Check out / know your fridge (6 Viewers)

[e9999]

Got into an interesting / potentially serious issue recently.
You know how fridges nowadays often have an electronic panel, ice dispenser etc on a front door?
Well, I never stopped to consider how those are wired. It turns out that in many cases there are wires and hoses that come out near or from the hinge at the bottom of the door. Of course, they try to hide those and it can be very tight down there. Now these wires are just that, plain wires, nothing fancy like rotating contacts etc. So everytime you open and close the door, some wires and hoses may be bending back and forth. After a few years, they can break with a resulting loss of use of the front panel, icemaker etc. That's what happened to me. My icemaker stopped working and when checking I saw that 1 wire was broken and others were damaged. Not too hard to fix. All is well now.
But it was clear that this may happen again given how the wires were positioned so I had to rearrange that to alleviate the problem somewhat. It's all a bit sketchy.
So, if you experience issues with the front panel, check there.
Having said all that, it wasn't too bad. BUT there are also the hoses down there that go to the icemaker and water dispenser. Those can also be bending and chafing against various bits (although in my case, they located them better than the wires). And that could be much more serious. If one of those hoses is damaged with time, you could have a flood in your kitchen. Not great. Mine looked OK but I still added some protection to the hoses where they are bent for some additional peace of mind.
So, next time you're bored, you may want to remove the trim on your fridge and have a quick look to make sure all is well down there (so to speak).

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Or just buy a Sub Zero.

 

[e9999]

tell us more. Hopefully they are quite a bit better design considering they are 5 or 10x more expensive...

But for context, I should have added that in my case it took 8 years for those wires to break. It's not like they are likely to fail right away, of course.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

2004 Sub Zero in the house we bought 5 years ago (4' fridge/freezer vertical split). Looks and runs like new. We've had them in our last 4 houses. They will last your lifetime. I have had a Sub Zero undercounter wine fridge for more than 20 years. It has followed us from house to house. Still looks and operates perfectly.

 

[e9999]

Yes, I had a Subzero fridge too for many years. It failed early on during the warranty period and then again later on. And when it did fail last, I found out that it was cheaper to buy a new less expensive fridge than to fix the old Subzero out of warranty. And perhaps more importantly, that even if it did not fail, it would take only 2 or 3 years to recoup the cost of a new fridge just based on energy savings with the new one because the old Subzero was such an obscene energy hog. And I'm just as happy (more really) with the new less expensive and much less energy-using fridge. And when the newer one failed just now, I was able to fix it for free. The main downside: not impressing party guests that don't know better any more, but I can live with that...

My suggestion: if you have an old fridge -whatever the brand is-, measure the energy consumption and figure out the excess cost per year compared to the energy use of a new one. You might be amazed at the difference and realize you may be better off junking the working old fridge and getting a new one and then save a ton of money for the next 10 or 15 years. In my case, I should have junked the old Subzero long before it failed...

 

[aztoyman]

Something I never gave much thought to, happened to the house across the street because of the fridge. The cheap hose for the ice maker water supply failed. The owner is a snow bird and was living in Iowa at the time. No one was aware until we saw water running under the doors and down the street. Servpro had a bunch of trucks and crew there for a couple months.

So even if we replace the supply line with one of better quality, the one in the door hinge can fail as mentioned by @e9999 .

 

[e9999]

Yup, not surprised. But from what I saw on my fridge, it would likely take some major -if even possible at all- door disassembly to change those hoses, unfortunately.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Yes, I had a Subzero fridge too for many years. It failed early on during the warranty period and then again later on. And when it did fail last, I found out that it was cheaper to buy a new less expensive fridge than to fix the old Subzero out of warranty. And perhaps more importantly, that even if it did not fail, it would take only 2 or 3 years to recoup the cost of a new fridge just based on energy savings with the new one because the old Subzero was such an obscene energy hog. And I'm just as happy (more really) with the new less expensive and much less energy-using fridge. And when the newer one failed just now, I was able to fix it for free. The main downside: not impressing party guests that don't know better any more, but I can live with that...

My suggestion: if you have an old fridge -whatever the brand is-, measure the energy consumption and figure out the excess cost per year compared to the energy use of a new one. You might be amazed at the difference and realize you may be better off junking the working old fridge and getting a new one and then save a ton of money for the next 10 or 15 years. In my case, I should have junked the old Subzero long before it failed...

Energy cost? That's like saying I can afford a Ferrari but not the insurance. I can swing $100 a year.

 

[e9999]

Lucky you, nice to be in a 12c / kWh area. Us, it's more like 45 or 50 now. And my current kitchen fridge (now 8 years old) is using 430kWh / yr. My earlier Subzero fridge was costing me in the high 3 figures and probably close to $1000 / yr to run if I remember correctly.