Whirlpool washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators and ranges place a single letter for the manufacture year as the second character of the serial number, immediately after a first letter identifying the manufacturing division, followed by two digits for the production week. Independent references agree on this structure and agree on the actual letters used from 1996 through 2002 — F means 1996, G means 1997, H means 1998, J means 1999, K means 2000, L means 2001, and M means 2002, skipping the letter I throughout. A serial reading xM25xxxxx, for example, was built in week 25 of 2002.
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Decode your own serial number
What this covers
- Whirlpool washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators and ranges with a division letter, then a year letter, then a two-digit week
- Reading the year letters F (1996) through M (2002) from the second character, confirmed by both independent sources checked
- Reading the production week from the two digits that follow the year letter
What it does not cover
- ×A computed year for a Whirlpool serial whose year letter would fall before 1996 or in 2003 or later — the two sources checked don't both agree outside 1996–2002, and this page does not guess between them
- ×Whirlpool's own consumer-facing site, which this review could not confirm publishes this letter table directly
- ×Whirlpool commercial or laundromat-specific product lines not separately confirmed
Try in this order
0 of 4 completedLocate the serial label
ReversibleCheck the door frame, cabinet edge, or rear panel depending on the appliance type.
Identify the division letter and year letter
ReversibleThe first character is a division/plant code. The second character is the year letter.
Match the year letter only if it falls in the confirmed range
ReversibleF=1996, G=1997, H=1998, J=1999, K=2000, L=2001, M=2002 (skipping I) are confirmed by two independent sources. A letter outside this set is not decoded here with confidence.
Read the following two digits as the production week
ReversibleThese are the week of the year, 01 through 52.
Evidence ledger
Sources behind this answer
Where the manufacturer's article stops. Both cited sources agree on the letter positions and on every year letter from 1996 through 2002 (with one source extending confirmed agreement back to 1990). Neither is Whirlpool's own published text, and they diverge from each other for 2003 onward, which is why no single source here is graded A.
Independent reference giving the year-letter table for 1996–2019 and the 9-digit-vs-10-digit position rule. Agrees with the second source below for 1996–2002 and diverges from it for 2003 onward — that divergence is stated on this page rather than resolved by picking one. Verified Sept. 10, 2026.
A professional appliance-repair reference giving a full 1990–present year-letter table with a worked example (CB2501800 = week 25, 1992). Agrees with the first source for 1996–2002 and gives a different table for 2003 onward. Verified Sept. 10, 2026.
Exact questions
Questions about Decode a Whirlpool serial number
Can I read the year from a Whirlpool serial made after 2002?+
Only through 2002. After that, published references disagree on the letters and digits used, so a decode would be a guess; the confirmed range is all that is stated.
Do Maytag and KitchenAid use this same system?+
Yes, for units built after Maytag's 2006 acquisition by Whirlpool Corporation, per independent references — see this site's separate Maytag and KitchenAid serial-lookup pages.
Is there an official Whirlpool page that states this table directly?+
This review could not locate one. Whirlpool's own site explains where to find the label but not, in consumer-facing text, how to read the year letter.
Where do I find the Whirlpool appliance serial number?+
Look for the rating plate or label on the unit, on the label inside the door or on the back. Photograph it before you start, since the label can be hard to read once the appliance is installed.