Refrigerator repair can be a frugal option over buying new. But there's a point where it's just not worth it …
Right now we're wrestling with our side-by-side refrigerator and freezer.
(Well, I've only wrestled a little bit with it. My wife and father-in-law have wrestled with it a lot more over the past few days. They're the handy ones.)
My wife noticed that the blueberries in the freezer section were getting a bit soft. She measured the temperature with a thermometer and it was in the 20-degree range, which was way too high.
Refrigerator repair for DIYers
So, my father-in-law and wife cracked open YouTube and got to work diagnosing what was happening. A lot of what they learned was from the videos from RepairClinic.com.
In the process, they tore apart large chunks of the innards of the refrigerator, tested different parts, and tried to figure out what the problem was. They cleaned out the coils and other parts. They found that the freezer control unit wasn't behaving like it should have been (according to one source online that they found).
They ordered a replacement part and upon installing it, the compressor didn't start up. When they tried to return it, they couldn't, because it was an electrical part. (D'oh)
But … the freezer unit is now getting down to temperature, which is a good thing, even though we're not really sure why it's getting down to temperature now.
Today, we (this time I was involved) got the unit apart again because the refrigerator part was now freezing. They had reached (not an unreasonable) conclusion on how the damper worked, but as a result, the controls in the refrigerator could no longer regulate the temperature on the “fresh food” side.
This probably will be the last time we try to repair this unit
Powering through a do-it-yourself project like this improves communication skills under duress. 🙂
My wife was about ready to cry when I suggested that we needed to undo a fix in the thing. And working with her to fix it, I saw why: It wasn't easy getting the thing apart, at all. The screws we had to undo were really awkwardly placed, and the sockets we used kept getting caught in the tight holes we had to navigate in.
My wife told me that she's not taking it apart again, and I don't blame her (haha).
So right now, we're letting things get down to temperature again to see if the problems have worked their way out.
The unit at this point really doesn't owe us anything; it's the original refrigerator that came with the house when we bought the house nearly eight years ago, and it was probably five years old then.
Refrigerator repair: What we've learned so far
- It's not crazy scary. There's lots of information online, especially on YouTube. We managed to fix a dryer with the help of YouTube, and we've tackled repairs on other appliances, too. It's at least worth a shot with all of the resources available out there.
- It is a learning curve, though. I'm not particularly mechanically inclined, so the learning curve would have been really steep for me, but even for someone with mechanical genes, it can be an adventure getting the appliance apart, narrowing down the problem area, and eventually fixing the problem.
- Older appliances may be tougher to find parts for. The model of refrigerator we have (a Frigidaire manufactured for Sears under the Kenmore brand) has been superseded by a newer model; some of the parts have been discontinued or replaced with equivalent parts. Eventually, tracking down the right part is more trouble than it's worth.
- Grab a friend (or a family member, or an enemy who's good with appliances). They'll likely have a different way of approaching the problem. Some people dig in and attack the problem head-on; others are a bit slower. Some people have practical knowledge; others, theoretical. This gives a better shot at avoiding an expensive repair bill. (I'm very thankful I have people in my life who are better at this kind of stuff than I am!)
- There's a limit, though. We can get a comparable, brand-new unit for about $800. At some point, it just makes sense to get a new unit.
