9 year old fridge: repair or replace?
deja_bh...@yahoo.com
which has worked fine all this time (I think it cost about $1200 back
then). There is no problem with the insides of the fridge itself.
As most modern fridges do, this also has a waterline hookup for cold
water, and for ice box. Ice function is working fine. For the cold
water, for the past 4-5 months, there was a short delay between
pressing switch, and water coming through in the small spigot. This
delay got from a few seconds to about 1 minute. But once the water
started, it was working fine.
Now the water function is not working. The water connection is fine,
as ice is being made at the same rate as before. It seems something
simple, a mechanical, or electrical switch in the water component, is
not functioning. I am afraid to pull out the control box mounted
outside, as it is not clear if it is just push fit, or some plastic
clips in a tab, or what, so it might break if not pulled properly. If
I could see someone take it out once, I could do it (I have fixed many
things myself in the past, including a microwave, toaster, electrical
circuits around the home, etc.)
There is no other problem with the fridge (jn fact, not even any
scratches), but I figure a nine year old fridge is probably no more
than $300 worth, if that much. So, spending $100 to $200 on calling an
appliance repairman seems silly. But I feel awfully guilty throwing
away a perfectly functioning fridge.
What's average life expectancy of a fridge? What's a reasonable price
for an appliance repairman in the SF Bay area to fix this? Any
referrals would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Bhoot Nath
Rod Speed
> I purchased a side-by-side Sears (Kemore?) fridge in March, 1998,
> which has worked fine all this time (I think it cost about $1200 back
> then). There is no problem with the insides of the fridge itself.
> As most modern fridges do, this also has a waterline hookup
> for cold water, and for ice box. Ice function is working fine.
> For the cold water, for the past 4-5 months, there was a short
> delay between pressing switch, and water coming through in
> the small spigot. This delay got from a few seconds to about
> 1 minute. But once the water started, it was working fine.
Sounds like the valve itself was getting sticky and now is stuck closed.
> Now the water function is not working. The water connection
> is fine, as ice is being made at the same rate as before. It
> seems something simple, a mechanical, or electrical switch
> in the water component, is not functioning.
Doesnt sound like an electrical switch problem with that delay effect,
that sounds much more like a sticking valve that initially took some
time to open and now doesnt open at all when its told to.
> I am afraid to pull out the control box mounted outside,
> as it is not clear if it is just push fit, or some plastic clips
> in a tab, or what, so it might break if not pulled properly.
I doubt its the control box, much more likely to be the valve.
> If I could see someone take it out once, I could do it
> (I have fixed many things myself in the past, including a
> microwave, toaster, electrical circuits around the home, etc.)
> There is no other problem with the fridge (jn fact, not
> even any scratches), but I figure a nine year old fridge
> is probably no more than $300 worth, if that much.
That isnt relevant to the cost of repairing it.
> So, spending $100 to $200 on calling an appliance repairman seems silly.
What matters on that is how likely it is that you will need
other callouts for other problems, not the value of the fridge.
> But I feel awfully guilty throwing away a perfectly functioning fridge.
And so you should.
> What's average life expectancy of a fridge?
Much longer than that.
Daniel Ganek
A couple of ideas:
1) See if Sears has a repair book for refrigerators. I know they have them
for washers and dryers - but then a refrig isn't exactly a user repairable appliance.
2) Call Sears and ask them how much a service contract is for this refrig.
It may be cheaper to buy a 1 year service contract than pay big bucks for a major
repair. I did this once when I couldn't fix a dryer; it kept failing after my three or four
fixes. Turned out to be the control board and the service contract cost less than
the repair would have. The Sears rep recommend this route.
/dan
James
does your old fridge use versus a new Energy Star model. Cause you
could sell your old one as is, and take the money you get from it, and
the money you would have spent on repairs and apply it to a new fridge
that will cost you a fraction of the electricity to run.
James
Ward Abbott
wrote:
>2) Call Sears and ask them how much a service contract is for this refrig.
On a nine year old refrigerator? They probably would laugh at you
and hang up.
Seerialmom
You are still under the life expectancy for this machine. If
everything else works on the refrigerator...just get one of those
spigot jugs and chill your water inside the machine....or get a water
delivery service where you have a water chiller included. If it has
been maintained, this machine should last another 5-10 years.
Personally I'd look up the part on Sears...it might be very simple to
switch out. I know the latch thingie on my old microwave was.
Seerialmom
>
> - Show quoted text -
Know what would be nice? A site like fueleconomy.gov for appliances.
I mean how much more efficient are the refrigerators now than they
were 9 years ago? Let's say the one the OP got was "energy star" at
the time....is a new "energy star" model going to be much better?
