Sears Appliance Age: Identify the Maker and Decode the Serial

Sears sold appliances made by several manufacturers, so Sears appliances do not share one serial-number structure. The first three digits of the model number are the manufacturer prefix. They identify the company that built the appliance.

Appliage reads this prefix first and then applies that manufacturer’s serial-number date coding method. For example, model prefix 795 routes to LG, while prefix 790 routes to Frigidaire/Electrolux. You need the complete model and serial numbers from the same rating plate because the serial number cannot be decoded correctly until the manufacturer is known.

For example, split model number 795.7554440 as 795 | .7554440. Prefix 795 identifies LG Electronics, and the remaining characters identify the refrigerator model. Then split serial number 405KR12345 as 4 | 05 | KR12345. The first digit is the repeating year code, 05 means May, and the remaining characters identify the individual appliance. A dated model and serial range selects May 2004 for this example.

Appliage dates Sears appliances from 1991 to today. The model prefix picks the maker’s system, the date characters sit where that system places them, and the result is whatever that system gives, one manufacture date or a short list of years. If the maker’s system is not in the decoder yet, the unit is recognized without a date.

Enter both the Sears model number and serial number. Appliage uses the first three model digits to identify the manufacturer, then reads the serial number with that manufacturer’s date fields. Without the model number, Appliage cannot know whether Whirlpool, LG, Frigidaire, or GE rules apply.

Sears Decode

1. model 1–3 manufacturer prefix
2. model remainder product identity
3. serial number date fields depend on manufacturer

The model prefix tells Appliage who built the appliance. The rest of the model number identifies the product and version. The serial number is a separate identifier, and its date positions depend on the routed manufacturer.

Use the first three model digits in the table below to identify the manufacturer before reading the serial number.

Sears has no universal month, week, or year table. First find the three-digit model prefix below. Appliage then uses the listed manufacturer’s serial-number rules.

Prefixes 106, 110, 116, and 665 use Whirlpool serial rules. Prefixes 580, 795, and 796 use LG rules. Prefixes 253, 417, 587, and 790 use Frigidaire rules. Prefix 363 identifies a GE-built dishwasher. For a Whirlpool-built unit with plant code F, C, or M and year letter E or F, the older table gives 1995 or 1996. Whirlpool has not published a newer E/F date for those plants, so Appliage shows the older year as a candidate and does not guess 2025 or 2026.

The 596, 204, and 407 prefixes have narrower results.

Appliage applies the Maytag date rule only to the TRIO model series in CPSC recall 03-533 (596.73502, 596.73503, 596.73504 and 596.73509) when the serial ends with the letter pair printed there: A for 2002 followed by V or X, meaning November or December 2002. That Maytag rule does not apply to every 596 refrigerator.

CPSC 95-023 lists six Amana-built Kenmore 596 models: 596.9530820, 596.9530850, 596.9530880, 596.9535610, 596.9535650, and 596.95356800 (also accepted as 596.9535680). For these models only, a ten-digit serial from 9304000000 through 9409156208 uses Amana’s older YYMM format: the first two digits give the year and the next two give the month. For example, model 596.9530820 with serial 9304000000 returns April 1993 (Estimated). The recall identifies the Amana-built group; the YYMM code gives the unit’s month. Outside these two documented groups, the 596 prefix alone is not enough to date the refrigerator.

For 204, Appliage reads the April 27, 2017 date only on Galanz-made microwave model 204.77603610 with a serial from 17042700001 to 17042700684.

Prefix 407 identifies Gree-made dehumidifiers, but there is no verified serial-date rule for them in Appliage.

Age Decode Examples

Sears Serial Numbers Appliage Cannot Find the Age

If the first three model digits are not in the manufacturer-prefix table, Appliage cannot identify the company that built the appliance. It will not guess a date coding method from the shape of the serial number.

If you enter the serial number without the model number, Appliage cannot know which manufacturer’s rules apply. Similar combinations of letters and numbers appear in several serial systems, so the complete model prefix is required.

Sears water heaters, central heating and cooling equipment, Craftsman products, Canadian models beginning with C, and product categories outside the table use other identification systems.

Sears Branding and Manufacturer Rules

Sears or Kenmore branding identifies the retailer’s product line, not one factory. The rating plate’s model prefix is what connects the appliance to Whirlpool, LG, Frigidaire/Electrolux, GE, or another manufacturer.

The Kenmore serial number lookup explains the same routing system. For models with prefixes 106, 110, 116, or 665, the Whirlpool serial number lookup explains the routed date fields.

Sources

• CPSC: LG and Sears refrigerator recall (2005). The notice pairs models 795.751 and 795.755 with serial prefixes 405–410 and dates in 2004–2005.
• CPSC: Frigidaire and Kenmore range recall (2024). Electrolux made the affected Kenmore ranges. The notice lists their models, serial ranges and dates.
• CPSC: Whirlpool dishwasher recall (2005). Whirlpool made the Kenmore 665 dishwashers named in this notice.
• Whirlpool laundry service manual (W11197006). The serial diagram labels the factory, year and week positions.
• CPSC: Whirlpool washer and dryer recall (2002). Whirlpool made the Kenmore 110 models named in this notice.
• CPSC: Amana refrigerator notice (95-023). Names the six Kenmore 596 models, serial range 9304000000–9409156208, and April 1993–September 1994 production span.
• CPSC: Maytag-built Kenmore Elite TRIO recall (03-533). Lists the 596 models and serial ranges used for the bounded Maytag route.
• CPSC: Galanz-made Kenmore microwave recall (20-020). Gives the exact 204 model, serial range, and April 27, 2017 build date.
• CPSC: Gree dehumidifier recall (23-262). Names Kenmore 407 models and Gree as manufacturer; it does not publish a serial-date rule.

For other brands, see our appliance serial number lookup.