Westinghouse 790L Pigeon Pair RP432V & FJ362V

once bitten – After three years fridge door kept catching on left hand bottom got in touch with Electrolux no advise given door got worse so took off put washer same size as pin to lift door up ok for a while but then door fell off found out bottom hinge pushing up into door took door off today epoxied bottom hinge were pin fits into see what happens now .did… Read more

phone electrolux up a few months ago for price on knew door compleat they realy dident no i was told customer care nill . been trying to find one on the Westinghouse web sight only spare parts come up i take it they do have spare doors ?who would no .wish i had seen this review site years ago

ME TOO!!!....So I'll try....."Door falling off workaround" for RP432V – Thank you Andrew H from WA for your "Door falling off workaround" for RP432V. I similarly have owned my matching pigeon pair for 11 years. A problem with the compressor was fixed approximately 4 years ago, but noticed door seemed to be rubbing a little at the bottom recently & wish I had acted a little earlier as kids went to open the door and… Read more

it FELL off - exactly as you state eg door drops down and slides out the pin at top. Makes you wonder about the longevity that Westinghouse intended for this product, using such cheap plastic parts under a door that holds milk & drinks etc, eg reasonable weight. This definitely should last longer for a family, given I agree with many, we have spent a considerable amount of $$ as I had assumed for a good investment. I would also not reconsider buying Westinghouse again & will try my luck elsewhere. Once bitten twice shy ! No marketing in the world could sway me over to this brand again. I hope someone out there is actively listening to the impact that I believe these bad experiences are causing to their reputation & consider some changes. Very disappointed. For now, I will give Andrew's handy home repair a try & replace with other brand if no success. Thanks for all of your feedback! Really appreciated the help.

Westinghouse Care less people – Westinghouse twin Fr&Fz RP432VR bought March'08 complained 2 weeks later not cooling properly, kept on highest/coldest setting , retailer sent out mech. left probe in 24 hours, said problem was "door opened a lot at 4pm???" I said that's when the kids get home from school !!! he said well that's your problem. I was flabbergasted that someone… Read more

would actually say that, kept complaining ,said I wanted a swap, they said no, end of story. Only ever owned W/house. Bought first one 1958. Last twin set 1976 ,only got rid of them 'cause refurbishing kitchen in 2008 32years still working strong …Big Mistake. Spoke to where I purchased 2008 set today …wow lasted that long eh! that's pretty good??? Spent $1260.00 in 2008 I'll never buy another w/house again ,It's a disgrace to be told it has lasted well. Nick

Looks like we also bought a dud – Product review what a great idea, my fridge isn't staying as cold so decided to research the model no. and I can't believe how many bad comments about this product, most of them the same problems as us. We bought our fridge/freezer in 2004, the fridge seal split within the first few months under warranty they sent out a new seal to be fitted which… Read more

the tradesman never ended up replacing because he couldn't get it to fit or seal, still using the old split seal. About 4 years ago the door had metal shavings dropping onto the floor re replaced the metal and plastic insert which worked for a while, again same thing happened so we took door off and fixed it with a plastic washer which we made out of a ice cream container this is still ok. Fridge not staying cold well after reading the above comments it sounds like I have had a colder fridge longer than others, don't think I will worry about getting it fixed maybe time for a new fridge (not a Westinghouse). Touch wood the freezer is still working.

Disappointed only cooled for 9 years and it was an expensive fridge – Just reading reviews of fridges this model stopped cooling and disappointed mine the same . Fridge mechanic said it lost its gas and he regasssed it then it lost it again . Has been turned up to highest setting but only cooling at 10 degrees . So so disappointed as it is a pigeon pair cost me a lot of savings after having a second hand fridge for… Read more

years and years which was actually still going when I gave it away. Now what do I buy , an replacement is $1700 . Once bitten twice shy . But I have the spot for it next to freezer in my kitchen . Wonder if the new model is better . Oh the worry and disappointment of it all and close to xmas .

Westinghouse is useless – This is my second review of this product and must let everyone know not to buy Westinghouse/Electrolux products. They do not care about the after sale or out of warranty issues with their products. This fridge is well known for its door issues and should never have passed the safety standards tests. Doors are falling off and children are getting… Read more

hurt. I can only assert that we all make ourselves heard on this issue and take it legal. Will it take for child to be killed for them to listen. I don't care whether the model has been discontinued or not the company is still responsible for duty of care for its customers and I found not one reasonable person at Electrolux. I was offered a small discount off on a new fridge but passed as i will not buy anything from them now. Over 600 complaints about this fridge in the last year and they still won't listen. Time I think for everyone to band together and bring a lawsuit to them!! I was going to on my own, as I have taken on a big company before and won, but I feel this is an issue that many have and everyone should be heard.

Death Trap for Children – Like so many others the door fell off when my son opened it. Lucky for him he is 11 and was big enough to stop it falling on himself. If my 8 year old daughter had opened it well.. The metal at the bottom of the door is cracking up, and the only fix is a whole new door. Looks like I will be buying a new fridge. Had a similar bad experience with an Electrolux washing machine. Never buying this brand again.

