Frig repair or buy a new one?

[jkdrummer]

Amana refrig only 4 yrs old and the compressor is slowly dying. The overload/relay is buzzing every 10 min and the temp is slowly rising inside. I replaced the overload/relay and this didn't help matters at all. It's still under warranty for the compressor.

I called one very good repair company here in Seattle and he said he didn't do any warranty work. He recommended buying a new refrig. I hesistate to call Sears or A&E Factory Service based on the reviews I've read online. I have a call into the place I bought it from but I doubt they can do much.

Opinions? The ice cream is melting! Any good repair service here in the South End of King County?

JaKe

[Stormin Mormon]

I'd suggest to call Amana. Worth a chance, that you might get a complimentary repair out of them. If someone other than Amana warranty changed the relay, you've just lost your warranty.

There are hard start kids (I know, I install enough of them) for when a standard relay won't work. Maybe you can find a small town repair shop that does Supco hard start kits. I'd offer to come out, but I'm in Ontario County, and not sure where King County is. How far is that from Ontario County?

[Frank]

Google says 5 year warranty. Get 'er done. Maybe they'll just give you a new one rather than fix the old.

[Walter R.]

This is most likely your compressor going out. Call Amana. They will direct you to their warranty service. A new compressor will cost you about $ 600. Take advantage of your warranty. New refrigerators no longer have a 5 year warranty on their compressor, or anything else. One year is it. They don't build refrigerators like they used to, anymore, even upscale models.

[JIMMIE]

Good chance on that for a fridge. I used to do Amana warranty work. I wasn't qualified to work on refrigeration systems and that was OK with Amana at the time. Their policy was to replace a unit that needed a new compressor. I could replace thermostats, switches, hardware ice makers etc..

Jimmie

[Ed Pawlowski]

If it is the compressor and it is under warranty, get it done. Free is god. If not, the cost of replacement is going to be too high and you'd do as well to buy new.

[HeyBub]

Four years? Refrigerators should last for generations!

[Walter R.]

That's before they started making them in China and Korea. Nowadays, life expectancy is more like two to ten years, with a one-year warranty. If you are lucky.

[HeyBub]

You have a point. My ex-mother-in-law had a GE with the cooling fins in a cylinder on top. Musta been made about 1945...

[joevan]

I was in a house that was built in 1929, it had a row of those things in a huge kitchen area. I think they were original to the house. Actually it was an incredible stone mansion. The lady living there in

1965 was the grandmother of my girlfriend at the time. Seems they had lots of moola as they owned sun oil or just about all of it. I drove her jaguar I was asked to slow down I said why, I thougt I was going about 55 on the Schuylkill expressway but when I quickly peeked at the speedometer is was regestering over 90 MPH. She still lives in the place but is now the age her grandmother was when I knew her. It was a fun time and your mention of the refrigerators got me going. Oh yeah I also remember a grandfather clock that I was told had once belonged to Ben Franklin. The old units seemed to last a long long time.

[Stormin Mormon]

My parents were made in about 1945!

[Tony Hwang]

Hmmm, You are still young man then. I was made B4 that, LOL!

[trader4]

Nonsense. The Kitchenaid fridge I bought last year has a 5 year parts and labor warranty on the refrigeration system and the cabinet itself. It has a 10 year warranty on parts for the refrigeration system. And I think you can find plenty more manufacturers with similar warranties.

[bob haller]

rig. =EF=BF=BDI

service here in

new fridges save boatloads of energy over the old ones, with the cost of electric today its a good idea to replace any fridge over 10 years old

[trader4]

..

I wouldn't be so fast to conclude that. I replaced a 24 year old one last year with a new energy star one. I measured the electric consumption for several days before and then again for several day with the new one. the new unit uses about $95 a year in electricity, close to what the label says. The old one used $180 a year. So, I,m saving $85 a year in electric and that is here in NJ where I'm paying 18cents/kwh. Even at that high energy cost, it will take 17 years to pay for the new fridge. In other parts of the country, where electric is more like 12 cents, it would take even longer. Energy savings are a factor to consider, but if someone has a unit that is only 10 years old and is otherwise OK, they should do some actual measurements with a killawatt meter before jumping to conclusions.

[HeyBub]

Yeah, but MY ex-mother-in-law I am sure stored body parts in hers.

My ex-wife was the meanest woman in Texas - and Texas is mighty big - but she sure didn't learn that at school (unless she was home-schooled).

[norminn]

I had a similar experience when I drove a brand new, top-of-the-line Mercedes.......not fortunate enough to be related to the owner, who was a 1927 grad of the same school I attended. I drove so we could both attend an alumni function in Chicago. Leaving the luncheon, she told me I drove like a Chicago cabbie. That could be considered character assassination, but, hell, I COULD drive that thing like a Chicago cabbie because it was so easy to maneuver in traffic.

On the way home, fortunately, I noticed when the needle hit 85 before the cops did. Felt like 55. Oh, my!

[aemeijers]

Electric rates must be high where you live. My electric bill is about 80 bucks a month, averaged over the whole year. (used to be higher, but I replaced furnace and had insulation added to the attic.) I went to the federal website a couple of months ago, and punched in my current early-90's? fridge that came with the house, and a cheap new one. Payback was over 7 years. I won't be in this house that long. If it dies, it dies- I'll buy an efficient one then. (I probably should pull it away from the wall and clean the coils, but I am afraid that the copper line to the clogged-up icemaker would break, and the furnace company put the new duct run right under the stupid flimsy saddle valve, so I can't really get on it to close it without risking a flood if it breaks off...)

-- aem sends...

[willshak]

on 8/18/2009 1:41 PM (ET) [e-mail] wrote the following:

I've never had a problem with Sears repairmen/women. They came in Sears trucks. Two specific incidents I had with the warranty work. The repairman found a 10 penny nail in the pump, which didn't damage the pump. My fault, yet it wrote it up as something else. Another repairman who showed up, when I was working and my wife was home, took time out from fixing the dryer to remove a tick from my dog. I would never have a second thought about using Sears for warranty work.

[aemeijers]

Sears repairs dogs, too? Who'da thunk it?

Bet he was a dog owner. Just like every Mommy in a grocery store snaps to attention when a kid starts screaming, most dog owners can't stand to see an animal suffering.

I don't think Sears has a service center doing house calls around here any more. Only trucks I see are the local GE/Hotpoint franchisee service place. Maybe they outsourced it around here.

-- aem sends...