The most popular DIY post on my blog is, by far, How to Fix a Whirlpool & KitchenAid W10219463 / 2307028 Control Board for $6. As of this post, it’s received over 430 comments; the vast majority from frustrated homeowners who went online in a last ditch effort to find a way to make their Whirlpool, or KitchenAid, or Kenmore refrigerator start working again after being told the control board they need is no longer available… and discovering that for a few dollars in parts (and some very minor soldering skills), they can fix it themselves in minutes.

Even though I’d guess that more than 95% of the fridge owners who stumbled across my article were able to fix their problem by replacing a single capacitor and relay on the main control board, there are a handful who’ve experienced some other problems, too.

In the case of a visitor named Marco, he wasn’t experiencing the systems I described in my control board post, but rather a total loss of everything: compressor, fans, and LED lights stopped working. He tried disconnecting the power and plugging it back in, and saw all the LED come on then go off again, then nothing.

This was a sure sign that the Digital Inverter Control for his fridge was fried. Other names for this same part are Inverter Box, Inverter Board, Compressor Control, or Digital Speed Control. From the outside, the inverter box looks like this:

Whirlpool inverter box

On the inside, the box contains electronics that increases the output voltage to 230V, but also digitally varies the frequency of the current supplied to your refrigerator’s compressor from between 53Hz to 150Hz, which results in controlling its speed. Instead of simply turning “on” or “off” (like older fridges), digitally controlled compressors can run faster or slower depending on your fridge’s cooling needs. Of course, being a more “advanced” digital part means it’s more susceptible to failure (especially due to power surges). It also means it’s a lot more expensive to replace, if you leave it to your repairman.

To purchase a new replacement Inverter Board from Sears Direct, you’ll pay around $275. You if you shop online, you can find the same OEM inverters new for around $150, like this one on Amazon. If you’re willing to go with a used one, you might be able to find one on eBay for around $70-75. I recommend getting a new OEM unit on Amazon, so you know it will work and you can easily return it if you have any problems (or order the wrong one).

Once you have the new unit, replacing the inverter box on your refrigerator is as simple as unplugging the old one and plugging in the new one. No soldering skills are required, although you will need a screwdriver to remove the rear panel from your fridge to locate the inverter. After swapping out the inverter (Marco bought a new one), his fridge was working like new again.

Most Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Kenmore, Amana, Maytag, or Jenn-Air refrigerator use the same inverter board with part number W10629033 (which recently obsoleted the previous part number W10133449). That same inverter box will also replace the following part numbers in any of those brand’s fridges: 1384553, 2221559, 2223385, 2224047, 2304098, 2304175, 2306957, 2997771, AP5801669, AP4308835, AH1960495, EA1960495, PS8760019, and PS1960495.

If if your fridge is acting stone-cold dead and won’t light anything up, it might be worth taking a chance on a new inverter. Good luck, and thanks Marco for the heads up!