Reference · lineage
Which Sub-Zero series replaced which, in two lines
Two lines, not one. Sub-Zero has built full-size cabinets that stand in an opening and integrated cabinets that vanish into the joinery, and a designation belongs to one line or the other before it belongs to any decade.
| Line | Designation | What it is now |
|---|---|---|
| Full-size built-in | 500 Series | Legacy. Sub-Zero keeps its manual among the legacy guides, and files it with Classic for where the plate sits. |
| Full-size built-in | 600 Series | Legacy, and the generation of this line carrying an electronic control system that displays to within one degree. |
| Full-size built-in | BI, BW | Legacy Classic, formerly Built In, in the model-number key. |
| Full-size built-in | CL | Classic. The designation the full-size line wears today. |
| Integrated | 700 Series | Legacy. Sub-Zero publishes it in the Integrated Refrigeration guides, alongside the IC-27 columns. |
| Integrated | IT, IC, ID, IW | Legacy Designer, formerly Integrated, in the model-number key. |
| Integrated | DET, DEC | Designer. Tall cabinets and columns, the integrated line as it stands now. |
| Its own family | PRO, 648PRO | Professional. Not a width of Classic but a family of its own, with the plate down in a drawer. |
| Its own family | UC, DEU | Undercounter, and Designer Undercounter for the current version of it. |
What to do with that
- 1 Start at the plate, not at the doors. The designation is printed. Guessing from the door style files a side-by-side BI and a side-by-side 600 under one heading, when what fits one will not always fit the other.
- 2 Read the prefix before you read the number. Letters decide the line. CL, BI and BW belong to the full-size line; IT, IC, ID, IW, DET and DEC belong to the integrated one; PRO and UC are families in their own right.
- 3 Let a bare number speak for itself. 500, 600 and 700 carry no prefix at all. The first two are full-size, the third is integrated, and that is why a 700 hides its plate beside the upper drawer instead of in the door.
- 4 Carry the line into the parts question. A component is matched against model and serial, never against a family resemblance. Knowing the line only tells you which page of this reference to open next.
- 5 Quote the designation when you ring. Sub-Zero Repair Service Denver books from the model line rather than from a description, so the van is loaded for the cabinet you have and not for the one the doors suggest.
The full-size line starts, for our purposes, at the 500 Series . The integrated line starts at the 700 Series . The two lines are still sold side by side as BI and Classic and Designer.
Follow-ups
- Is a BI-36U the same cabinet as a 632?
- No. Both are full-size built-ins, which is why the descriptions sound alike, but they belong to different generations of the line and a part is matched to the model and serial rather than to the family. The plate settles which you have, and reading the designation out to (720) 770-4189 settles what it needs.
- My model number starts with IT. Which line is that?
- The integrated one. Sub-Zero's model-number key files IT, IC, ID and IW as Legacy Designer, formerly Integrated, and DET, DEC and DEU carry the line today. It also changes where you look for the plate: on a tall IT cabinet it is inside, to the left of the upper drawer, not in the door.
Checked against
- Sub-Zero model number key Every prefix in the table, and the line each belongs to: CL, BI, BW, IT, IC, ID, IW, DET, DEC, DEU, PRO, 648PRO and UC.
- Sub-Zero serial tag locations Classic, 600, 500 and 200/300 share a single plate location, which is what makes them one family read at different ages.
- Integrated Refrigeration Design Guide The 700 Series listed as integrated models beside the IC-27 columns, under the integrated heading.
Two ways in, and nothing to fill in
Give us the model number and what the cabinet is holding. That is usually enough to know which circuit is at fault before anyone is dispatched — and which parts belong on the van.