Edgestar Pile of Frozen Crap (1 Viewer)

[Desert Yeti]

I bit the bullet in February and bought the 86 Qt Edgestar. (Don't buy a fridge this big) The fridge sat at my Brother-in-laws in CO until the cruiser classic in July. We took it for a week to SD. It worked great...

Next trip went with my brother hunting for a week in AZ. worked great...


Third time out this time to Baja in Oct, the thing will not keep a set point. It resets to -1 F no matter what I do.

I called Edgestar and left a message and emailed them. I got an email back telling me to call them !@$#

I call again and leave another message. Nothing

the next day I finally get someone. He tells me he's sending a new temperature controller out immediately, but I'll have to peel the sticker off the old one and put it on the new one because they are out of the stickers?

The new control module comes, I swap it in and....

It stil resets itself to freezing.

I call again leave a message and email...

5 days later I get an email telling me to call them...

I call, someone answers, happens to be the guy who emailed me and tells me I have 2 options because he's tired of throwing parts at it...

Option 1: I can take it to someone local, pay them to diagnose and repair it and he will send whatever parts they need....

Option 2: I can pay Edgestar an upfront $75 labor fee to hold me a place in a repair Cue, Send back the 65lb fridge at my cost and then they will repair it.

So I can try to find someone here to rape me or let Edgestar rape me with my consent... Is it still rape then?

Anyone want an 86qt freezer???

 

[adventr]

I bit the bullet in February and bought the 86 Qt Edgestar. (Don't buy a fridge this big) The fridge sat at my Brother-in-laws in CO until the cruiser classic in July. We took it for a week to SD. It worked great...

Next trip went with my brother hunting for a week in AZ. worked great...


Third time out this time to Baja in Oct, the thing will not keep a set point. It resets to -1 F no matter what I do.

I called Edgestar and left a message and emailed them. I got an email back telling me to call them !@$#

I call again and leave another message. Nothing

the next day I finally get someone. He tells me he's sending a new temperature controller out immediately, but I'll have to peel the sticker off the old one and put it on the new one because they are out of the stickers?

The new control module comes, I swap it in and....

It stil resets itself to freezing.

I call again leave a message and email...

5 days later I get an email telling me to call them...

I call, someone answers, happens to be the guy who emailed me and tells me I have 2 options because he's tired of throwing parts at it...

Option 1: I can take it to someone local, pay them to diagnose and repair it and he will send whatever parts they need....

Option 2: I can pay Edgestar an upfront $75 labor fee to hold me a place in a repair Cue, Send back the 65lb fridge at my cost and then they will repair it.

So I can try to find someone here to rape me or let Edgestar rape me with my consent... Is it still rape then?

Anyone want an 86qt freezer???

Sorry about the bad luck with Edgestar...

I'll pay shipping to my place if you want to get rid of it.

 

[e9999]

bad luck, sorry to read that. Not a lot of stories like that, fortunately. Mine is still going fine. But yes, the electronics are potentially trouble on all devices like that. Of course, the cheaper the device, the less likely you are to get topnotch service, generally, but I imagine most of us who bought an Edgestar figured out that the much lower cost than the big brand names more than compensated for the anticipated limited customer service and the shorter real world reliability history. IOW a gamble. Win some, lose some. You could buy a smaller one and still be ahead if the second one lasts. Or put some money to repair this one and still be less than a big name one, if you want to gamble some more. (I realize none of that probably makes you feel much better right now, sorry...)
One thing was not clear from your description of the handling of the issue: does the way they responded satisfy the stated warranty terms? The option of sending it in for repair would be standard for the majority of companies I would think, but the $75 fee is a bit odd if you're under warranty. Maybe you can talk to them about that again if it's not mentioned in the warranty terms.
I would not give up, should be fixable. And in the worst case scenario you could rig a cheap timer system that would have it run full blast only for x minutes at at time, and it'll still keep your stuff cold. Or a simple little controller gizmo with a relay.

(oh, and yea, I'll take it off your hands too if you really don't want it. Can always use another freezer at the house... )

 

[spressomon]

I think beno had a similar experience with his...

 

[cruiserdan]

I think beno had a similar experience with his...

I have it now, it works for me. It is very picky about it's power source. It wants to be hard-wired to the battery. It does not like sockets of any type. It was bounced around on my ski boat at Lake Powell for a week in 95 degree temps with minimal shade. It kept the goods frozen.

 

[spressomon]

I have it now, it works for me. It is very picky about it's power source. It wants to be hard-wired to the battery. It does not like sockets of any type. It was bounced around on my ski boat at Lake Powell for a week in 95 degree temps with minimal shade. It kept the goods frozen.

Ah hah...the rest of the story .

Good to know!

 

[greentruck]

Yeah, if you don't feed it good power, it can be touchy. On the other hand, this is NOT unique to Edgestar. The battery protection and other features designed to minimize energy use make a bad socket a show stopper for most portable fridges. Same thing with long runs of too small wire feeding the receptacle.

Sounds like maybe it worked fine in one vehicle, but not in another? If so, that points to the possibility of a plug/receptacle problem, although it could've been something else.

I upgraded my receptacle to a Marinco locking socket, which has proven far more reliable than the factory plug. I may upgrade it again to a PowerPoles plug, as I've since installed these for another purpose (to run my even more picky CPAP machine) up front. At both power points, the wiring is direct to the battery, properly fused of course.