Enough to justify the expense? I remember getting a fridge replaced
by my local utility company in 92...I kept it until about 3 years
ago. But I didn't see any dramatic decrease on the initial
replacement or when I got this last one.
SJF
<deja_bh...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1190060293....@57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com...
I had a similar problem. It was the solenoid operated valve as Rod Speed
has suggested. The replacement part cost about $50. I had it installed for
a total cost of about $150. Seems like a service call would be worthwhile,
or you might be up to replacing the valve yourself. It's pretty accessible.
SJF
bwei...@gmail.com
> which has worked fine all this time (I think it cost about $1200 back
> then). There is no problem with the insides of the fridge itself.
>
Did you know that refrigerators and some other appliances such as
dishwashers have secret service information tucked into their bottom
kick panels? Remove the bottom plastic kick panel/grille thingy and
you should find a folded up piece of paper with service information.
It may or may not be useful in this situation, but it's worth a look.
Sometimes they show how to run secret diagnostic tests and such.
Another good source is http://www.repairclinic.com/ . They mostly want
to sell you replacement parts, but if they can clue you in to what you
need to do and sell you a part at the same time, you'll both be happy.
- Bob
deja_bh...@yahoo.com
> <deja_bhoot2...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1190060293....@57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com...
>
> >I purchased a side-by-side Sears (Kemore?) fridge in March, 1998,
> > which has worked fine all this time (I think it cost about $1200 back
> > then). There is no problem with the insides of the fridge itself.
>
>
> > Now the water function is not working. The water connection is fine,
> > as ice is being made at the same rate as before. It seems something
> > simple, a mechanical, or electrical switch in the water component, is
> > not functioning. I am afraid to pull out the control box mounted
> > outside, as it is not clear if it is just push fit, or some plastic
> > clips in a tab, or what, so it might break if not pulled properly. If
> > I could see someone take it out once, I could do it (I have fixed many
> > things myself in the past, including a microwave, toaster, electrical
> > circuits around the home, etc.)
>
> > There is no other problem with the fridge (jn fact, not even any
> > scratches), but I figure a nine year old fridge is probably no more
> > than $300 worth, if that much. So, spending $100 to $200 on calling an
> > appliance repairman seems silly. But I feel awfully guilty throwing
> > away a perfectly functioning fridge.
>
> > What's average life expectancy of a fridge? What's a reasonable price
> > for an appliance repairman in the SF Bay area to fix this? Any
> > referrals would be much appreciated.
>
> > Thanks.
>
> > Bhoot Nath>
>
> I had a similar problem. It was the solenoid operated valve as Rod Speed
> has suggested. The replacement part cost about $50. I had it installed for
> a total cost of about $150. Seems like a service call would be worthwhile,
> or you might be up to replacing the valve yourself. It's pretty accessible.
>
Thank you for the above reply and giving me aan idea of how much it
may cost. I also called a few places today. Sears wants $330! Two
other places said: about $70 to diagnose, and then parts +labor, with
an estimate of about $100 to $200.
If you are in the Bay Area, please give me the contact number for the
appliance repair service you used.
Thanks.
Bhoot Nath
Logan Shaw
> Know what would be nice? A site like fueleconomy.gov for appliances.
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=refrig.display_products_html
> I mean how much more efficient are the refrigerators now than they
> were 9 years ago?
It doesn't appear to go back 9 years, but if you have an existing fridge
you want to compare, you can measure its performance with a Kill-a-Watt
tool or something. (Just leave the fridge plugged in through the
Kill-a-Watt for a few days and do the math.)
- Logan
The Real Bev
My mom's 30-year-old Sears refrigerator has been on contract for 10 years or
so, and it still works fine. Around $100/year. Supposedly when they can no
longer fix yours they give you a new one, but when her on-contract
dishwasher died she just got a $250 credit toward a new one -- she had
expected that "replacement" meant "they deliver and install a new one and
take the old one away and you don't even have to leave the house." Not
quite, and she was pretty bitter.
Anybody who would throw away a refrigerator because its water faucet is too
slow has GOT to need more serious problems in his/her life.
--
Cheers,
Bev
---------------------------------
aibohphobia - fear of palindromes
Logan Shaw
> Did you know that refrigerators and some other appliances such as
> dishwashers have secret service information tucked into their bottom
> kick panels?
So if the President is in town, his guards might come looking for information
in my refrigerator? I never knew my refrigerator was this important. I will
guard it more carefully in the future!
