I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot
last Friday, I got it home and let it set for about 3 hours (it was
transported and loaded in the upright position). I leveled it side to
side and front to back and I set both the freezer and the fridge to a
bit below max as suggested in the manual and then I plugged it in.
The manual suggested to let run for about 2 hours until it cooled down
before putting food into it, and also leave about 5 inches from the
back to the wall. On one side the fridge is against the counter, the
back is 5 inches from the wall and the other side has nothing against
it. Well the freezer gets as cold as it should but the fridge would
not get below 40 degrees. I returned the unit and exchanged it for
another one and again transported it in the upright position and this
time waited 4 hours before plugging it in. This one fluxuated between
36 and 40 degrees set on the max setting. I am not turning the
setting control knob beyond the max setting either as I have read that
this can actually turn it off on some models. Is magic chef junk or
is it something I am doing wrong? I own a smaller magic chef tall
dorm fridge and that is set to 3 and does a great job keeping cool.
Any suggestions?

it needs a load , all your cooling is air

gusdog wrote:
I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot

"gusdog" wrote in message
ups.com...
I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot
last Friday, I got it home and let it set for about 3 hours (it was
transported and loaded in the upright position). I leveled it side to
side and front to back and I set both the freezer and the fridge to a
bit below max as suggested in the manual and then I plugged it in.
The manual suggested to let run for about 2 hours until it cooled down
before putting food into it, and also leave about 5 inches from the
back to the wall. On one side the fridge is against the counter, the
back is 5 inches from the wall and the other side has nothing against
it. Well the freezer gets as cold as it should but the fridge would
not get below 40 degrees. I returned the unit and exchanged it for
another one and again transported it in the upright position and this
time waited 4 hours before plugging it in. This one fluxuated between
36 and 40 degrees set on the max setting. I am not turning the
setting control knob beyond the max setting either as I have read that
this can actually turn it off on some models. Is magic chef junk or
is it something I am doing wrong? I own a smaller magic chef tall
dorm fridge and that is set to 3 and does a great job keeping cool.
Any suggestions?


Two things:

1) Every refrigerator I've ever owned said the temp would not completely
stabilize for almost 24 hours. After my current one broke and was repaired
back in May, I pretty much confirmed this using a couple of high-low
recording thermometers.

2) When you called the manufacturer with this same question, what did they
tell you? You did call them, right?

After 24 hours, I have put things in this fridge from the other one
and it is still hasn't changed anything and it has been three days
now.

I did call the manufacturer and am waiting for a return call, who
knows when that will be.


On Sep 18, 8:35 am, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"gusdog" wrote in message

ups.com...





I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot
last Friday, I got it home and let it set for about 3 hours (it was
transported and loaded in the upright position). I leveled it side to
side and front to back and I set both the freezer and the fridge to a
bit below max as suggested in the manual and then I plugged it in.
The manual suggested to let run for about 2 hours until it cooled down
before putting food into it, and also leave about 5 inches from the
back to the wall. On one side the fridge is against the counter, the
back is 5 inches from the wall and the other side has nothing against
it. Well the freezer gets as cold as it should but the fridge would
not get below 40 degrees. I returned the unit and exchanged it for
another one and again transported it in the upright position and this
time waited 4 hours before plugging it in. This one fluxuated between
36 and 40 degrees set on the max setting. I am not turning the
setting control knob beyond the max setting either as I have read that
this can actually turn it off on some models. Is magic chef junk or
is it something I am doing wrong? I own a smaller magic chef tall
dorm fridge and that is set to 3 and does a great job keeping cool.
Any suggestions?

Two things:

1) Every refrigerator I've ever owned said the temp would not completely
stabilize for almost 24 hours. After my current one broke and was repaired
back in May, I pretty much confirmed this using a couple of high-low
recording thermometers.

2) When you called the manufacturer with this same question, what did they
tell you? You did call them, right?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"gusdog" wrote in message
ups.com...
After 24 hours, I have put things in this fridge from the other one
and it is still hasn't changed anything and it has been three days
now.

I did call the manufacturer and am waiting for a return call, who
knows when that will be.