Workaround for door-falling-off problem – I have had a Westinghouse RP432V (and matching freezer) for about 11 years. A few years ago, I had what I now realise (after seeing this thread) to be a very common problem with these fridges - part of the bottom hinge is angled so the door rises when opened and then closes automatically with gravity. The problem is that it's made of a soft… Read more

metal and gets very worn down. Also, the bottom of the door that the pin goes into is all plastic and tends to crack and get pushed up into the door, causing the bottom of the door to scrape against the soft metal part. The result for me was that the door started not closing automatically, then at one point it fell off! This is because the door drops so low that the top of the door drops out of the pin/hinge that is attached to the main body of the fridge and holds the door in place. A proper fix would have involved replacing the entire door and bottom hinge/bracket, which wouldn't have been worth it if it was possible.

I took the door off, unscrewed the bottom bracket from the door and after trying a few things that didn't work, I went to bunnings and bought a few steel washers for about 50c and placed one (about 35mm diameter) between the bottom of the door and the plastic bracket (that the hinge pin goes into). The hole in the centre of the washer needs to be big enough to fit the round plastic bit the pin goes into. The washer sticks out past the edge of the door (which is metal) by a couple of mm. It isn't too obvious when you look at the fridge. This means that most of the weight of the door is taken by the metal of the door, not a flimsy bit of plastic. This was a few years ago and it has been fine since - the door hasn't fallen off and it closes automatically.

I thought I'd post this here as it might help others having the same problem.

btw, I tried contacting Westinghouse customer support as suggested in a few of the posts in this thread, but all they would do for me is arrange a callout from a repair technician at my expense.

I also find that I need to keep the coldness dial turned right up and the door seal split when it was only a few years old.

I'm still using the fridge so OK with it given that I managed to 'fix' the door hinge without major expense or injury, but I consider it a major design flaw.

Door fell off! – Same problem as so many others, except door actually fell off. In the process of trying to find replacement hinge, wow expensive!

Very disappointed – Having adopted a theory that if you pay "top money" for a product you will no doubt get a decent product with hopefully many years of service - guess what - wrong. We purchased a Westinghouse RP432V-R S/n 44553207 and paid $1700.00 and we have had nothing but trouble. The fridge door was replaced under warranty - hinge issue and then over the… Read more

years the fridge did serve us well but over the past couple of summers we were experiencing cooling issues - had to have the dial up on the coldest setting and then just recently the fan motor was making loud noises and then finally we couldn't get the fridge to stay cold enough. Took it to a Fridge service centre to be advised that the motor and compressor was faulty and best advice to purchase another it wasn't viable to have the fridge serviced or repaired. I was advised that the expected "life" of this type of fridge is only 8 maybe 12 years. I have since carried out some research and apparently Westinghouse hasn't a good name out there and yes l fully realize you will always hear when a product is faulty never hear when its a great product. So where too from here obviously go purchase another but i will be seriously considering my next brand. Very disappointed.

Dangerous door hinge design – I have just sent this email to Electrolux We have a fridge RP432V-R SN: 62955166 that we commenced using in August 2007. It has only ever had normal household use with 2 people and has been installed and maintained according to the Owner's Manual. The lower hinge assembly is now extremely worn to the extent that the door was about to… Read more

fall off. If that happened when a child opened the door the results would be serious.

There is nothing in Owner's Manual or online support materials to warn consumers of this defect.

Photos of warn parts and top hinge are attached, but from discussions on the internet (e.g. http://www.productreview.com.au/) I know Electrolux is aware of this design fault.

Electrolux should immediately contact all owners of fridges or freezers that use the same hinge assemblies as RP432V and warn them of the need to check and if necessary replace these parts. A warning should also be highlighted in the relevant customer support materials online.

Damaged door – Bottom of the door where hinge attaches has worn causing door to drop. Fridge does not seal making fridge work harder and freezes some foods.

Can't believe there here hasn't been a recall on these fridges – I am extremely disappointed with this fridge !!!! its only 5 or 6 years old and to keep things cool it needs to be set to the coldest possible setting. to add to that the door seem al though its about to fall off. my wife noticed there was a problem with the door closing for a while and now, as with many others, its at the point where the metal on… Read more

the base of the door is starting to crack and show signs of breaking off completely.

My biggest concern is that if the door comes of in my 6 year olds hand she won't be able to hold it and she is injured. And all due to a faulty product that they refuse to repair.

Not trying to shoot a messenger but I have already contacted electrolux customer care with my concerns about the repair and was told that they would happily send someone out for $130 call out fee and then they could asses the problem. This is not really a satisfactory solution for me nor should it be for you.

My next call will be Fair Trading with an official complaint about the dangers of this product and the fact that my family could be seriously injured with the weight of a full fridge door landing on them.

All we ask is that the door be repaired and that it should be done at your cost as it is actually a manufacturing fault, the sheer number of complaints about this matter on this and many other models should tell you that !!!!