- Logan
Logan Shaw
> I purchased a side-by-side Sears (Kemore?) fridge in March, 1998,
> which has worked fine all this time (I think it cost about $1200 back
> then). There is no problem with the insides of the fridge itself.
> Now the water function is not working. The water connection is fine,
> as ice is being made at the same rate as before.
In case you decide to fix it yourself, here's a helpful tip I figured
out after fixing my Sears vacuum: the web site for parts for Sears
appliances is this:
Note the "3". It's not www.sears.com; it's www3.sears.com. Personally,
I think parts.sears.com would be a better name, but Sears appears to
think that that would be too easy.
In my case, it was necessary to have the exact part number from the
broken part in order to find it on that site, but once I found that
and ordered it, the vacuum was good as new.
- Logan
Ward Abbott
<bashley1...@gmail.com> wrote:
>s been on contract for 10 years or
>so, and it still works fine. Around $100/year.
So...you are telling us your mother spent over $1000.00 for a ten year
contract that was never used? That money could have bought a hell of
a lot of new refrigerator. Sounds like Sears got the better end of
that deal.
Rick
The calculator for refrigerators at the site is available here:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=refrig.calculator
It goes back a lot farther than 9 years. It had our 1991 model year GE
side by side in the calculator when we were looking at replacing it this
year. You need to get the *exact* model number from the plate/label on
your refrigerator, and your electric bill - to input your electric rate
cost in your region. The calculator is very fussy about the model number
entry though. If it doesn't find an exact match it won't give you a list
of "these model numbers are similar..." or anything like it.
In our case we decided to dump our side by side and replace. It needed a
much more necessary $300.00+ repair (defrosting problem). If the
calculator info is even close to correct, it would cost us about $100.00
more per year to keep using the 1991 model vs. replacing it. ($155.00
per year vs. $50.00) And this would have been the second repair on the
unit - time to let it go.
Consider as well that most repairs have very short warranties on the
repair. 90 days is generous, a lot of repairs are only warranted for 30
days.
We also changed from a more repair prone side by side back to a top
freezer model. (Just saying what Consumer Reports members report - side
by sides are more repair prone. Our experience bears that out as well.)
Before remodeling we didn't have a choice - due to a kitchen island we
couldn't use anything but a side by side. After the remodeling the
island was removed so we weren't stuck with a side by side being the
only choice. *Love* getting back to the layout of a top freezer model.
All that big WIDE open space. 8-) What a pain side by sides are - that
skinny, tall freezer space is annoying, if not largely worthless.
And it cost *several* hundred dollars less for a similar amount of space
in a top freezer model vs. a side by side.
Rick
Jack Bauer
One thing to keep in mind is that independent appliance repair people
are notoriously unethical and will charge you whatever it takes to make
their weekly revenue work out right. Of course Sears may not be that
bad on ethics, but then they just charge a much higher price for the
time and parts.
If there is a significant savings of energy, it makes sense to upgrade
regardless of the need for repair or the life of the unit. And there
are people who would like to get their hands on a good used fridge for
cheap, too.
The Real Bev
> <bashley1...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>s been on contract for 10 years or
>>so, and it still works fine. Around $100/year.
>
> So...you are telling us your mother spent over $1000.00 for a ten year
> contract that was never used? That money could have bought a hell of
> a lot of new refrigerator. Sounds like Sears got the better end of
> that deal.
It needed a few repairs. It made her happy. Mostly she wanted to have a
repairman come quickly when necessary and to avoid having to shop for new
appliances. She got most of her wish.
--
Cheers,
Bev
=============================================
If you are going to try cross-country skiing,
start with a small country.
Aahz Maruch
>
>*Love* getting back to the layout of a top freezer model.
>All that big WIDE open space. 8-) What a pain side by sides are - that
>skinny, tall freezer space is annoying, if not largely worthless.
For me, it's not the freezer, it's the fridge -- where do you put a large
pizza in a side-by-side?
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
<*> <*> <*>
"I'm a telepath. Work it out." --Bester
clams casino
>In article <46EF34B6...@rcn.com>, Rick <rick...@rcn.com> wrote:
>
>
>>*Love* getting back to the layout of a top freezer model.
>>All that big WIDE open space. 8-) What a pain side by sides are - that
>>skinny, tall freezer space is annoying, if not largely worthless.
>>
>>
>
>For me, it's not the freezer, it's the fridge -- where do you put a large
>pizza in a side-by-side?
>
>
Who's ever heard of left over pizza?
Aahz Maruch
People who order too much specifically so they have leftovers. Our
local Round Table has 50% off one pizza on Weds night.
deja_bh...@yahoo.com
searches, and learned about how the whole system works. There's even a
Haiku about this problem (see http://fixitnow.com/2003/10/mailbag-slow-flow-from-refrigerator.htm)
Fridge water flows slow.