My rule: "Forever" is defined as how important the service is. For a
refrigerator, I'd define "forever" as about 2 hours. If I don't get a return
call in that time, the refrigerator gets returned and I buy a different
brand. It's too important to wait for a call from a company that has
underfunded its customer service department.

By the way, did you check with any locally owned appliance specialty stores
before making your purchase? Many of them are part of nationwide buying
groups, so their prices are very competitive with Home Slobbo. And, the
smaller stores often have their own service departments. They'll bend over
backward to keep you happy because they actually give a damn about your
business, and how many friends you share your good experience with.

Home Slobbo is not the place to buy major appliances.

gusdog wrote:
I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot
last Friday,

Any suggestions?

Did you turn down the thermostat?

I assume you're talking about Farenheit and not Celsius...

When I turned it back towards medium from the Max setting the temp
started to rise to above 40 degrees Farenheit. I still have not heard
back from customer service, so it is looking like it is going back to
Home Depot and I am not buying another one through them, because they
are helpless when it comes to helping with any issues such as this one

On Sep 18, 11:33 am, "HeyBub" wrote:
gusdog wrote:
I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot
last Friday,
Any suggestions?

Did you turn down the thermostat?

I assume you're talking about Farenheit and not Celsius...

My new whirlpool did the same. I took it back and got a new one. Works fine
now.
Something about quality now a days. to get one working, it took: 2
refridgerators, 2 stoves, 3 dishwashers
Buy somewhere with a no hassle guarentee. You'll need it.

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:04:51 -0700, gusdog
wrote:

I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot
last Friday, I got it home and let it set for about 3 hours (it was
transported and loaded in the upright position). I leveled it side to
side and front to back and I set both the freezer and the fridge to a
bit below max as suggested in the manual and then I plugged it in.
The manual suggested to let run for about 2 hours until it cooled down
before putting food into it, and also leave about 5 inches from the
back to the wall. On one side the fridge is against the counter, the
back is 5 inches from the wall and the other side has nothing against
it. Well the freezer gets as cold as it should but the fridge would
not get below 40 degrees. I returned the unit and exchanged it for
another one and again transported it in the upright position and this
time waited 4 hours before plugging it in. This one fluxuated between
36 and 40 degrees set on the max setting. I am not turning the
setting control knob beyond the max setting either as I have read that
this can actually turn it off on some models. Is magic chef junk or
is it something I am doing wrong? I own a smaller magic chef tall
dorm fridge and that is set to 3 and does a great job keeping cool.
Any suggestions?


I think that is basically a Whirlpool. The cooling comes from the
freezer. Be sure the little door down on the side of the crisper is
open. The cool air comes in the top through those louvers on the left
side and circulates back into the freezer through the hole next to the
crisper. The fan in the freezer drives it.

After leaving another message with Magic Chef, someone returned my
call within 2 hours and told me to turn both the freezer and fridge to
a medium and all should be good. I mentioned to him that the freezer
was set between med and max and he said that was too high. I will
give it a try, I have already been looking at other options.

On Sep 18, 2:13 pm, "jmagerl" wrote:
My new whirlpool did the same. I took it back and got a new one. Works fine
now.
Something about quality now a days. to get one working, it took: 2
refridgerators, 2 stoves, 3 dishwashers
Buy somewhere with a no hassle guarentee. You'll need it.

wrote in message

...



On Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:04:51 -0700, gusdog
wrote:

I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot
last Friday, I got it home and let it set for about 3 hours (it was
transported and loaded in the upright position). I leveled it side to
side and front to back and I set both the freezer and the fridge to a
bit below max as suggested in the manual and then I plugged it in.
The manual suggested to let run for about 2 hours until it cooled down
before putting food into it, and also leave about 5 inches from the
back to the wall. On one side the fridge is against the counter, the
back is 5 inches from the wall and the other side has nothing against
it. Well the freezer gets as cold as it should but the fridge would
not get below 40 degrees. I returned the unit and exchanged it for
another one and again transported it in the upright position and this
time waited 4 hours before plugging it in. This one fluxuated between
36 and 40 degrees set on the max setting. I am not turning the
setting control knob beyond the max setting either as I have read that
this can actually turn it off on some models. Is magic chef junk or
is it something I am doing wrong? I own a smaller magic chef tall
dorm fridge and that is set to 3 and does a great job keeping cool.
Any suggestions?

