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Worst Tuesday I've had in 12 years of fixing fridges
Last week I walked into a house in Austin where the lady said her fridge wasn't cooling. Turns out a mouse had chewed through the main harness behind the compressor. I spent 3 hours tracing wires and splicing them back together, only to find the compressor relay was fried too. Then I dropped my 6-in-1 screwdriver into the condenser fan and broke a blade off it. Has anyone else had a day where one simple call turned into a nightmare like that?
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beth_park2mo ago
...but honestly, I think we need to talk about the real problem here and that's how these newer fridges are built so cheap. My wife and I bought a brand new one last year and the plastic pieces on the back feel like they'd snap if you looked at them funny. I remember my old fridge from the 90s, that thing was built like a tank and I could fix just about anything on it with a screwdriver and some tape. Now it feels like every time I go to work on something I'm one wrong move away from shattering a part that costs more than my first car. The mouse chewing through wires thing I've seen too many times, but the compressor relay going bad at the same time sounds like a design flaw to me. These companies are making things so they fall apart after a few years and I'm tired of it.
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cole_murphy2mo ago
Oh man, I feel you on that "dropped my 6-in-1 screwdriver into the condenser fan" part. I had a similar call last year where I was replacing a start relay on a Samsung and the plastic housing just shattered in my hand. Turned a 30 minute job into me ordering parts and coming back the next day. What worked for me was keeping a small parts kit in my van with common relays and capacitors for the brands I see most. Saved my butt more than once when a simple fix goes sideways.
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