Our refrigerator that is.
You know there comes a time, eventually, when there sits the thought in the back of your mind worrying about appliances. Isn't it interesting that almost everything we buy we buy with the understanding that it'll need to be replaced. Sometimes soon: like a computer, cell phone and other things that will be out of date within a couple of weeks or maybe a month... and sometimes years from now: like a car, shoes or a hair cut... but for some reason we think that electronic appliances will NEVER need to be replaced and if they stop working then THAT IS JUST HORRIBLE! Piece of junk.
Why is that?
We've been pretty fortunate really. Over the years we've had to fix the clothes dryer once and we've replaced the oven/stove and the dishwasher. I think the oven/stove was a fashion decision and I can't remember why the dishwasher needed replacement, maybe the dishes weren't getting clean anymore.
A few weeks ago, maybe a month, the refrigerator started making a clicking noise and then after a while it stopped (the clicking I mean). Then it would snore sometimes (the refrigerator I mean). Really, it sounded like snoring- not loud but definitely a snore. Well, then the dust hit the fan. The freezer door stopped closing right and we realized that a hard plastic part at the bottom of the door broke off and the door just didn't seal right anymore. Amazingly, right then or very close mind you, the fridge was warm and the ice began to melt.
How long had we had this refrigerator anyway? Julie called Sears to see about a repairman and found out that according to their records we bought the Kenmore SIXTEEN years ago! And it was breaking down already...!? =o)
It was decision time.
Would it cost a lot to repair? How much would a repair have to cost before we tossed it in favor of buying a new refrigerator? What else would go wrong with it, and how soon, if we did pay for a repair now? And isn't shopping for a new refrigerator more fun than repairing an old one anyway? So we scheduled a repairman-guy-person who couldn't come for a few days (which was better than 10 days or 3 weeks the other two shops quoted us) and we went shopping! The new ones we liked were going to cost at least $1200 and we were seriously considering it, depending on the repair estimate. How much would it have to be to make us buy a new one? $600? $400? $250? $43? We are really bad that way.
SO!
The repairman-guy-person came by a week ago last Wednesday, did some tests and told us the thingy-ma-jig is bad and needs replacing. Because the refrigerator is so old they don't have the part in stock and it'll need to be ordered- 7 to 9 days. The part will cost $90 and we'd have to pay another $60 (in addition to the $60 we'd owe him for this visit) to have him come out to put it in. I honestly don't remember what the name of the part is but it controls the defrosting of the cooling unit. He said the compressor was good as was everything else. Only the defrost controller was bad. So we decided we couldn't really justify purchasing a new fridge if the repair was only $210. We order the part (and the part for the freezer door). What to do about those 7-9 or more days before the new part could be installed? Man, this story is long, are you still reading? Are you crying? Oh... I see... bored to tears. Well, I've got to finish it now, we're getting to the good part.
The person had removed the inside cover at the back of the freezer and showed me that it had filled up with ice so that no air could circulate, hence- no can cool the fridge or freeze the freezer. He got out a heat gun and thawed it out. Now the refrigerator/freezer would work right- until it froze up again, because the defrost timer control isn't working. How long will that be? I ask him. Maybe a few days, maybe a week, shoulder shrug. Ooooo-kay.
Yesterday the fridge was warmer and the ice began to melt (it leaks water out of the ice dispenser when it does that), we get the hint. We find out that the part isn't in yet. Today we learn it just came in but we can't get into the schedule until Tuesday. Julie goes to Seward with Lindsay and Reine, I tear into the freezer to do what the repairman-guy-person did last week. An hour and a half later everything is thawed out and the cold is working again.
You know there comes a time, eventually, when there sits the thought in the back of your mind worrying about appliances. Isn't it interesting that almost everything we buy we buy with the understanding that it'll need to be replaced. Sometimes soon: like a computer, cell phone and other things that will be out of date within a couple of weeks or maybe a month... and sometimes years from now: like a car, shoes or a hair cut... but for some reason we think that electronic appliances will NEVER need to be replaced and if they stop working then THAT IS JUST HORRIBLE! Piece of junk.
Why is that?
We've been pretty fortunate really. Over the years we've had to fix the clothes dryer once and we've replaced the oven/stove and the dishwasher. I think the oven/stove was a fashion decision and I can't remember why the dishwasher needed replacement, maybe the dishes weren't getting clean anymore.
A few weeks ago, maybe a month, the refrigerator started making a clicking noise and then after a while it stopped (the clicking I mean). Then it would snore sometimes (the refrigerator I mean). Really, it sounded like snoring- not loud but definitely a snore. Well, then the dust hit the fan. The freezer door stopped closing right and we realized that a hard plastic part at the bottom of the door broke off and the door just didn't seal right anymore. Amazingly, right then or very close mind you, the fridge was warm and the ice began to melt.
How long had we had this refrigerator anyway? Julie called Sears to see about a repairman and found out that according to their records we bought the Kenmore SIXTEEN years ago! And it was breaking down already...!? =o)
It was decision time.
