Time for a new refrigerator

[fyrffytr1]

We bought a Samsung french door refrigerator about three years ago and during the last year I have come to hate it. Ice gets under the tray in the freezer and causes the unit to rattle or glass touches in the top part and the thing rattles. Then, about two months ago the fan in the top started making a loud noise so I researched the problem and found it was probably caused by an ice build up around the fan. So, I emptied the refrigerator and pulled out the shelves. Then I removed the back panel and the fan was iced up. I used my wife's hair dryer to thaw the thing out, thoroughly dried it and put everything back together. The unit worked fine until two days ago when the fan started making the same noise. Finally it froze up completely causing the top part of the refrigerator to warm up. So, today I took everything out and defrosted the fan area again.
Hopefully it will last another month or two to give me time to look for a new one.
And that brings me to my question; what refrigerator do you have and do you like it? My wife definitely wants to get another french door one. But, if it were up to me I would consider a side by side.
Here's a picture I took today after removing the back panel. This buildup took less than two months. the fan sits in the recession next to the ice.

 

[A2coins]

I have a Samsung it rattled also I turned off and disconnected the ice maker no problems since.

 

[SanMan]

I like old school outside, modern inside,........





Meet the Big Chill fridge that started it all.
Our Original Size Retro blends a vintage vibe with
modern performance and remains our most popular design today.

COLOR: BEACH BLUE




Big Chill

Retro outside, modern and reliable inside.

 

[smokeythecat]

I have the $499 white Frigidaire from Lowe's. I have had it two years now. It's not even dirty. I replaced another Frigidaire that was $349 I got back about the year 2000.

I broke a piece of superficial plastic on it and just decided I wanted a new one. It was not broken and worked perfectly.

 

[Treasureman25]

We have a 2500$ LG French door all the gizmos an gadgets.. 7 years old.. bad electric board.. warranty gone ofcourse.. fridge is dead.. it’s awesome!

 

[A2coins]

Old appliances were built to last not the new ones. Money Money Money

 

[Doug H]

We have a 2500$ LG French door all the gizmos an gadgets.. 7 years old.. bad electric board.. warranty gone ofcourse.. fridge is dead.. it’s awesome!

I've had two different repair men tell me that everything from appliances to heat pumps to water heaters etc, are designed nowadays to have a seven year lifespan. So this doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[villagenut]

Here is mine as we speak.......been puttin it off for a while, i am sure my fan blades are in solid ice, just as it was the last time i went through this. Danged Samsung is terrible.

 

[Mudflap]

Might be the defrost controller is not cycling the defroster heater, or the defroster heater itself is bad.

 

[civilman1]

Old refrigerators make the best "smokers"

 

[Trezurehunter]

We have a stainless steel Frigidaire with an ice maker. Wife loves it.

 

[Megalodon]

I've had two different repair men tell me that everything from appliances to heat pumps to water heaters etc, are designed nowadays to have a seven year lifespan. So this doesn't surprise me at all.

I would have been happy to have gotten seven years out of a GE heat pump (GeoSpring) water heater. Both failed within three years and failed again after the first warranty repairs. Now the heat pump feature is bypassed. My old traditional AO Smith water heaters lasted over 30 years.

 

[old digger]

I miss my old Servel fridge. All it operated on was a pilot light.

 

[Bum Luck]

Remember, Samsung makes money building your smart phones at $800 a piece. That's probably all you need to know about that.

I made a huge mistake years ago and bought a side-by-side, top-of-the-line GE for $4500. I hated it. It wouldn't hold enough food for a small family, and there was always a problem finding food in it since it was as wide as it was deep. Same issue with the freezer, so a lot of food was wasted.


Try to get rid of a used refrigerator; there's no market for them. So why not make that work for you?

I bought an old Sub Zero for a lot less than $500. It's a top and bottom, 36" wide. It will hold a whole case of beer and all the food you could ever want for a large family. It's only 24" deep, so it's easy to find what's in there.

It may not be the most energy efficient one out there, but oh well.

Old Sub Zeros are built like a tank. I had to fix a part on mine maybe 8 years ago, and the repairman had a smile on his face when he saw it. "It's real stuff" was his remark.

Cost per year? About $30.

Just a thought.

 

[RTR]

I would NOT spend Big $$$ on any 'new major home appliance'. Their all junk ! Check on where their made. When the clock ticks 10 years they Die. We have replaced all major appliances ,some 2x.
Meanwhile in the garage...I have a frig/freezer thats older than I. Subjected to 100+* in summer & 0 * in winter.........and runs like a champ !

 

[Guardrailnickel]

We have a Whirlpool 36 inch Fridge on top, freezer on the bottom. It was about $1700sih? All of are kitchen appliances are stainless steel, and made by Whirlpool. None have given us any problems. Buy once cry once!

Prior to the kitchen remodel we had the fridge that came with the house. The water line to the ice maker broke one night. We had 5k worth of damage. I cant recall the name, however it was an older model. That started the hunt for new appliances. Then came the kitchen remodel, all because the fridge broke.

 

[teleprospector]

We have a 2500$ LG French door all the gizmos an gadgets.. 7 years old.. bad electric board.. warranty gone ofcourse.. fridge is dead.. it’s awesome!

Hmmm...Apparently the 7 year itch affects machines now!
Jon

 

[fyrffytr1]

I decided to have a repairman look at my refrigerator to see how much it would cost to fix it. He is coming Monday. I'll let you know what the verdict is.

 

[Treasureman25]

I would NOT spend Big $$$ on any 'new major home appliance'. Their all junk ! Check on where their made. When the clock ticks 10 years they Die. We have replaced all major appliances ,some 2x.
Meanwhile in the garage...I have a frig/freezer thats older than I. Subjected to 100+* in summer & 0 * in winter.........and runs like a champ !

I concur.. we have an old 1963 hotpoint standup freezer in the garage.. still going

 

[fyrffytr1]

Well, the verdict is in. There is a leak in the upper coolant section. My refrigerator has separate cooling systems for the bottom freezer and top refrigerator. When the repair tech saw the picture I took he said it was a coolant leak. If the whole coil had been iced up he would lean towards a bad circuit board or defrost heater. Repairs would cost $875 and would include a new compressor and upper coil among other things. I already have about $220.00 invested with the service call and upper panel that would have to be replaced. And, the upper panel that cost $139 cannot be returned per Samsung! So, do I spend the $875 for repairs or do I spend $2.00-$3,000 on a new fridge?