How old is my Magic Chef unit?
Magic Chef is part of Whirlpool Corp (legacy) / MC Appliance (current). 2 serial formats sourced across refrigerator, range, dishwasher, washer, dryer, microwave.
Serial number decoder for Magic Chef
Type the serial from the data plate, not the model number. Nothing is sent anywhere; the tables are in this page.
Format example: MX06404786
- Magic Chef refrigerator serial numbers in the 1990 to present format encode the year as single character after the plant letter(s); cycles every 30 years (1990-2019 = X,A-J,K-Y then digits 0-9 for 2010-2019; X,A.. again from 2020) and the week as the two digits after the year character (01-53) (source: building-center.org).
- Example: serial MX06404786 decodes to week 6 of 1990 or 2020.
- The 1990 to present format is ambiguous: TABLE CONFLICT for 1999-2010: building-center (the table already in formats.json) says I=1999 J=2000 K=2001 L=2002 M=2003 P=2004 R=2005 S=2006 T=2007 U=2008 W=2009 Y=2010; appliancedates says J=1999 K=2000 L=2001 M=2002 P=2003 R=2004 S=2005 T=2006 U=2007 W=2008 Y=2009 0=2010; Sears PartsDirect (official Sears, current) says J=1999 K=2000 L=2001 M=2002 N=2003 P=2004 R=2005 T=2006 U=2007 W=2008 Y=2009 0=2010. Two of three sources put K=2000, Y=2009 and 0=2010 (the building-center chart has no 0 and uses I, which Whirlpool otherwise skips) so treat the building-center table as off-by-one for 1999-2010 until a Whirlpool document settles it. All three agree X=1990..H=1998 and 1-9=2011-2019, X=2020, A=2021.. Letters repeat every 30 years, so model era is needed to pick 1991 vs 2021. Worked examples: MX06404786 = 2020 wk 6 (appliancedates, Maytag dryer MED7230HW0); MB1402320 = 1992 wk 14 (appliancedates Kenmore); RA01xxxx = wk 1 of 1991 or 2021, FM644xxxx = wk 44 of 1986 or 2016 (Sears).
- Magic Chef refrigerator serial numbers in the 1966 to 2010 format encode the year as 2nd-to-last character (letter) via 24-letter cycle (table below) and the last character (letter), two letters per month (table below) (source: building-center.org).
- Example: serial 12772864EL decodes to 1980 or 2004 (June).
- The 1966 to 2010 format is ambiguous: Pre-Whirlpool Maytag Corporation format (Maytag, Admiral, Magic Chef, Jenn-Air, Amana 2002-2006, Norge, Hardwick, Crosley, Caloric, Modern Maid). Year letters repeat every 24 years (E = 1980 or 2004); the letters are NOT alphabetical by year. Whirlpool phased it out after the 2006 purchase but appliancedates shows a Jenn-Air range 16240783NR built Sept 2008 in this code, so the era overlaps the Whirlpool style through ~2010. Worked examples: 12772864EL = Jun 2004 (Amana dryer NDE2330AYW), 17657865KM = Jun 1994 (Jenn-Air S156), 12150883QY = Nov 1996, 16240783NR = Sep 2008, 717486QX = Dec 1972 (6-digit sequence), 19346732EG = Apr 1980/2004 (building-center). Alliance Laundry still uses this exact letter cycle on its European-built machines (see Speed Queen rule).
Decoder pages by product
Refrigerator2 formatsRange2 formatsDishwasher2 formatsWasher2 formatsDryer2 formatsMicrowave2 formats
Format eras
- 1990 to present VERIFIED
AA########Refrigerator, Range, Dishwasher, Microwave, Washer, Dryer - 1966 to 2010 VERIFIED
########AARefrigerator, Range, Dishwasher, Microwave, Washer, Dryer
Official lookup: the authority
Open the official Whirlpool lookup takes unknown (site returns 403 to non-browser fetch); returns unknown; URL unverified
This site is a reference built from published tables. The manufacturer's own lookup wins whenever the two disagree.
What we could not confirm
- Magic Chef is treated as sharing Whirlpool's format because the source lists it in that family; the corporate relationship itself is an estimate.
- Magic Chef is treated as sharing Maytag's format because the source lists it in that family; the corporate relationship itself is an estimate.
- No official online lookup URL was verified for Magic Chef.
- Building-center = same three blocks as Admiral (Maytag letters pre-2006, Whirlpool 2006+, plus the mis-attributed Raytheon YYWW). Current Magic Chef-branded compact appliances (MC Appliance Corp, magicchef.com) are a different company with no published date code - UNSOURCED for those.
Sources
- https://www.building-center.org/whirlpool-appliances/
- https://appliancedates.com/MajorAppliances/WhirlpoolDateCodes.htmlofficial
- https://www.searspartsdirect.com/diy/article/how-to-find-the-age-of-your-kenmore-washer-or-dryerofficial
- https://www.searspartsdirect.com/diy/article/how-to-find-the-age-of-your-kenmore-refrigeratorofficial
- https://www.building-center.org/maytag-appliances/
- https://www.building-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/MAYTAG-DATE-CODES.jpg
- https://appliancedates.com/MajorAppliances/MaytagDateCodes.htmlofficial
- https://www.building-center.org/magic-chef-appliances/
