Sub-Zero Fridge

[Eric9822]

I just had the compressor and condensor changed on my 7 yr old Sub Zero. Parts were about $550.00. The labor would have been an additional $400 or $500 if it had not been covered by the warranty. I would personally stick with the Sub Zero.

[robclement1]

hi rob I am a factory trained sub tech and i would assume the fridge is either a 200 series or 300 series.Assuming the guy is , and i stress this FACTORY TRAINED i would personally not let him touch this fridge.They do not operate the same as a whirlpool or such and are very hard to diagnose as other things can produce the same symptoms.if the refrigerator temp set at midrange produces a temp of 34-40 degrees and freezer set midrange produces -3 to +3 degrees your coil could be clogged,a fan could be running slow.All that aside if you need a new compressor you can expect about $200-$300 for comp,$280-500 for labor,and freon which varies widely in price. Your system is r12 and very few people have this anymore.if they do expect $100-300 for freon. hope this helps rob

[Rob]

I had a person come and look at the built-in Sub-Zero brand refrigerator in the house I recently bought and he said that the reason it is running too much and using a lot of electricity is that it needs a new compressor. It currently works in that it keeps things cold enough, but the compressor is running hot according to the technician. The fridge is probably around 20 years old, but I am somewhat reluctant to replace it unless I have to because it is built in, very nice in terms of quality, and to replace it means either having to:

1) Have cabinetry work done to get a regular fridge to fit in the space where it was 2) Buy a new Sub-Zero built-in that would fit nicely where the old one is would run about $5,000 and I ain't paying 5K for a fridge! 3) Put in a regular fridge that would not fit right and look bad in a kitchen with all built-in appliances

Does anyone out there with knowledge of Sub-Zero brand fridges know how big a price tag replacing a compressor is on these things? (I want to have some knowledge in my mind when I get a call back from the repair place......)

Thanks in advance for any info!

Rob

[Rob]

Hi Rob,

The fridge is a 211RFD (I believe that is the model). The technician is from a Sub-Zero factory authorized service company. He said he needed to investigate the availability of the compressor since it is an older model. The compressor makes some noise (not too loud) when running and he said that was caused by it running too hot and boiling the oil in the compressor. Apparently the previous owner had not cleaned the coils for several years, and when I cleaned them recently they were full of a LOT of dust. He said is probably what caused the damage with no cleaning for a long time.

The temp in the fridge part is somewhat too cold and the temp in the bottom freezer part is only 20 degrees which he said is too warm.

Thanks for all of the replies to my original post!!

Rob

[marks542004]

temp in fridge should be between 32 and 40 degress F , ideal is about

35F freezer should be 0 to 10 F for a domestic fridge

There should be some adjustment possible.

[Stormin Mormon]

Very likely a dirty condensor. That's a common problem with all fridges, and very often so with Sub Zeros. Which causes the compressor to run hot (cause the heat is retained in the system).

Usually compressors fail all at once. And often because of a dirty condensor. I'd suggest to call the guy back and ask for the condensor to be cleaned.

Oh, figure about $350 to 500 (installed) for a compressor.

[Stormin Mormon]

I'm aparently mistaken. Believe the man who actually had the work done.

I'm still reccomending to clean the condensor.