4 fridges - none working! Could it be electrical?

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Refrigerator

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Oops @ohno89

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Nhl 15, 2021

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4 fridges - none working! Could it be electrical?

This has been an ongoing 4+ month process, so I’ll try my best to condense the story. I’m a renter. 1st fridge was 30 years old. Totally stopped freezing/cooling. Replaced with secondhand fridge that was known to be working. Seemed to work, except 1-2 times a day it’d heat up above 40F and stuff in the freezer would melt. Then over about 4 hours, it’d re-freeze. Often the fridge would also heat up and get up to 55F or even more. Landlord replaced defrost timer, bimetal, thermostat. Seemed to help a little, but still the same problem…

So he ordered a new fridge. New fridge comes and seems okay at first, then the same problem. I started keeping an eye on it and realized I think the problem is during defrost or times it’s “off”, the fridge not only heats up too high, but takes way too long to cool down again to safe temps, which was causing the food to spoil. Sometimes it stays off for a long time and won’t turn back on.

A repairman came and he thought the new fridge had low refrigerant or a blocked line which was causing the compressor to overheat and malfunction. I noticed sometimes when it shuts off, it will repeatedly go “click…. click…. click” like it’s struggling to function. So he said yep, could be. We got a brand new fridge again as replacement. SAME PROBLEM.

Now this new fridge has the problem above. It also will randomly start spewing out snow into the fridge on the back wall from the upper vent. Changing the settings does nothing really. If I keep the freezer at Max, it will hold the freezer temp at 0F for a lot of the time, but at least several times a day it spends extended periods of time at around 14F… And then as mentioned, rises up above freezing and takes hours to get to 0F during which things defrost. Maybe 1 day a week it will stay fine all day. It’s not totally consistent which seems weird to me. The fridge is still all over the place too.

Could this be a problem with the electrical in the home? It’s a 1930s house, not sure how/when things were updated. Sometimes lights go brighter, sometimes dimmer. Certain items short out. We don’t have a dryer and our oven is gas, so I think maybe a problem was hiding and the fridge just brought it out. My worry would be Loose Neutrals, but I know there are other less dangerous, more likely problems.

Any ideas? My landlord is resistant to getting an electrician out and I think he may think I’m crazy, but the chances of 4 fridges not working seems ridiculous to me. I have 3 separate thermometers, one is a stick in liquid, one shows range, and one is just a standard restaurant grade metal thermometer.

I am pretty frustrated by now. I have thrown out and replaced probably $1,000 of food over the past several months and I ended up having to take out a line of credit to try to catch up financially. I just need a working fridge! Any advice is very, very welcome. Especially anything I can tell my landlord to convince him to at least let me have an electrician look at it as they need his permission.

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hi - I am having the same problem. Thought old fridge was bad and one 3rd new fridge. Temps keep fluctuating up to 56/60 and back down. Did you determine your issue? Was it electrical outlet?

crwdns2934271:0Mha 28, 2022crwdnd2934271:0 T Tomp crwdne2934271:0

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jayeff @jayeff

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Nhl 15, 2021

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Hi @ohno89

Things to try since the landlord won't call an electrician. Tell them it may be cheaper in the long run to call one rather than replacing/fixing refrigerators ;-)

Try connecting the refrigerator to a different wall outlet via a suitably rated extension cable. Select one that is connected to a different power fuse or breaker in the power box and see if that changes anything. Don't know where you are but mostly there are two wall outlet power fuses in the power box and the wall outlets in the house are divided between the two of them i.e. half are connected to one fuse and the other half are connected to the other fuse.

To check the outlet and the power supply you will need some test gear. Having said that if you’re unfamiliar with testing lethal voltages etc then there are some things that you can get that are safe to use and may indicate what the problem is.

The following are examples only as you haven’t stated your location and may not be suitable (different plug type, power supply voltage etc) but similar devices should be available where you are.

outlet tester. This gives an indication if the wiring at the wall outlet is correct.

power consumption meter. This is useful as it not only indicates power consumption but shows the Volts, Amps, Frequency, Power Factor, & KgCO2, although you’re mainly interested in the Voltage.

If there is a voltage problem (check other wall power outlets as well) the landlord should either call an electrician or contact the electricity company as it is their property, not yours.

Also make sure that your home contents insurance policy is up to date. If it is you probably won’t need it but it pays to play it safe with suspected electrical problems.

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Thank you!! That's what I thought lol! He has put a lot of money into parts and a new fridge - if this one ends up damaged, I'm sure the company won't replace for free again.

I'm in Canada so it's probably the same. Thank you so much for your time and advice! I did try a heavy duty extension and at first I thought it was working better, but didn't completely solve it so hard to tell. I will try to make sure I use another fuse and see if that helps! And I will try to get a meter.

I have called the electrical company to check out the outdoor lines as a start and waiting to hear back. I am hoping my landlord will be willing to just have someone look at things, but if not maybe if I can get some supporting "evidence" from the meters, it will help haha.

