What Does PO Error Code on Whirlpool Refrigerator? Here's a Fix!

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Ever seen the Whirlpool refrigerator error code PO on the front door display?

If you have, you should be more than familiar with what I am talking about here.

You may have felt surprised or shocked when you found out that the refrigerator power unit had stopped working and ‘PO’ appeared on the control panel display.

You may also have heard an alert tone that rings thrice.

Don’t be scared of this. This doesn’t mean that your refrigerator is broken.

As the name suggests, this is simply an error code that is caused due to sudden power shortages in the motor.

This error may occur is you rely on same electrical source.

There are also other reasons for PO error on your Whirlpool refrigerator such as overheated wires or weather condition.

Some human errors are often the cause of power outages that your refrigerator might be subjected to.

If you want to know how to solve this problem, all you need to do is keep scrolling.

What Does PO Mean on a Whirlpool Refrigerator?

PO is a simple acronym that means power outage.

This is an indicator that you will find in your power control unit display.

This indicator signifies when the refrigerator experiences a sudden power outage or failure, which causes the internal temperature to be uncontrolled and fall, becoming even cooler than usual.

It is also often accompanied by an alert tone that will ring thrice to warn you about this situation and a ‘click ’button that will keep flashing until you press ‘Measured Fill.’

Once the power outage has been confirmed, the problem will return to normal, and the ‘PO’ sign will disappear, no more alarms will ring, and neither will there be any more of the button flashes.

The display will return to the old home screen.

Whirlpool Refrigerator Error Code PO: Causes

The Whirlpool refrigerator error code PO is nothing technical or as complicated as rocket science.

It is caused by a simple power shortage in the motor.

This is a frequent occurrence in particularly developing countries, areas with newly made electric generators, or even densely populated places.

Some issues that cause this are listed below.

Relying on the Same Electric Source

As too many people in a single area might be relying on the same electric source for quite some time, that source might show signs of failure since it will not be able to provide ample energy to all these consumers.

This could cause the motor not to be supplied with enough power to keep the refrigerator motor running optimally.

Overheated Wires

Another issue that could cause the PO code to be displayed could be the wires overheating.

Although wires nowadays are reinforced enough not to be afflicted with this condition, it was still common a few years ago.

A current with far more capacity than the wire could allow might pass through the wires.

This will cause the wire to overheat past the temperature it could bear and cause a short circuit.

Fortunately, the crime scene is far away from the refrigerator, so it can stay safe wherever it was previously.

The only issue is that it will show symptoms of power outages on its display monitor.

Weather Conditions

Weather is also another issue that might cause these power outages.

Depending on extreme weather conditions- the overhead wires in the streets might get torn and out of commission from supplying electricity to the designated places, like the Whirlpool refrigerator in question.

Human Error

Although this might seem surprising, human errors are also often the cause of power outages that your refrigerator might be subjected to.

For instance, while driving, you might crash your car into the power generator unit or pillars that support wirings in your area.

This will disrupt the natural flow of electricity.

It might be temporary, or it could also be permanent, which would then require specialists to settle the problem.

But both issues will cause the refrigerator to show power outage symptoms.

Whirlpool Refrigerator Error Code PO: Solutions

As we mentioned earlier, power outages aren’t really an issue as technical as people think.

While some technical causes for this problem would need technical solutions, not all are as problematic.

If the power outage your refrigerator is experiencing is a simple momentous power shortage, it will be fixed in a few seconds.

However, you need to make some confirmations on the digital screen to return to normal.

In addition, you can also reset your refrigerator for the PO situation to be terminated.

This is only required in older refrigerators that do not have digital LED indicators on the front door.

Follow the following steps to reset the refrigerator.

1.Turn the temperature control knob to the “off” position.

2. Remove the power cord connection from the electric wall

3. Reconnect the power cord to the electric outlet in the wall.

4. Turn the temperature control knob to the desired temperature.

5. Turn on the water filter or any other filtering features.

In addition, if you want to prevent your refrigerator from being affected by power outages, you could also install a UPS in your home.

This UPS could be one of three different types:

Offline or Standby UPS

Offline or Standby UPS are used to convert the DC power that is kept inside its battery to AC power that the refrigerator needs to use.

It ensures that the current can flow smoothly in the correct waveforms, and the transition does not cause any voltage fluctuations that could go out of hand.

Line interactive UPS

Line interactive UPS uses a multi-tap variable-voltage autotransformer mechanism to ensure that the correct amount of electricity is supplied to the motor in the refrigerator without causing the motor to register that the new electricity is from a different source.

Online or Double Conversion UPS

Online or double conversion UPS should only be used if you run restaurants where you have walk-in Whirlpool freezers and need to ensure that they function properly at all times.

They use data from the supplied current to know what type of current would be enough for the refrigerators to work on.

They then supply that exact one.