2 Failures in 7 years – We live in the country and purchased an Australian made product because service out here is always difficult. Never again ! RP432V delivered December 2007 and stopped cooling mid 2011and repaired but is showing signs of not keeping contents below 5 deg C. Now the fan sounds like a chaff cutter and will have to be repaired again. Not happy… Read more

Electrolux and now waiting for the FJ362V freezer to quit also.

Our previous Hoover lasted for 20 years and only replaced due to being too small

door falling off – same problem as Carlos87. The door has worn down the metal at the bottom, subsequently I now have to catch the door each time it is opened.....will definately need to buy a new fridge as it falls off regularly now.

Fridge dead after 4 years - ad it's "my responsibility to fix it" not likely – In 2005 i bought my first new fridge, a westinghouse model er 432v-r fridge freezer. It seemed ok for the 1st 3 -4 years when i began noticing "cracking" noises coming from the fridge sides and thought nothing of it as the fridge kept all contents quite chilled. One day in early september 2009, i pulled out the milk and it was really off and… Read more

the motor of the fridge was still running. I checked the freezer and all items were melting.

I called electrolux, told them that the fridge was barely 4 yrs old, had not moved from day 1 and now it was dead. I fully expected some redress and even a replacement fridge as this was clearly a manufacturing fault - not my fault.

They argued with me and finally sent out a fridge mechanic who tested it and clearly stated that "the fridge has a gas leak" and suggested that i would probably have to pay a pro rata payment to have it fixed. My 30yr old phillips fridge that this one replaced was still humming along nicely and it has been with 2 owners before me - and - after 30 years had no gas leak.

Why then should i pay even a dollar for a clear manufacturing fault that electrolux would not concede was the problem.

Electrolux clearly do not stand by the quality of the products they sell and, after paying $1600 for a new fridge, they gave me the impression that i was somehow "lucky" to get 4 years service and if i wanted to have the fridge repaired i had to pay about $750 for the privilege.

I refused to pay as i had no money, an issue that electrolux could not understand.

Due to more unfortunate circumstances, i've now sold my house and have to deal with this dead 4yr old fridge before i move.

In sorting my papers i came across the "bill" for the service visit .

Electrolux has a very poor attitude to product quality and service and i would not touch any product they sell.

I used to be the repair centre manager for an international computer company so i have some knowledge of poor product quality and how it shoud be dealt with.

Our "lemon' laws need reviewing.

I would have posted this information much earlier if i knew about this site. Ok till it died - then it was a nightmare dealing with Electrolux. Gas leaked out - can only be due to poor manufacture.

Disappointed – We have had this freezer for 6 1/2 years with no problem except the door is hard to open. I have loved everything else about it until now. It has just stopped freezing and I have lost over $1000 worth of meat. I now have to buy a new freezer as I cannot trust this one even if it can be fixed. I have always purchased Westinghouse fridges and freezers as they have been excellent products in the past, so I am disappointed that this has happened.

door is about to kill my children – Has worked fine for 6 years. The door hinges are not strong enough and the door is sinking down and splitting the steel base of the door. It is now so low that if I push down the plastic guide for the pin at the top of the door the door will fall off. cools well poorly designed door

Short life cycle – Loved this fridge when we bought it but it has only lasted 6 years. Very disappointed in its longevity and this makes it very poor value for money. If the parts were replaceable we would have considered a repair as we were happy with size and space. Found after sales service very poor as well with at least 5 days delay to get someone to quote… Read more

on a repair listed as 'urgent'. Once quoted, then another week to repair. That's 2 weeks with no fridge! Good space Compressor died after only 6 years. Designed to last through warranty period only

Good – I have only had this fridge for a month but so far so good. Good quality non-spill glass shelving and climate controlled vege draw. Door shelving is also set out very well so enough space for just about everything. I also love the deli drawer - great for sliced meats. Definitely a step up from the F & p model that we were replacing and I would… Read more

definitely recommend it - we are a family of 5 and definitely need a fridge of this size to fit everything in. I might even buy the matching freezer one day! Loads of space and good quality fittings inside. Door doesn't automatically shut properly and it needs to be pushed shut.

Excellent – Certainly a great fridge/freezer all round. Just check the shelves in the Freezer. This fridge is perfect for the larger family. * Huge - Loads of space for everything in both the fridge section and the freezer section. * The glass shelving make it easy to see through to find things and are easy to clean. * Drink bottle trays on doors are very… Read more

sturdy and their structure allows the bottles thin or large not to topple over if the kids slam the fridge harder than normal - this is a problem with other fridges.

* I'm in the tropical climate and the fridge's temperature maintains itself extremely well. Absolute dream of a fridge to have. I am being a little fussy but:

* The shelves in the freezer are my pet hate, although a minor issue, we have found a couple of times that they don't stay in their housing too well, and the whole shelf will come down just as you've finished topping up an ice tray or something. Westinghouse please fine tune the Freezer shelving to be more like the ones in the fridge - well designed and user friendly.

* The other is that the fridge handle on the outside always look dirty. The handle are well made and sturdy. However They are not smooth plastic but have rough texture which traps dirt easily and are harder to clean.