Would it cost a lot to repair? How much would a repair have to cost before we tossed it in favor of buying a new refrigerator? What else would go wrong with it, and how soon, if we did pay for a repair now? And isn't shopping for a new refrigerator more fun than repairing an old one anyway? So we scheduled a repairman-guy-person who couldn't come for a few days (which was better than 10 days or 3 weeks the other two shops quoted us) and we went shopping! The new ones we liked were going to cost at least $1200 and we were seriously considering it, depending on the repair estimate. How much would it have to be to make us buy a new one? $600? $400? $250? $43? We are really bad that way.
SO!
The repairman-guy-person came by a week ago last Wednesday, did some tests and told us the thingy-ma-jig is bad and needs replacing. Because the refrigerator is so old they don't have the part in stock and it'll need to be ordered- 7 to 9 days. The part will cost $90 and we'd have to pay another $60 (in addition to the $60 we'd owe him for this visit) to have him come out to put it in. I honestly don't remember what the name of the part is but it controls the defrosting of the cooling unit. He said the compressor was good as was everything else. Only the defrost controller was bad. So we decided we couldn't really justify purchasing a new fridge if the repair was only $210. We order the part (and the part for the freezer door). What to do about those 7-9 or more days before the new part could be installed? Man, this story is long, are you still reading? Are you crying? Oh... I see... bored to tears. Well, I've got to finish it now, we're getting to the good part.
The person had removed the inside cover at the back of the freezer and showed me that it had filled up with ice so that no air could circulate, hence- no can cool the fridge or freeze the freezer. He got out a heat gun and thawed it out. Now the refrigerator/freezer would work right- until it froze up again, because the defrost timer control isn't working. How long will that be? I ask him. Maybe a few days, maybe a week, shoulder shrug. Ooooo-kay.
Yesterday the fridge was warmer and the ice began to melt (it leaks water out of the ice dispenser when it does that), we get the hint. We find out that the part isn't in yet. Today we learn it just came in but we can't get into the schedule until Tuesday. Julie goes to Seward with Lindsay and Reine, I tear into the freezer to do what the repairman-guy-person did last week. An hour and a half later everything is thawed out and the cold is working again.
Here is some of the food removed from the freezer.
Other stuff went into the garage freezer the night before.
Other stuff went into the garage freezer the night before.
I take the shelving out and it begins.
After removing about 139 little screws the cover comes off and little Antarctica is revealed.
I don't have a heat gun so Julie's hair dryer steps in like a trooper.
Ice all gone. Air can circulate. I cut my finger on a metal fin.
They are sharp!
They are sharp!
Ready to put the cover back on, replace the shelves and thawed out food. Good for another 10 days! If, after this repair Tuesday something else goes wrong, it'll be on the street looking for somewhere else to drip water.
Our appliances are truly remarkable. They work for years on end (especially a refrigerator) with little or no maintenance making our life more comfortable... and we take them for granted! After this maybe I'll be a bit more vigilant vacuuming the dust bunnies out from under my trusty old friend.
Our appliances are truly remarkable. They work for years on end (especially a refrigerator) with little or no maintenance making our life more comfortable... and we take them for granted! After this maybe I'll be a bit more vigilant vacuuming the dust bunnies out from under my trusty old friend.
You are such a handy guy!!! It just makes you worry about all the other things in the house that are the same age, or older: the washer and dryer,the cars, the furnace, the roof! ARgh!!!!! We do take for granted the things that make our lives easier.
ReplyDeleteOh man! You really want me to look crazy don't you?! That was hilarious as well. You are a very funny guy.
ReplyDeleteI remember it snoring. I was at your house alone, sitting in the living room, when I first heard it. I knew it couldn't be someone snoring, but MAN that is what it sounded like. I finally had to get up and make sure there wasn't some homeless man sleeping in the kitchen. That's when I noticed it was coming from behind the fridge, and as no homeless men that I've ever seen could fit back there, I was pacified.
That Anonymous person is Lindsay again.
ReplyDelete@Julie: Hang on there Toots. Maybe they don't talk to each other. Don't say this out loud but...they aren't too smart. We might fool them into outlasting us.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: You heard the snoring too? It's weird isn't it? Sounds just like a real someone. I hope the repair fixes that anomaly too. If it doesn't I don't know what I'll do. I don't own a gun.
Good story! The same thing happened to our fridge a couple of months ago (probably about the same time it happened to you!). I called my friend who repairs appliances and he told me to do just what you did (remove the back of the freezer and melt the ice with a blow dryer) - and what part to replace. I bought one from somewhere (maybe online, I can't remember!) and installed it very easily; problem solved. I learned a lot, too. Unlike a deep freezer, the auto defrosting ones have a circuit that brings the temp up to around freezing every once in awhile so the frost will melt. That's why you can't really freeze meat for long periods of time in a freezer/fridge and if you do, it doesn't taste fresh. I had no idea...
ReplyDelete