From Iowa walk-in coolers to Whirlpool
Amana got started in Amana, Iowa, building walk-in coolers. Its upright freezer for the home, among the first of its kind, came out in 1947. The Radarange countertop microwave followed in 1967, while Raytheon owned the company. The appliance business later went to Goodman, then to Maytag, and it landed at Whirlpool when Whirlpool bought Maytag in 2006.
Whirlpool sells Amana as a value brand now. Most of what you'll see is refrigerators, top-load washers, dryers, ranges, dishwashers and microwaves. Amana air conditioners and furnaces are a separate business today, owned by Daikin through Goodman, so this page sticks to Amana kitchen and laundry appliances.
Shared parts keep most Amana repairs simple
Current Amana appliances sit on Whirlpool platforms and get their parts through Whirlpool's parts network. Take the dryer thermal fuse. The same part number shows up on an Amana electric dryer and on Whirlpool-built gas dryers sold under other names. When parts are shared and widely stocked, there are fewer special orders.
Older Amana products are a different story. The ones from the Raytheon, Goodman and Maytag years can use parts unique to that era, and the model and serial number tell us which design you've got. Here's where the tag lives on each type:
- Lift a top-load washer's lid and check the tub rim.
- Open a front-load washer or dryer and look around the edge of the door opening.
- Side-by-side refrigerators use the right wall of the fresh-food side, while top-freezer, bottom-freezer and French door models put it on the left wall in there.
- On a range, check the frame behind the oven door or behind the storage drawer.
- On a dishwasher, open the door and check the tub frame's left edge.
Lint, winter vents and cold garages
Clean the dryer lint screen after every load and get the vent run cleaned on a regular basis. During Minnesota and Wisconsin winters, moist exhaust can condense on the outside vent flaps and trap lint there. An Amana refrigerator out in an unheated garage might not hold temperature in a cold snap, since many refrigerators are only rated for a certain range of room temperatures. Pull out the warranty sheet for your model, since coverage isn't the same across the whole line.