Either I have really bad luck with fridges, or there is definitely an electrical problem somewhere.

crwdns2934271:0Nhl 15, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 Oops crwdne2934271:0

@ohno89

Here's an outlet tester (example only) that should be suitable for your location. It gives a voltage readout as well.

crwdns2934271:0Nhl 15, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 jayeff crwdne2934271:0

Awesome, thank you so much! I am going to start with that. Do you think it's also useful to get the Power Consumption Meter or maybe start with testing the outlets first? What would the Meter show differently, how many volts the fridge is using to compare with how much it should be using kind of thing to see if its pulling too much voltage?

crwdns2934271:0Nhl 15, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 Oops crwdne2934271:0

@ohno89

Test all the outlets first to get an idea if they're all the same and OK or if the ones connected to one fuse are different to the other ones etc.

The power consumption meter is really only useful if you're worried about your power bill. If it were always the same refrigerator perhaps it would help to know the consumption and make sure it was OK but not with 4 different ones

For example I have one and when using it with each of my appliances connected to it I found that my washing machine draws 17W when the machine is turned off but the wall outlet was still turned on (here each wall outlet has an on/off switch). Basically it was using power all the time. Electricity is not that expensive but if you multiply it by 24 hours x 365 days per year - minus actual usage times, it does add up, especially if it is not doing anything. The same with my TV when it is in "standby mode" i.e. not turned on but power is on.

I only linked it because the power outlet testers here don't have a voltage meter associated with it as does the one I linked as suitable for you and using the consumption meter was safer than sticking voltmeter test probes into a wall outlet

crwdns2934271:0Nhl 15, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 jayeff crwdne2934271:0

Another thing to consider... if at all possible plug the fridge into a circuit that has nothing else on it. Most fridge plugs have a separate breaker but with the age of that house it may not. Try doing that, and not running any major appliances for a while. Your stove is gas so that pulls minimal power. But if possible don't use any power tools or compressors, garage door openers, or AC units to see what happens. Could be the power fluctuations are what the problem is. If so, an electrician will be needed to update the electrical system to handle the loads properly. You shouldn't have dimming lights when something kicks on. Also, make sure that wherever it is located at, there is a couple inches clearance on all sides, with I would say 4 inches of clearance on the back. This would make sure the condenser has proper air circulation.

crwdns2934271:0Nhl 16, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 brandon k crwdne2934271:0

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hi - I am having the same problem. Thought old fridge was bad and one 3rd new fridge. Temps keep fluctuating up to 56/60 and back down. Did you determine your issue? Was it electrical outlet? — T Tomp
Thank you!! That's what I thought lol! He has put a lot of money into parts and a new fridge - if this one ends up damaged, I'm sure the company won't replace for free again.

I'm in Canada so it's probably the same. Thank you so much for your time and advice! I did try a heavy duty extension and at first I thought it was working better, but didn't completely solve it so hard to tell. I will try to make sure I use another fuse and see if that helps! And I will try to get a meter.

I have called the electrical company to check out the outdoor lines as a start and waiting to hear back. I am hoping my landlord will be willing to just have someone look at things, but if not maybe if I can get some supporting "evidence" from the meters, it will help haha.

Either I have really bad luck with fridges, or there is definitely an electrical problem somewhere. — Oops
@ohno89

Here's an outlet tester (example only) that should be suitable for your location. It gives a voltage readout as well. — jayeff
Awesome, thank you so much! I am going to start with that. Do you think it's also useful to get the Power Consumption Meter or maybe start with testing the outlets first? What would the Meter show differently, how many volts the fridge is using to compare with how much it should be using kind of thing to see if its pulling too much voltage? — Oops
@ohno89

Test all the outlets first to get an idea if they're all the same and OK or if the ones connected to one fuse are different to the other ones etc.

The power consumption meter is really only useful if you're worried about your power bill. If it were always the same refrigerator perhaps it would help to know the consumption and make sure it was OK but not with 4 different ones

For example I have one and when using it with each of my appliances connected to it I found that my washing machine draws 17W when the machine is turned off but the wall outlet was still turned on (here each wall outlet has an on/off switch). Basically it was using power all the time. Electricity is not that expensive but if you multiply it by 24 hours x 365 days per year - minus actual usage times, it does add up, especially if it is not doing anything. The same with my TV when it is in "standby mode" i.e. not turned on but power is on.

I only linked it because the power outlet testers here don't have a voltage meter associated with it as does the one I linked as suitable for you and using the consumption meter was safer than sticking voltmeter test probes into a wall outlet — jayeff
Another thing to consider... if at all possible plug the fridge into a circuit that has nothing else on it. Most fridge plugs have a separate breaker but with the age of that house it may not. Try doing that, and not running any major appliances for a while. Your stove is gas so that pulls minimal power. But if possible don't use any power tools or compressors, garage door openers, or AC units to see what happens. Could be the power fluctuations are what the problem is. If so, an electrician will be needed to update the electrical system to handle the loads properly. You shouldn't have dimming lights when something kicks on. Also, make sure that wherever it is located at, there is a couple inches clearance on all sides, with I would say 4 inches of clearance on the back. This would make sure the condenser has proper air circulation. — brandon k

Refrigerator

4 fridges - none working! Could it be electrical?

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