And Crap... Dead Refrigerator

[Ben]

Dammit. I just went out to the garage fridge to pull out some ahi for fish tacos for lunch, and the fridge is reading 58 (which might be warmer than the garage) and the freezer is reading 55. Everything in the freezer is gone. I know I was in there in the last 48 hours, so it must have happened late yesterday.

It's a high dollar KitchenAid that the former owners left behind, but it's also probably 18 years old. I don't think I'm gonna look at fixing it. I'll probably go to the home despot website and look for whatever standard size plain jane no frills fridge they have on sale with decent reviews. I can't complain too much. I heard it making funny noises not long after I moved into the place, which is why it's in the garage and I have a newer fridge in the house. I guess I should be happy it lasted this long.

At least all the good steaks and stuff are in the chest freezer, so I'm not losing much food that I care about. Argh.

[Brad Johnson]

Might give repair a shot. Failed start capacitor is pretty common and it's an easy/inexpensive fix.

Brad

[Ben]

Might give repair a shot. Failed start capacitor is pretty common and it's an easy/inexpensive fix.

Brad

It's running. Non-stop. It's just blowing warm air.

[dogmush]

So a similar thing happened to me with my Samsung a while back.  Just started blowing warm.

Not wanting to buy a new fridge we called a repairman out and he diagnosed what I suspected.  Slow leak had finally dropped the freon level to a point that cooling was a no go.

He soldered in a service port and topped us off on R134 for like $150 bucks.  Told Mrs. Mush that that should keep us going for a bit so we could shop for a new fridge.

Now the EPA frowns on filling up a system you know is leaking, but hypothetically, once the service port is on there a Harbor Freight manifold set and some R134a from the auto parts store could keep a *slowly* leaking fridge going for a while.

Hypothetically.

If that's what's wrong with your fridge.

[Brad Johnson]

It's running. Non-stop. It's just blowing warm air.

If the compressor capacitor or contactor has failed, the compressor won't start even though the evaporator/condenser fans still run. Easy enough to test if you have a decent multimeter. Also, possible that there is a slow refrigerant leak like dogmush described. Either condition is relatively common and reasonable to repair, certainly worth investing a diagnostic hour against potentially being out the price of a new fridge (presuming you have a local appliance repair guy).

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

https://youtu.be/7R6QwJbkRFs?si=S2Jcj7ajnfQQ0Yb9

[JTHunter]

When I moved to this house 20 years ago, I had a fairly large upright freezer that I had in my garage at my previous residence.  It was moved to this location and has been in a pole barn for the last 20 years.
It is still running.
Now that I have said that, I may have jinxed it.    

[K Frame]

Threaten it with your new revolver, Ben!

[Ben]

Threaten it with your new revolver, Ben!

Not worth the bullet.

[Kingcreek]

I had a fridge in the garage that my wife bought used before we married. I mostly just used it for beer and bait and occasionally garden excess. When I quit drinking beer it was still working just fine (40+years old) but I figured buying my night crawlers once in awhile was cheaper than keeping the fridge cold so I got rid of it.
Life expectancy of a new fridge is probably less than 10 years.

[Ron]

Possibly the start relay, pretty common point of failure.

Supco 3 in 1 start kits are cheap (probably use the 410). If you can't figure out how to hook it up there are a few here who can help plus tons of youtube videos (I just checked).

[Jim147]

Yes, the start relays on those were called pepper grinders. When they went out the little disc blew up. Make sure the compressor is running before you give up one it. And if it is line taps are cheap online and with that harbor freight gauge set just charge it back up to around 0. I have an old GE locking door with the ice box in the top in the garage that still works but that's a long drive.