Saddle tap or solenoid:
it's one of those two.
I am describing what I did to (mostly) fix the problem, in case
someone else faces the same issue.
1. I removed the plastic grille from the front (it requires that both
the fridge and freezer doors be fully opened). The plastic grille has
two tabs near the ends which are push fit in a grove. Thoroughly
vaccumed the underside with a shop vac!
2. There's a quick connector just under the door, behind the grille.
It looks like this: http://www.repairclinic.com/SmartSearch/SSPartDetail.aspx?PartID=563168&PPStack=1
I opened both ends of the quick connector. No water came out, and
pressing the dispenser button did not do anything. But the tubes
looked clean, no frozen water in there. Connected it back.
3. On the back of the fridge, near the bottom, partially hidden behind
a screwed-in cardboard cover, is the Dual Water Inlet Valve /
Solenoid. The best picture of this is here:
http://groups.msn.com/Appliantology/icemakers.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=107
The top is connected to copper tubing (coming from under the floor,
which is ultimately connected to the cold water pipe below the sink).
I already knew there was no problem with inet, so I did not open this.
4. Below, there are two plastic connectors, one for ice and one for
water. Ice one is on the left side (looking at it); water one is on
the right side, so I opened it. Some water drained out from tubing.
The power to solenoid connectors seemed a bit loose, so I pushed them
all the way in.
5. I placed a bowl under the dispense water side (right below the
solenoid), and asked my wife to active the dispenser. Success! Water
came. We tried it a few times. Then I connected the water dispenser
tubing below the solenoid.
6. Now the dispenser was working right away. We drained about 2
gallons of water, until the dispensed water was of the same temp as
from tap. All through the evening, the water dispenser worked fine.
So, problem fully solved? May be, may be not.
a. Doing some more research releaved that some people who have had
problem with this have tracked it down to the water freezing in
tubing.
b. However, I looked at the "water storage plastic coil thingy" behind
the vegetable tray -- basically, where the incoming water is chilled.
It has shape of three Us together, UUU, with the right side tilted up.
It seems that water enters on the right side, and moves on the left
side. The "bottom of the U" in the right most coil, looks gunky; the
middle U's bottom looks a bit less gunky; the left most U looks clear.
Water coming out is clear.
But I think the gunk is mineral deposits (we don't have a water
softener, we don't like the flat taste of water that has been
softened). Our local supply is not hard, so softening is not needed,
but thereis some mineral deposit.
(i) It is possible that somewhere in the tub there is gunk, or may be
not. The gunk settles at the bottom of the Us, so I think I am safe
there.
(ii) It is possible that once water dispenser is not used overnight,
or for a few days, some portion of tubing has frozen, or near frozen
water. Need to check for this.
(iii) it is possible that the solenoid / water inlet needs replaced.
At least I now understand how to fix it. I will post another update
after a week.
Bhoot Nath
SJF
<deja_bh...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1190073738....@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
I'm in the Las Vegas area. Repair was in April 2004. Valve was $51.96,
labor was $129.00. Total with sales tax, $184.86. That was from the local
Sears service unit. Time and location will affect prices of course.
SJF
hchi...@hotmail.com
>But I think the gunk is mineral deposits (we don't have a water
>softener, we don't like the flat taste of water that has been
>softened). Our local supply is not hard, so softening is not needed,
>but thereis some mineral deposit.
If the rest of the system is plastic, you could try running a bottle
of warmed lemon juice into that part of the system and letting it sit
for a couple days, then flushing with hot water. Lemon juice will
remove the deposits, and if you don't get every bit of it out, it
won't hurt you. Vinegar will probably do the same thing, but having a
accidental taste of lemonade is less objectionable than one of pickle
juice.
Logan Shaw
> In article <yyTHi.69668$Pv4....@newsfe19.lga>,
> clams casino <PeterG...@drunkin-clam.com> wrote:
>> Who's ever heard of left over pizza?
> People who order too much specifically so they have leftovers. Our
> local Round Table has 50% off one pizza on Weds night.
I've been known to order an extra pizza largely because if I order a single
medium pizza, I find myself two pieces away from finishing the whole thing
and going "well heck, only two pieces left -- might as well eat them and
avoid the untidiness of having leftovers", whereas if I order two pizzas,
eating both of them doesn't seem reasonable. (It's also a better price
(per unit) because of the way the pizza place's pricing works.)
It might seem silly to play games with yourself, but I believe in knowing
your weaknesses, and pizza is one of mine.
