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Why New Refrigerators Fail
We all remember the old refrigerators: the appliances that lasted for decades and seemed like they could run forever. I wish I still owned one. I just had an expensive refrigerator die – a top-of-the-line Electrolux that keeled over exactly two years after we installed it. And now I understand why.
The repair guys have told me that all fridges and freezers sold now have a short life — something like four years on average. Why?
The answer is a combination: they banned Freon (for so-called “environmental” reasons), which did not corrode the heat exchanger pipe the same way. The new refrigerants have all kinds of nasty lifetime issues.
And, to save a little money, they use thin-walled copper pipe instead of the classic thicker walls, or aluminum. So with condensate comes corrosion, pinholes, and … the refrigerant goes bye-bye.
So I have just paid too much money (but still one-third the cost of replacing the fridge) to replace a flawed part with the same damned part – just newer. And now the clock is ticking anew.
This is nuts, of course. I understand about a manufacturer saving some money here and there. But on units that cost $1-3k… really?!
If anyone has a manufacturer who actually is willing to pay the extra few dollars needed to make long-lasting appliances (and is not a five-digit SubZero-type brand), please let me know. We have a big home and we feed a lot of people: I think we have seven full-size standing freezer-only units and three to four refrigerators. I cannot replace them all every four years!
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Lol. I did, years ago, but I can’t get my wife to use it.
About 10 years back my wife and I replaced our old refrigerator that came with the house with a mid-sized French door Samsung refrigerator / freezer, but on the whole, it’s pretty basic. It does have an ice maker, but we’ve never used it and we specifically looked for one with no door penetrations, which will eventually fail to seal well and lead to odd cycling of the cooling unit and likely early failure. It’s been a great fridge and has held up just fine, but I went in with the plan to minimize the potential for things to go wrong, some of which aren’t well detected unless you’re specifically snooping and inspecting for it (like leaks that then cause high cycling).
This isn’t exactly it, but it’s not too far from what we have: https://www.samsung.com/us/home-appliances/refrigerators/3-door-french-door/20-cu–ft–french-door-refrigerator-rf20hfenbww-us/
You have to be careful about that TSP – I went to Ace hardware a few months back, and what they are selling as “TSP” is not actually Tri-sodium phosphate, it’s a brand name for something similar. Label specifically warns you that it will etch glass (IIRC). Lots of warning about this in the reviews for the same product on Amazon.
F=MA. Reducing Mass will reduce Force.
The “conspiracy” I’ve seen is a few comments is that companies are intentionally making crap so they can sell replacements.
I want to be clear about this. Actual Tri-sodium phosphate will make my dishwasher work better, correct?
Yes. Turbos are inherently shorter-lived than are normally-aspirated engines. Which is why I go out of my way to buy big V-8s with no turbo. CO2 is plant food – so I am doing my part to increase life on our planet.
Really? You did not want to think even a LITTLE?
Take two windscreens. One is thick, one is thin. The thicker one resists the piece of gravel better because the local (windscreen) force involves the collision of two components. If the thick one is infinitely large, then the given piece of gravel has an infinitely small impact on it.
For the same reason when I used to drive a Suburban (at 17) I totalled several cars belonging to OTHER people without ever more than denting my battletank.
So don’t call it “crap”. Companies make tradeoffs. Why spend more money in product quality if there is no net benefit to the manufacturer?
I run a company. Our product is not over-engineered. It would be silly to over-engineer if the value is not there on the other side.
No conspiracy. Just simple economics.
Plus, of course, stupid regulations that remove better refrigerants for inferior ones backed by lobbyists.
This has been going on for years. I not too long ago read a complaint that BMW or Mercedes is using a few plastic parts in its transmissions. The wear out quicker but — they’re lighter?
There are always tradeoffs in engineering compromises to balance competing goals. In your transmission example, fuel efficiency versus lifespan.
That’s fundamentally different than this comment:
I’m not an engineer. My last Physics class was in high school. Maybe you’re talking about some other kind of force than the force I learned about.
But I guarantee I would have gotten a failing grade from Mr. Mitchell if I’d answered a question on a test by saying that reducing mass increases force. It’s mathematically impossible.
If you want to talk about the relative mass of two colliding objects and the impact (no pun intended) that it has on the outcome, that’s a different question. If you want to talk about the amount of damage a piece of gravel will do when it hits two windshields of differing mass, that’s again a different question.
But reducing mass while acceleration remains constant = less force. By definition.
You are correct on this. But you had to misunderstand my point to get there.
I wrote “local force” suggesting that the pressures on the impact point of glass are lower because a heavier windscreen has much more mass than the rock, so the point of collision results in less damage to the glass than if it were lighter.
@rufusrjones
I leased a new Nissan a couple years back; I lead a low mileage lifestyle and nailed down a great buyout price when my lease is up on what will be a very low mileage three-year old vehicle.
But Nissan had several major class action lawsuits over CVT failures. While the continuously variable design produces excellent gas mileage (I get 25 in town and 45 on the highway), it wears out pretty early. Some cases were failures at 30k or 70k, for example. And the company had at one time developed the reputation of being extremely difficult to get to cover replacing the CVT on warranty. The settlements of the cases extended warranties for many, and I am told the design has been improved, at least by the time I leased a 2019 model. However, the prospect of losing a CVT when out of warranty and a replacement costing several thousand dollars (apparently one does not merely install it, once installed it has to be programmed as well) has made me inclined just to finish out the lease (and warranty), and then I’ll buy something with a more traditional transmission. YMMV.
That’s not “reducing force”, that’s “better withstanding force”.
Nissan was notorious.
I like it. The main point I want to get across is, some people think there are high odds they ware out before the rest of the car in many cases. Then you have to buy a new one. You don’t have any other choice.
CVT’s lower the cost. They get better gas mileage. And you will probably have to junk the car sooner. The government should not force this stuff.
My upright freezer, a 21 cu ft Frigidaire that cost about $800 as I recall, has no complicated electronics at all. The thermostat is basically just mechanical, and there is a simple timer that switches on the defrost element each 12 hours (I think) of running time. (Not clock time. Time when the system is activated by the thermostat.)
Actually from what I’ve read, some refrigerators do use propane, especially smaller ones and “apartment” and “dorm room” style. But do you want a refrigerator that might EXPLODE when the refrigerant leaks?
100% of drive train energy is transmitted through the transmission. It should be made to not wear out. Fenders can rust. Clocks can stop. Windows can fail to go up or down, and the car will still get you from point A to B. But without the transmission, you ain’t goin’ nowhere, fella.
Supposedly, Bosch is the best.
But if the construction is changed, the materials different, or any other factors changed, then that one factor of mass can be important or insignificant. You can’t just point to “cars weigh less” or “windshield is thinner” and conclude that one is better than the other. It’s only half the story.
A refrigerator holds about 10 fl oz of coolant. So little propane isn’t going to blow up anything.
How much do you think it takes? I’ve read stories of explosions caused by leaking little gas cylinders used to fuel small camp stoves. They don’t hold a lot either. And it’s more the gas leaked into the air that explodes/burns, not necessarily the tank.
As cars became more aerodynamic the angle of the windshield changed to be less upright, so a rock that hits the windshield is more likely to strike a glancing blow and bounce off. Thus the windshield can be made thinner with no loss of functionality – on average.
The smallest propane tank (that I could find) is 4.5 gallon (the size that would be used on a BBQ) which is 576 fl oz. or 57x more than whats in the propane tank.
While the propane tank has many exposed surfaces that might be ruptured to leak propane, the structure of the fridge provides (or could be designed) to protect the propane compression cycle.
WoW neat video! What was that guy doing in the cab when it exploded? Iam guessing his music appreciation scores just nose dived.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bernzomatic-14-oz-Propane-Cylinder-1-Pack/17128612
OK, how many gas cylinders where leaking?
One.
As described in the comments.
ok… wow… Propane refrigerators already exist – and have for years – I havent heard anything about them exploding….
Home Depot – Propane and solar appliances