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Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

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Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#91

Post by johngossman »

apantel wrote: post #13

We're currently living through a race to the bottom in everything: technology (degradation of platforms like Google and FaceBook — Google has become practically unusable; proliferation of bots, SEO junk, AI junk; also the degradation and over-complication of hardware, e.g. these fridges: overly-complicated smart appliances that don't last long; "they don't build things like they used to"), society (social media, pola…

May I politely suggest you step away from the computer and go read something optimistic? "Factfulness" perhaps? Or https://futurecrunch.com/ if you must continue to surf.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#92

Post by fulladder »

justinpombrio wrote: post #17
yterdy wrote: post #7

Worked in an appliance warehouse. We had two types of fridges coming back as carry-outs for new purchases: ancient models that were probably as old as I was, and models from a few years before the pickup date. Very little middle ground. Also, without being an engineer or technician, it did always seem to me that fridges were like cars in that you had "luxury" models that were standard frames with fancy (often less-th…

> Also, without being an engineer or technician, it did always seem to me that fridges were like cars in that you had "luxury" models that were standard frames with fancy (often less-than-useful) features, and then actual luxury with brand names most people had never heard of, which had normal features implemented to a high standard and with excellent support. As a consumer, would there be a way to tell the differenc…

There is still a lot of value in reading reviews. People have grown cynical because there are a lot of fake reviews online these days, but that just means you have to think critically about what you are reading. Try to extract concrete facts from the text of the review, and as you identify each factual assertion that's being made, consider whether it seems like something that's believable and written by a real person, or something that's primarily an emotional appeal written by a bot or third world person employed by the manufacturer.

At some point, we're going to hit a tipping point where no authentic human being ever writes any online review, and then they'll become totally useless, pure noise. That doesn't seem to be the case yet, though.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#93

Post by CoastalCoder »

762236 wrote: post #4

The fridge's noisy, heat-generating parts should be outside, like for a split A/C. That's the only way I'd spend a lot of money on a fridge.

I love this idea, although I have to wonder if it would make replacing a refrigerator a bigger chore because (IIUC) you'd need hoses filled with a refrigerant liquid and no air bubbles.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#94

Post by blorenz »

jp_nc wrote: post #61
timcobb wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I use ice cube trays in the freezer. We'll probably go this route when this thing inevitably dies. This is the way to go unless you're a big ice consumer, which neither me nor my wife are.

If it’s acting weird, just shut it off and kill the water to it. Ours was doing the same thing and one day we came down to probably 10 gallons of water on our wood floor and the ice maker just spewing water. We bought a GE Opal instead and it’s great.

I will say this, too. Opal is amazing. It has completely eliminated any use of our freezer icemaker. The ice quality is superior and I believe that is because it is not as hard since the icebox keeps chilled by the ambient temperature of the ice. There is no going back to typical ice.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#95

Post by bombcar »

adrianmonk wrote: post #88
legitster wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A fridge with a giant ice maker in the refrigerator, not in the freezer. We have one of these on our ancient fridge. In a way, it actually makes sense - a lot of the stresses of an ice maker are having all of the mechanics being forced to operate in freezing temperatures.

I'll ask the obvious question: isn't one of the main challenges of an ice maker getting the water to freeze? How does this happen in the refrigerator compartment, where the air temperature is above freezing?

You can have the "cold maker" part in the fridge above the ice maker, and blow freezing air across the water into the freezer.

Not saying it's done that way, but many fridges now keep the fridge part cold by venting freezer air into the fridge (if set wrong, you can freeze things in the right part of the fridge).

I am probably going to lean toward separate freezer and fridge next time.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#96

Post by CoastalCoder »

clumsysmurf wrote: post #11

Our 20 year old fridge gave up the ghost. First thing I did was get a month of Consumer Reports and read through their Fridge section. Something I noticed, same with Vacuums ... there is no clear winner. They gave top scores to LG fridges people vehemently disliked in the comments. Almost everything got low scores in owner satisfaction. Their #2 pick had an owner satisfaction of 1/5! We decided to get a $700 Whirlpoo…

I'm not sure what to make of Consumer Reports. The last time or to I used them, their conclusions seemed at odds with popular opinion.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#97

Post by skywhopper »

yterdy wrote: post #7

Worked in an appliance warehouse. We had two types of fridges coming back as carry-outs for new purchases: ancient models that were probably as old as I was, and models from a few years before the pickup date. Very little middle ground. Also, without being an engineer or technician, it did always seem to me that fridges were like cars in that you had "luxury" models that were standard frames with fancy (often less-th…

Honestly, this is exactly what I would expect to see always. There's some percentage of complex appliances that are going to fail early in their lifetime, and the ones that last longer than a few years will probably last for decades. The fridge that's been working for 12 years with zero problems is far less likely to fail than a 5-month old fridge or a 40-year old fridge.

So I'd be surprised the the pattern hasn't always been like this to some extent. The particular rates might vary over time, but the pattern of failing appliances being either relatively new or really old is probably very consistent.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#98

Post by singleshot_ »

justinpombrio wrote: post #17
yterdy wrote: post #7

Worked in an appliance warehouse. We had two types of fridges coming back as carry-outs for new purchases: ancient models that were probably as old as I was, and models from a few years before the pickup date. Very little middle ground. Also, without being an engineer or technician, it did always seem to me that fridges were like cars in that you had "luxury" models that were standard frames with fancy (often less-th…

> Also, without being an engineer or technician, it did always seem to me that fridges were like cars in that you had "luxury" models that were standard frames with fancy (often less-than-useful) features, and then actual luxury with brand names most people had never heard of, which had normal features implemented to a high standard and with excellent support. As a consumer, would there be a way to tell the differenc…

Tell the vendor you are equipping a restaurant?

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#99

Post by bombcar »

Althuns wrote: post #76
beauzero wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend Speed Queens for washing machine and dishwasher. We have them in our house and barn the prosumer versions not the coin ops. Have survived everything from nails-horse blankets and even a miswired 220 on the dryer.

We bought an older coin-op Speed Queen set from an apartment complex when they were replacing their fleet for app controlled new ones. Best decision we ever made. Just wired a switch in for the coin trigger. Extremely reliable and seems easy to repair - haven't had to in the 5 years we've had them.

We had that for awhile, until finally the motor gave out and it was "easier" for me to buy a new Speed Queen set than fix the old (and the wife wanted an upright anyway instead of the front-loader).

The whole fun was using the coins! I even bothered looking up how to reset the cost so it was only a dollar, too many coins was annoying.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#100

Post by bluGill »

nagisa wrote: post #84
navila17 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the fridge have a variable speed compressor? If so, that type is meant to run the compressor more than old-tech binary on/off compressors. Running 90% of the time might be normal if it's variable speed. I can go into more detail if you want. But to be clear I'm not making any claims on how long it will last.

Don’t compressors generally dislike being cycled on-off (too frequently/quickly?) I was under an impression that they should ideally run continuously if you want them to last long (and operate efficiently.) Meanwhile on-off cycling was just the only way they could maintain a temperature setpoint before somebody had a bright idea of combining them with an inverter.

Start and stop does the most wear per unit of time, but constant motion also does wear.

Start and stop tends to cost a lot of energy, and high speed also tend to need more power. High speed also does more wear. Overall though, a small compressor on high speed 100% of the time is better than a larger compressor on lower speeds most of the time - but that isn't a realistic option as there are too many variables to allow choosing the perfect compressor size. So a oversized compressor running at low speed most of the time is generally best.

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