I think that is basically a Whirlpool. The cooling comes from the
freezer. Be sure the little door down on the side of the crisper is
open. The cool air comes in the top through those louvers on the left
side and circulates back into the freezer through the hole next to the
crisper. The fan in the freezer drives it.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"gusdog" wrote in message
ps.com...
After leaving another message with Magic Chef, someone returned my
call within 2 hours and told me to turn both the freezer and fridge to
a medium and all should be good. I mentioned to him that the freezer
was set between med and max and he said that was too high. I will
give it a try, I have already been looking at other options.



How are you measuring the temp, and how often are you opening the
refrigerator?

"gusdog" wrote in message
ps.com...
After leaving another message with Magic Chef, someone returned my
call within 2 hours and told me to turn both the freezer and fridge to
a medium and all should be good. I mentioned to him that the freezer
was set between med and max and he said that was too high. I will
give it a try, I have already been looking at other options.

It can take more than 24 hours for a fridge to get to is optimum cooling
point.

Also, many fridges use a single temperature sensor, and then simply vent
from freezer to fridge. Setting the fridge too cold will make it take longer
for the freezer to catch up.

Set both at the middle setting and wait a day, leaving a thermometer inside
if you have one. Adjust it the next day, etc... If after a week you can't
get both sections to optimum temps, I'd return the machine.

BTW, you get what you pay for... What did this fridge cost you?

"gusdog" wrote in message
ps.com...
After leaving another message with Magic Chef, someone returned my
call within 2 hours and told me to turn both the freezer and fridge to
a medium and all should be good. I mentioned to him that the freezer
was set between med and max and he said that was too high. I will
give it a try, I have already been looking at other options.

On Sep 18, 2:13 pm, "jmagerl" wrote:
My new whirlpool did the same. I took it back and got a new one. Works
fine
now.
Something about quality now a days. to get one working, it took: 2
refridgerators, 2 stoves, 3 dishwashers
Buy somewhere with a no hassle guarentee. You'll need it.

wrote in message

...



On Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:04:51 -0700, gusdog
wrote:

I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot
last Friday, I got it home and let it set for about 3 hours (it was
transported and loaded in the upright position). I leveled it side to
side and front to back and I set both the freezer and the fridge to a
bit below max as suggested in the manual and then I plugged it in.
The manual suggested to let run for about 2 hours until it cooled down
before putting food into it, and also leave about 5 inches from the
back to the wall. On one side the fridge is against the counter, the
back is 5 inches from the wall and the other side has nothing against
it. Well the freezer gets as cold as it should but the fridge would
not get below 40 degrees. I returned the unit and exchanged it for
another one and again transported it in the upright position and this
time waited 4 hours before plugging it in. This one fluxuated between
36 and 40 degrees set on the max setting. I am not turning the
setting control knob beyond the max setting either as I have read that
this can actually turn it off on some models. Is magic chef junk or
is it something I am doing wrong? I own a smaller magic chef tall
dorm fridge and that is set to 3 and does a great job keeping cool.
Any suggestions?

I think that is basically a Whirlpool. The cooling comes from the
freezer. Be sure the little door down on the side of the crisper is
open. The cool air comes in the top through those louvers on the left
side and circulates back into the freezer through the hole next to the
crisper. The fan in the freezer drives it.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


On many combination units the refrigerator actually has no temperature
control. Some adjustable amount of cold air is blown into the refrigerator
when the freezer is cooling. If you load the refrigerator or open the door a
lot, it will get warmer. If you load the freezer or open the door a lot so
the cooling units runs more, the refrigerator will get colder. You basically
set the freezer for the desired freezer temperature and adjust the air door
for an acceptable range of refrigerator temperatures based on your usage
patterns for the freezer and refrigerator. It is actually sorta like the old
refrigerators with the freezing compartment for ice cubes except the
thermostat now is actually in the freezer instead of the refrigerator.

