How to Replace the Evaporator Fan in a Maytag Refrigerator

If you have a recent model Maytag refrigerator (such as model number MFD2561), then Sublime Master Trying To Help has posted a DIY help doc at the repair forum to help you replace the evaporator fan motor. Check it out, yo!

So, right about now you’re axin’ yerself, “But, wise and fermented Samurai, what is an ‘evaporator fan motor’ and how would I even suspect that I may need to replace it? And, oh, by the way, just what in the hell is an evaporator, anyway?” Aye, it warms me cockles to see you jigglin’ that grey jelly ‘twixt your ears like so much belly blubber.

The part of your refrigerator that makes all the cold air is called the evaporator. It’s an aluminum coil that gets really cold (about -20 to -15F in a properly functioning refrigerator). The evaporator fan is mounted just above the evaporator coil and pulls air across the coil, chilling it, and circulates it around the freezer to keep it at around 0F. A portion of this air is diverted into the beer compartment to keep it between 34 and 38F. For more goodies about your refrigerator’s anatomy, see these excellent interactive diagrams of refrigerator guts; they show the three conventional styles: freezer on top, freezer on bottom, and side-by-side.

A sure sign that the evaporator fan has shat the bed is if you don’t hear it running when the compressor is running. After you confirm that the fan is getting the proper supply voltage, then you have proven that the fan is bad– come git you one!


 

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