Refrigerator Repair Baws?

It'll be more cost efficient to just go buy a new fridge, the mark up on appliance repair in comparison to just buying new, is atrocious

Not worth the time or money anymore

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amazon probably has it for $25

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Probably. I try my best to support local businesses, but I have my limits.

Defrost timer is an easy fix. They get stuck all the time. Make sure to clean up the compressor. I have a crappy side by side with the compressor low on the ground. I have to clean it about every 6 months or the dust will get caked on.

Some fans are insane. If it's an inside fridge fan at 110v always get a Sm999 fan. They're usually less than $10. May be a little louder but work.
On the flip, the new ge fans cost me $120 wholesale and I need to hook them up to a computer after I install.

here is the deal, it might be a $25-$50 part but add $80 labor and your at $105-$130 to fix it and you can buy a used one thats working fine for that money with no risk.

with the $80 service call, if he tells you its not fixible then that moneys semi-wasted.

i used to fix appliances and a/c work and its most likely something simple like a thermostat or defrost timer went bad.

if it was given to me free its worth my time to fix it only because i dont have to pay myself to do it but thats the honest answer.

very often people would give them to me, i spend $50 to fix them and resell them for $150-$200 after, but even then it wasnt like i made a lot of money doing it, i just did it because i hated throwing away good stuff, but it was just enough to pay for my time doing it.

if you cant fix it yourself its not "really" worth paying someone to fix it unless you are ok spending $150-$200 on it to be working fine again. if its a nice fridge then ok but a $400 one is the basic bargain model so ....

plus, it sounds crazy when your old one mom had lasted 30-40 years, but appliances today are designed to only last 5 years before wearing out and things start breaking. they just dont make anything to last at all. washers, driers, refrigerators, they are all built to last only 5 years at which time they expect you to buy a new one

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my 2010 ge monogram to a 1998 Sub zero just to go back to all mechanical parts(

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Would this ever be a DIY thing you'd recommend for someone with decent skills? Like could you conceivibly buy a $35 mechanical control and jerry rig that into a unit with an Adaptive Defrost controller? I know you're a pro just wondering for the layman.

I swapped a high end four electric control fridge with a similar 48" sized but older control fridge. I cannot legally condone you to reverse engineer a fridge. I can just say in theory it isn't hard. Problem is newer units are insane on electrical. Like the new thing is to have three phrase 208 volt systems for the compressor. Then 5v fan systems.
So you can't just reuse wiring.

But I've built entire ge systems on to peg board to use while teaching. 90% of the electronics are crap.

You need power, neutral, ground in. Then power to compressor and fans, then something to interrupt that power for temperature and something to divert that power to the defrost system when needed.

Old units, use a single c chemical thermostat to limit run, then a timer that gives power to the cooling system for 8-10 hours then diverts power to the heater for 10-20 minutes.
There is a bimetal fuse that is usually set for 40-60 degrees at the top of the coils.


New units have 5-10 sensors, only melt ice when needed, only cool when needed and some are even dual evaporater.

Cool, great in theory but very complicated and pricey to repair.
Actually easier on our end. Most modern systems tell you what's wrong. Old machines you have to diagnose.

Though I can disgnose any fridge, with an ampmeter and a simple understanding or Ohm's law. (The amperage draw points to the issue most times, once you know the impedance of the internals)