

I purchased the Romalon 2198202 Refrigerator Cold Control Thermostat to replace the thermostat in my Whirlpool ED5FHEXMQ00 refrigerator, side-by-side. The problem was my refrigerator would start getting warm inside and when I adjusted the old thermostat, the refrigerator would basically turn into a freezer! Then I would turn the thermostat, and it would go back to getting warm again. Most of the time the freezer side would still stay frozen, but the refrigerator side was either too cold or not cold enough! I drove myself crazy cleaning out the coils, vacuuming everything under and near the compressor, testing the compressor, and checking the fan on the inside that blows the cool air around! I could not understand the problem until I started doing more internet surveilling! Finally, I found others that said it was the thermostat that was malfunctioning! So, I order this part for about $10.....it was well worth a try! I used a YouTube video to show me how to remove the old thermostat from this model refrigerator. It really wasn't that difficult to get the old part out! All the work to replace the thermostat is done in the refrigerator compartment. Unplug the refrigerator before changing out the thermostat!!! You basically needed a screwdriver, although a putty knife/pocket knife was helpful to remove the front off of the thermostat housing that held the old thermostat. You will also have to remove the housing for the tubing that runs from the thermostat, across the wall that separates the freezer/refrigerator compartments to the back of the refrigerator, where a small door is controlled to regulate the freezer/refrigerator temp. If there is one thing to remember, do NOT bend (or put a bend) in the small thermostat tubing that runs inside the wall housing to the regulated door! If you can remember how the thermostat came out, just "reverse engineer" it the same way....making sure you don't bend the tubing! It fit perfectly! This new thermostat has now been operating my refrigerator correctly for over 3 weeks now! What a relief as the refrigerator is now cooling correctly! It does take a little patience adjusting the temperature, so give it 48 hours to get it operating correctly. Once mine was installed it took about 10-15 minutes for the refrigerator/freezer to cycle on, which was a little surprising. But, it works! And, it has not given me any problems thus far! For $10 (approx.), it was well worth it!

The original thermostat in my Whirlpool side by side manufactured in January 1997 lasted 22 years and then the poor fridge started acting up... Freezing the refrigerated section, wide temperature swings in the freezer... After some googling I found out this inexpensive super common part was likely to be the culprit, and it's fairly easy to replace, so I did. The replacement held up for three years, and then same problem. Replaced it, three years later, same problem. Replaced it again with a part I bought on Amazon... This time, barely a year before it started acting up. So I bought this one and hopefully it's the last one for a while. I hate to send a perfectly good refrigerator to recycling just because a $10 part is failing. What this taught me, though, is how good the Ecowitt environment station is: an inexpensive system comprised of the Ecowitt GW1100 gateway and two temperature probes does a phenomenal job monitoring the temperature in the fridge and freezer, and alerting me in case the temperature gets too high. Highly recommended to evaluate the quality of your fridge -- and avoiding food poisoning. The screenshots attached show the temperature plots for the week, and you can see the change in behavior on Thursday when I replaced the thermostat.

works just fine but they only last 1 to 2 years. but it beats buying a new $1200 ++ frig

Saves me thousands of dollars. No more sleepless night worries about mould growing on old yogurt.

I was having problems with my fridge getting too warm. I called a friend who repairs such things and he ask, "Is that the one with the knobs in the top of the fridge?" It was. He said, "Reach up in there and smack that panel, see if that makes it run!" I did, and it started running. So skipping to the end, this thing has a (I assume rubber) diaphragm in it. When the fridge gets warm enough it has to turn on again, the gas in the capillary tube puts pressure on the diaphragm activating the switch. The potentiometer (knob) sets what level it will turn on at. Smacking the panel vibrates the diaphragm to the switch activates. Anyway, I found OEM prices on this from $150 to $49. My friend told me there's nothing wrong with the $13 ones. So I bought this, and it works great. Added plus, this comes with a plastic sheath already on the capillary tube, you don't have to pull off the old one and try to put it on the new one. Maybe I'm over excited because my 22 year old side by side is still running great, but I give this 5 stars for functionality and price.

It's a little more sensitive than the original and I don't have to have the knob turned to as cold of a setting for it to be really cold in the fridge. Works great on 2 1/2 the temperature in the fridge. It's 38° and the freezer is negative 11. Not bad. It took about 15 minutes to swap.

Very similar to the OEM I replaced. Repair guy wanted $300 to replace this thermostat but I assumed it might be an easy install. I was right, very simple. At first I thought the screws holding it in were stripped when I removed it but soon realized that I didn’t place it in front of the bracket so when I tried to attach the knob control on it would push back and I could not get it on. Once I corrected the placement I was able to put it all back together with no problem. Fridge & Freezer are now working perfectly.