This is a follow up to my previous thread:
<[forums.macresource.com];

Thanks to all the helpful advice and expertise. It would appear that our fridge is dying.

I did take a look at trying to get to the cooling coils and decided it was more than I could (should) handle. The appliance tech guy came out and did suspect that the coils may have iced. After removing the panels he called me over to look at the cooling coils. No ice. Only the top coil section was cold and frosty. The bottom coils were only slightly cooler than room temperature. He stated that the compressor was failing. When I asked specifically if it could be just a freon charge he added that there was probably a low freon level due to the compressor and/or a leak. He appeared quite knowledgeable and did talk with me about the problem and answered the questions I had. Does this explaination for this situation made sense?

I hate the idea of paying the $$ for buying a new fridge, but realize I would be paying for higher efficiency and a warranty. I'm hoping we can find a place with a 6 months (or longer) with no interest plan. Thanks again for all of the help! I hope you have a great evening!

Dave

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...on the trailing edge of technology.

Picked up a used fridge for my son, guy delivered it to the bottom stairs as well. Been cold ever since , for 4 months ago. If your tight on cash, Home Depot always has a sale for 329 or 399 on one of them. But some of these old fridge guys buy and sell good ones, from their homes.

I picked up an older fridge with a non-frostless freezer for free on freecycle once. I still works great, although it's at my friends house now, used all the time as a beer fridge. Maybe you could look up a used one on craigslist or similar?

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I just had a repair guy come out to my house to check out our fridge as well. I seemed to work ok, but it just wasn't that cold- soft ice cream, etc... It just needed a new fan motor (to cool the coils underneath) which was about $55. I could (and would) have done the repair myself, but it would have cost the same amount for me to buy the part as it did for him to provide and install it.

Fry's has low end models for right around $330 also.

There is at least one person here that got a decent working fridge on Craigslist for around $80. It might be less likely depending on how bad the housing market bubble has burst in your area.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

Thanks for the suggestions. It is certainly worth looking to see if any good used fridges might be available. I asked at our one local appliance store and they had already sold any used refrigerators they had on hand. I will call nearby (larger) towns too and checking Craigslist is also a good idea. Here in NW Iowa the housing market is still fairly steady. Thanks again for the helpful advice!

Dave

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...on the trailing edge of technology.

We got a great deal on a dented unit from the Sears "scratch and dent" repair center.
Saved us a bundle.

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Sears has one of their appliance sales going with "FREE DELIVERY after mail-in rebate and NO INTEREST, NO PAYMENTS for 12 months on Appliance purchases over $399."

You still need to realize that the cost of a new (or newer) refrigerator is small potatoes compared to the cost to operate an old refrigerator over its lifetime. It really makes little sense to buy an old refrigerator (though a less than 5 year old one is ok) because you're both throwing your money away on electricity and just being part of the problem when it comes to energy use/global warming.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

The tech's explanation makes sense. I've seen that myself, but it is fairly rare. The coils should have been completely covered with a thin layer of frost. This problem is repairable, but not cost-effective to do so.

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Ed (modelamac)

I think I will just put an OUT OF ORDER
sticker on my head and call it a day.

Please read my example on the previous thread.

In absolute dollar terms savings are small, and are unlikely to pay for the cost of a new fridge based on energy savings alone.

Since the big change in standards came in 1993, I'd not hesitate to buy a used fridge made after that date.

Even with the most efficient models the savings are very small - the cheapest $399 top-freezer model I saw today at a big-box store only used about 50kWh/year more than the most efficient model of the same size (using the energystar.gov site)

50kWh/year is very little money, well under $5 for most of us here.

Like I said, change out your old bulbs for CFLs first.

>You still need to realize that the cost of a new (or newer) refrigerator is small potatoes compared to the cost to operate an old refrigerator over its lifetime.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2007 09:15AM by Bill in NC.

In my part of town appliances have not traditionally been included in apartment rentals, leaving tenants to get their own stove and frige. This makes for a healthy used appliance market. I got my current frige about 2 months ago for $150-- it's similar to the ones you see at Home Depot for $500. I bought a stove and frige for an apartment for $250 around February-- the compressor failed on the frige (exact same symptoms as OP's description) and the guy came out and replaced it for free (hence my follow-up business).
Very nice man who is said to be good with GFA units as well.

our 1970's vintage harvest gold fridge started misbehaving, w/ the biggest culprit being the magnetic gaskets losing their oomph, and the doors not remaining tightly closed unless manually pushed each time. got a new fridge delivered from Sears, and electric bill immediately went down $20-$30/mo. bonus was selling old fridge at local auction house for $80, less 20% commish, to get $64 from which I pre-spent $18 to get a new set of retaining clips for the grill at the bottom of the fridge before delivering it to the auction house. if it's not working properly, and your sounds like it isn't, a newer model will save $$ you in the long run; take a deep breath, it's OK to replace the fridge...

B)

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Sometimes it is what it is...
and then there's times when it's really better.



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Quote
Bill in NC
In absolute dollar terms savings are small, and are unlikely to pay for the cost of a new fridge based on energy savings alone.

Since the big change in standards came in 1993, I'd not hesitate to buy a used fridge made after that date.

The reason I brought it up is that he was talking about a 15 year old fridge, and several people chimed in about buying old el cheapo fridges which I think is a big mistake, energy- and dollar-wise. I certainly agree that a newer used fridge is a good idea. The big jump in efficiency was around 1993, but there were a couple of other later efficiency increases too, so the newer the better.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

A big thank you for all the helpful posts. I especially appreciate those with the technical expertise who confirmed the tech's diagnosis. If we went the used route we would only look for a recent model fridge. msienkiewicz- thanks for looking out for us! Just this morning we came across the Sears ad with that interest free for 12 month offer. That would help a lot. We read the recent Consumer Reports article and it looks like Roper, Whirlpool, Frigidaire and Kenmore tend to be the best for reliability. The old fridge did serve us well. We purchased it at an estate sale 13 years ago for $125! I hope the next fridge lasts as long! Thanks again for all of the help! I hope you have a great day!

Dave

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...on the trailing edge of technology.