Your refrigerator may be working just fine but hasn't reached a stable
balance point because of your unusual or erratic usage during testing.

Don Young

In article NUUHi.195829$fJ5.69524@pd7urf1no,
"Noozer" wrote:

snip

BTW, you get what you pay for... What did this fridge cost you?

Uh, it's a "Magic Chef" from Home Depot. We aren't talking high end
stuff here... (Though the mini we had a work was fine for several years
until I drove a screwdriver through a coil while defrosting it.)

Thanks to all, Many of you were correct on the info regarding the
controls. After returning home yesterday I found that the Freezer
control was a bit above Med (which I had thought was at Max) and the
Fridge was at Max. I turned the Freezer a bit below Med and the
fridge to Med and sure enough my fridge went to about 20F, now I just
have to find a happy medium where my frozen goods stay frozen and my
refrigerated goods keep from freezing.

The space for the fridge is not so deep, about 22", so I wanted a
shallow unit, all counter depth units are extremely expensive for my
budget so this $360 POS seemed to be the best affordable option and
will hopefully last a couple years until I gather enough clams to buy
a nice unit. I have my eyes on a nice Fisher & Paykel that runs about
$1500, only 24" deep but much wider that the Magic Chef that I have.

Thanks again for all of you help!


On Sep 18, 10:36 pm, "Don Young" wrote:
"gusdog" wrote in message

ps.com...



After leaving another message with Magic Chef, someone returned my
call within 2 hours and told me to turn both the freezer and fridge to
a medium and all should be good. I mentioned to him that the freezer
was set between med and max and he said that was too high. I will
give it a try, I have already been looking at other options.

On Sep 18, 2:13 pm, "jmagerl" wrote:
My new whirlpool did the same. I took it back and got a new one. Works
fine
now.
Something about quality now a days. to get one working, it took: 2
refridgerators, 2 stoves, 3 dishwashers
Buy somewhere with a no hassle guarentee. You'll need it.

wrote in message

. ..

On Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:04:51 -0700, gusdog
wrote:

I bought a brand new 10.3 Cubic foot Magic Chef Fridge at Home Depot
last Friday, I got it home and let it set for about 3 hours (it was
transported and loaded in the upright position). I leveled it side to
side and front to back and I set both the freezer and the fridge to a
bit below max as suggested in the manual and then I plugged it in.
The manual suggested to let run for about 2 hours until it cooled down
before putting food into it, and also leave about 5 inches from the
back to the wall. On one side the fridge is against the counter, the
back is 5 inches from the wall and the other side has nothing against
it. Well the freezer gets as cold as it should but the fridge would
not get below 40 degrees. I returned the unit and exchanged it for
another one and again transported it in the upright position and this
time waited 4 hours before plugging it in. This one fluxuated between
36 and 40 degrees set on the max setting. I am not turning the
setting control knob beyond the max setting either as I have read that
this can actually turn it off on some models. Is magic chef junk or
is it something I am doing wrong? I own a smaller magic chef tall
dorm fridge and that is set to 3 and does a great job keeping cool.
Any suggestions?

I think that is basically a Whirlpool. The cooling comes from the
freezer. Be sure the little door down on the side of the crisper is
open. The cool air comes in the top through those louvers on the left
side and circulates back into the freezer through the hole next to the
crisper. The fan in the freezer drives it.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On many combination units the refrigerator actually has no temperature
control. Some adjustable amount of cold air is blown into the refrigerator
when the freezer is cooling. If you load the refrigerator or open the door a
lot, it will get warmer. If you load the freezer or open the door a lot so
the cooling units runs more, the refrigerator will get colder. You basically
set the freezer for the desired freezer temperature and adjust the air door
for an acceptable range of refrigerator temperatures based on your usage
patterns for the freezer and refrigerator. It is actually sorta like the old
refrigerators with the freezing compartment for ice cubes except the
thermostat now is actually in the freezer instead of the refrigerator.

Your refrigerator may be working just fine but hasn't reached a stable
balance point because of your unusual or erratic usage during testing.

Don Young- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -