O/T Built-in fridge problem

[Clifford]

I have a 15 years old built-in fridge that has stopped working (the lights are off & and it’s not cooling).
Supposedly, built-in fridges last 20 – 25 years.

I’m wondering if it’s worth it to pay for a repairman to come & take a look. Or I should buy a new one.

Please advice.

[FlyerInHi]

I love built-in fridge, but it’s very expensive.

Are you thinking of remodeling the kitchen too?
You might want to get the fridge repaired until you decide what to do.

I have difficulty spending $5,000 and up for a built-in fridge, so I just get the consumer products which are easier to replace. You can achieve a semi-built-in look with cover panels on each side of the fridge.

BTW, LED lighting is now a must in appliances. The old stuff looks dated, so choose accordingly.

[XBoxBoy]

Got a similar problem. Our built in runs all the time. I have to keep the top panel off or it won’t cool all the way. Got a repair guy out a couple weeks ago and he suggested rebuilding it. For a couple grand. Which seems really steep until you realize that to replace it would be 8-10 grand. We decided to rebuild it mostly because we didn’t want to do a remodel. If I was considering a remodel, then I think buying a new one would be justified. But if I rebuild it and get another 10 years out of it, it’s worth it.

[svelte]

After getting a horrendously high bill to repair a built-in microwave (3x what we could have paid for a brand new countertop microwave), we decided we were going to minimize built-in appliances. We actually ripped out the microwave the next time we had the chance, used the space for a wine rack and bought a countertop unit.

We also decided to forgo a built-in fridge for a normal roll-in unit when we remodeled.

After hearing stories here and from friends, it sounds like that may have been a huge money saving lesson I learned with that microwave.

Almost every owner of a built-in fridge that I know has had a problem – and these are units that are under 10 years old. Are by chance your built-in fridges made by Subzero? Friends of ours have had problems with those.

[mike92104]

You’ve checked the breaker right?

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=mike92104]You’ve checked the breaker right?[/quote]

Haha. Great advice.
Once my AC wasn’t blowing out cold air. The breaker for the compressor tripped. I forgot to check it. It cost me a service call. I felt stupid

[Hatfield]

[quote=XBoxBoy]he suggested rebuilding it. For a couple grand.[/quote]

Find a new repair guy. There’s not a lot of black magic to a refrigerator. It’s a closed system with refrigerant, which might have leaked out. Unlikely, but there’s a test for that. There’s also a radiator which might be caked in dust or ice, which would prevent heat transfer. That would cause it to never stop running. There’s a compressor that circulates the refrigerant. There’s a logic board that decides when to run the compressor. There’s also some logic for the defrost cycle for the freezer. There might be a heating element for that. There’s not a lot to “rebuild.”

Wasn’t a built in fridge, but I once had a standalone that ran all the time. Repair guy came out. This particular fridge had a mechanical cam on a clock motor, with a little finger that felt the cam so it knew to run the defrost cycle every X hours. Well the cam had broken, so defrost never ran, and the radiator iced over, preventing heat exchange from occurring. He charged me $5 for a new plastic cam and $95 for the service call. That’s the kind of guy you want to hire. I’d give you this guy’s number but he since has retired.

That was in a rental unit. Our place has a GE Profile fridge. While it was still under warranty, the ice maker and water thing in the door stopped working. The GE repair guy came out, played with it a bit, rolled the fridge out, removed a little panel in the back, and took out a circuit board maybe 4″ x 4.” Popped in a new circuit board, everything works again. I asked him how much the service call would have cost had the fridge not been under warranty. “Lemme look that up!” he says. $430. “Say, can I have that old circuit board?” I ask. Googled the part number, found it on eBay for $45.

Find a repair guy who doesn’t need to “rebuild” you fridge to fix it.

[Coronita]

[quote=Hatfield][quote=XBoxBoy]he suggested rebuilding it. For a couple grand.[/quote]

Find a new repair guy. There’s not a lot of black magic to a refrigerator. It’s a closed system with refrigerant, which might have leaked out. Unlikely, but there’s a test for that. There’s also a radiator which might be caked in dust or ice, which would prevent heat transfer. That would cause it to never stop running. There’s a compressor that circulates the refrigerant. There’s a logic board that decides when to run the compressor. There’s also some logic for the defrost cycle for the freezer. There might be a heating element for that. There’s not a lot to “rebuild.”

Wasn’t a built in fridge, but I once had a standalone that ran all the time. Repair guy came out. This particular fridge had a mechanical cam on a clock motor, with a little finger that felt the cam so it knew to run the defrost cycle every X hours. Well the cam had broken, so defrost never ran, and the radiator iced over, preventing heat exchange from occurring. He charged me $5 for a new plastic cam and $95 for the service call. That’s the kind of guy you want to hire. I’d give you this guy’s number but he since has retired.

That was in a rental unit. Our place has a GE Profile fridge. While it was still under warranty, the ice maker and water thing in the door stopped working. The GE repair guy came out, played with it a bit, rolled the fridge out, removed a little panel in the back, and took out a circuit board maybe 4″ x 4.” Popped in a new circuit board, everything works again. I asked him how much the service call would have cost had the fridge not been under warranty. “Lemme look that up!” he says. $430. “Say, can I have that old circuit board?” I ask. Googled the part number, found it on eBay for $45.

Find a repair guy who doesn’t need to “rebuild” you fridge to fix it.[/quote]

I had a problem with my 3 door fridge recently, of it not defrosting, and I was going to call my repair guy. I gave him my make and model, and he insisted that it was probably just a the drain was clogged, and told me how to take things out and check the drain myself. He said he could come by and do it, but it would cost $100 since he was from the south, and that’s his minimum service call for north county. He suggested I try it first, and worst comes to worst, I couldn’t really make it worse…Anyway, followed his direction yup, it was clogged. But man, a normal repair guy wanted like $250 just to see it.

Why am I an software geek again? 🙁

I also had a problem with an oven control logic board one time. I didn’t know exactly what was the problem, so I ordered every possible logic board/controller/circuit board for the oven from repairclinic.com. I replaced each board, one by one, and figured out which one was the problem by trial and error. I simply returned the two boards I didn’t need, minus the restocking fee. It was much cheaper than finding someone to diagnose and repair the oven. In most of the cases, that’s exactly what they are doing…Just swapping boards…

[Clifford]

deleted

[Clifford]

[quote=svelte]After getting a horrendously high bill to repair a built-in microwave (3x what we could have paid for a brand new countertop microwave), we decided we were going to minimize built-in appliances. We actually ripped out the microwave the next time we had the chance, used the space for a wine rack and bought a countertop unit.

We also decided to forgo a built-in fridge for a normal roll-in unit when we remodeled.

After hearing stories here and from friends, it sounds like that may have been a huge money saving lesson I learned with that microwave.

Almost every owner of a built-in fridge that I know has had a problem – and these are units that are under 10 years old. Are by chance your built-in fridges made by Subzero? Friends of ours have had problems with those.[/quote]

Mine is made by Kitchen Aid

[Clifford]

[quote=mike92104]You’ve checked the breaker right?[/quote]

Yes.
The repair guy came out & said that it’s the switch that has been burned out.

It will be $60 for a new switch & $100 for labor.

[Clifford]

It is true that built-in fridges have to be “serviced” regularly (like cleaning the compressor coil …)

I was told that needs to be done every 2 years at about $200 each time.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=Hatfield][quote=XBoxBoy]he suggested rebuilding it. For a couple grand.[/quote]

Find a new repair guy. There’s not a lot of black magic to a refrigerator. It’s a closed system with refrigerant, which might have leaked out. Unlikely, but there’s a test for that. There’s also a radiator which might be caked in dust or ice, which would prevent heat transfer. That would cause it to never stop running. There’s a compressor that circulates the refrigerant. There’s a logic board that decides when to run the compressor. There’s also some logic for the defrost cycle for the freezer. There might be a heating element for that. There’s not a lot to “rebuild.”

Wasn’t a built in fridge, but I once had a standalone that ran all the time. Repair guy came out. This particular fridge had a mechanical cam on a clock motor, with a little finger that felt the cam so it knew to run the defrost cycle every X hours. Well the cam had broken, so defrost never ran, and the radiator iced over, preventing heat exchange from occurring. He charged me $5 for a new plastic cam and $95 for the service call. That’s the kind of guy you want to hire. I’d give you this guy’s number but he since has retired.

That was in a rental unit. Our place has a GE Profile fridge. While it was still under warranty, the ice maker and water thing in the door stopped working. The GE repair guy came out, played with it a bit, rolled the fridge out, removed a little panel in the back, and took out a circuit board maybe 4″ x 4.” Popped in a new circuit board, everything works again. I asked him how much the service call would have cost had the fridge not been under warranty. “Lemme look that up!” he says. $430. “Say, can I have that old circuit board?” I ask. Googled the part number, found it on eBay for $45.

Find a repair guy who doesn’t need to “rebuild” you fridge to fix it.[/quote]

I agree completely.. But that applies to just about anything — cars, home construction, etc…

Guys in the trade need to make a living too, hahaha

They charge for their knowledge.

[Author]

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