Another technique I've used in the past is to get one pizza and immediately
take out half of the pieces, individually wrap them in foil, and put them
in the freezer. In a fight between gluttony and laziness, laziness wins
often enough that this technique can work.
- Logan
Bill
use any excuse to buy a new one. Might want to try a different brand and
shop around. Don't forget that stores like Home Depot and Lowe's sell
appliances too...
<deja_bh...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>I purchased a side-by-side Sears (Kemore?) fridge in March, 1998,
> which has worked fine all this time (I think it cost about $1200 back
> then). There is no problem with the insides of the fridge itself.
>
> As most modern fridges do, this also has a waterline hookup for cold
> water, and for ice box. Ice function is working fine. For the cold
> water, for the past 4-5 months, there was a short delay between
> pressing switch, and water coming through in the small spigot. This
> delay got from a few seconds to about 1 minute. But once the water
> started, it was working fine.
>
Rick
>
> Being as new refrigerators use less electricity than older models, I would
> use any excuse to buy a new one. Might want to try a different brand and
> shop around. Don't forget that stores like Home Depot and Lowe's sell
> appliances too...
Shop around better.
In the last round of home remodeling (two bathrooms) and a refrigerator
and front loading washer purchase we pretty much found out that Home
Depot and Lowes carry "B goods" - the manufacturer's second best line of
anything. You want the three-way bath vent from Broan? The one with a
light, exhaust fan and heater? The one with a metal grill - not plastic?
Those stores don't carry it. They will carry the version without the
heater and with a plastic vent cover from the same manufacturer - for
about the same price... Want to order it? Forget it - they won't order
anything they don't carry in the store inventory.
Couldn't find a single bathroom cabinet in either place we liked - no
matter what price point we looked at. Bath faucets? They have a
bazillion of the cheap "apartment model" faucets in stock. Anything off
that path - either in quality or style? Like that one. Nope - out of
stock. Ok, how about that for our second choice? Out of stock. Third,
fourth, FIFTH choice? Nope, nope, nope - all out of stock. At both
stores. (I suppose there is a point to having them on display...) Wasted
more damned time in those stores looking for stuff that was perpetually
out of stock or they didn't carry to begin with.
Appliances? This time around we went with an independent dealer. The
independent was pushing rebates - and made sure we walked out of the
store with all the right forms. (No problems getting the rebates
either.) We did our research and decided on an Amana refrigerator - best
value for the price. Very good reputation for reliability. Did either
big box store carry an Amana in a size close to what we needed? Home
Depot? Nope. Lowes? Nope...
It's like trying to remodel by shopping at WalMart. It is what it is -
and that ain't saying much.
Rick
James
I did some hard shopping for our recent stove purchase. I dropped by
Home Despot because they were close to one place that had great
prices.
The selection wasn't huge and the pricing wasn't competitive.
Sear's Warehouse wasn't in the running either - their regular prices
are inflated so you have to be careful about the scratch and dents
being well priced - in some cases the scratch and dent was the same
price as a normal retail elsewhere. The only real bargains were some
of the high end models that were reduced 40% off their already reduced
price, but they were still a couple of hundred over my budget.
The stove I bought cost $600 CDN, Frigidaire smooth top, "double"
burner, no self clean. Work well so far. Bought it at Future shop,
canadian company that was bought by Best buy a few years back.
James
DGJ
Hi Bhoot,
I'd let the fridge operate in it's crippled capacity for as long as
possible and then buy a new one. Most people say that fridge's aren't
built like they used to be . . . Our old refrigerator is supposed to
last longer than the new one we just bought, according to a repair
guy. So, if you can fix it cheap, do it. But --- if it is a few
hundred $$, just postpone it as long as possible and buy a new one.
Dave
val189
Repair or replace? Another option would be to just live with it. How
important is that feature to you? My frugal bone wouldn't let me spend
a dime fixing a thing like that, but this is your call.
The self clean feature on my stove quit and I just have forgotten
about it. Until the main function of an appliance stops, I make do.
throwitout
Personally I don't like side-by-side fridge units. They tend to be
pricey and less efficient (energy and practically) than normal
fridges.
I also don't like built in ice-makers and water chillers. The ice-
maker takes up half the freezer, and both systems add to the
mechanical complexity. Much simpler to use a pitcher and ice trays /
bucket.
I would look at fixing it yourself. Yes newer fridges are more
efficient, but a 10 year old unit isn't that old, or that inefficient
(compared to say a 30 year old fridge), and should have another 15
years in it. If you buy another new fridge you might end up with the
same problem in 10 years. And I don't think buying energy savings will
overcome the cost of a new fridge every 10 years.