 

[spressomon]

^^^FWIW I eventually had trouble with the locking style Marinco; it lost some of its tension over time and would, whenever it felt like it, disconnect power. That really sucks when it happens on hot summer days. And for the coin they get for them I expected better.

Hella Euro style/Powerlets are the bombdiggity: Power Cables - Powerlet Products

Anderson Powerpoles are great too.

 

[Rallyroo]

My friend's Edgestar was stuck in nuclear winter mode also. He had to send his ice block in for a new controller a couple months ago. His fridge appears to work correctly (for now).

 

[Rwhat]

Yeah, if you don't feed it good power, it can be touchy. On the other hand, this is NOT unique to Edgestar. The battery protection and other features designed to minimize energy use make a bad socket a show stopper for most portable fridges. Same thing with long runs of too small wire feeding the receptacle.

Sounds like maybe it worked fine in one vehicle, but not in another? If so, that points to the possibility of a plug/receptacle problem, although it could've been something else.

I upgraded my receptacle to a Marinco locking socket, which has proven far more reliable than the factory plug. I may upgrade it again to a PowerPoles plug, as I've since installed these for another purpose (to run my even more picky CPAP machine) up front. At both power points, the wiring is direct to the battery, properly fused of course.

IMHO Marinco Locking outlets are worthless unless you buy the matching plug. I just blew $16.00 on one and its almost as loose as the west marine ones.
I just don't feel like cutting my factory cord to add a male marinco plug to it.

 

[greentruck]

IMHO Marinco Locking outlets are worthless unless you buy the matching plug. I just blew $16.00 on one and its almost as loose as the west marine ones.
I just don't feel like cutting my factory cord to add a male marinco plug to it.

Agreed. Get the combo pack and replace the stock plug, too.

As I noted in garbled form, the stock plug is pretty useless. Someone noted the factory Edgestar plug is a knockoff of a locking one that's often sold for use on motorcycles. I'm assuming the Edgestar plug is a knockoff, because I doubt the bikers would all be nuts about the real thing if it fell out as much as the Edgestar plug does.

 

[e9999]

I put in a female 12V receptacle I got from West Marine (I think their generic one) in the back of the truck and indeed the Edgestar plug was slowly pushing its way out IIRC, whereas the matching WM male plug stays put. I just used an extension with a female receptacle that is tight enough that the Edgestar plug stays in there. No problem and I can control the length of the extension to adjust the effective battery voltage cutoff.

 

[OGBeno]

I'm now an Anderson Power Pole convert after Cruiserdrew re-wired my fridge connections in Death Valley.

I'm convinced no other way to go.

 

[george_tlc]

Powerpole connectors are definitely a great way to go. They are reasonably cheap and quality products. I use their 50 Amp connectors on both batteries. I can then plug a solar panel into either battery or connect a 'corded' cordless 12V drill into either. I have a portable compressor that connects the same way.

Basically anything that needs 5A or more continuous and needs to be secure and weather tolerant deserves a good connector and a cig plug/socket (regardless how 'good') is a poor excuse due to its inherent design that is intended to push the plug out of the socket.

cheers,
george.

 

[Desert Yeti]

What Edgestar told me does satisfy their warranty. 30 days labor and 1 year parts. They sent me a new temp controller and it did the same thing. I don't think the issue is the power source. It freezes stuff in the LC, the Sequoia, and plugged in to 110 in the house. I can't see spending $200-$300 more on it. It will just have to be the camp freezer. I just want others to have one more experience in their mind when choosing the "cheap" fridge/freezer. I'd love a national Luna. I can afford it. It just doesn't make sense to put that much into something I use 2-4 times a year.

 

[Bogo]

What Edgestar told me does satisfy their warranty. 30 days labor and 1 year parts. They sent me a new temp controller and it did the same thing. I don't think the issue is the power source. It freezes stuff in the LC, the Sequoia, and plugged in to 110 in the house. I can't see spending $200-$300 more on it. It will just have to be the camp freezer. I just want others to have one more experience in their mind when choosing the "cheap" fridge/freezer. I'd love a national Luna. I can afford it. It just doesn't make sense to put that much into something I use 2-4 times a year.

How is the temperature sensor its self? Is it shorted, or are the wires to it broken?

 

[Bogo]

Ran across this at Amazon marketplace while looking for 12VDC pumps. Links are to the actual surplus store where they are sold. All but the temperature probe look to be surplus items. The site has a forum for their users where questions can be asked.

PID Temp Controller 12VDC: JLD7100 (DC 12V) PID Temperature Controller
+
Temp probe: Water resistant PT100 RTD 0.1 degree Sensor Probe
+
Solid state DC Relay: 25A Solid State Relay SSR DC In DC Out
+
Heatsink: Heat sink for 25A SSR
=
Replacement temperature controller for operation from a 12VDC source. Just wire it up to turn the power on and off to the unit. Looking at the PID controller, you may wish to configure it with a wider temperature on/off set point range. Something like 3 to 5 degrees. This will make it so it doesn't cycle as often, and be a bit more efficient.

If you wish to dig further in, you'll have to figure out how much of the Edgestar control circuitry you can replace. The voltage going to the compressor motor may be stepped up from 12VDC. It also could use a multi wire motor controller to run the motor in the compressor. I know Danfoss does this with their 12/24 VDC compressors. If it is a Danfoss or equivalent, then there may be a simple on off signal line that will tell the motor controller to run the compressor or not. The DC to DC relay wouldn't be needed in that case.