fridge repair 101

Last week was officially fridge week in my world. First the refrigerator in the kitchen started to drop its temperature. The freezer seemed to be working and the fridge wasn’t completely warm, so I held out hope that the compressor wasn’t dead. On a Sub Zero fridge there are 2 compressors. I know this because I have replaced the freezer compressor already. I removed the cover from the top section of the fridge and gave everything a good vacuum (like you should on a regular basis – oops).  I waited a few hours to see if that would solve the temperature problem… but it didn’t. I broke down and called for service. Rick arrived the next morning and gave me the bad news – I needed a new fan motor and blade (what else is there to a fan?) and it would have to be ordered – of course. The purpose of the fan is to remove the heat from around the compressors, allowing for the fridge to actually cool. Without the fan running there was risk of burning out BOTH compressors. The choice was to empty the fridge and freezer and turn everything off until the parts arrived, or put a small portable fan above the fridge as a temporary solution. That’s fine if you have a small portable fan, which I do not. However, being the creative thinker that I am, I devised an alternate solution.

Even though we didn’t have a small portable fan, I figured a floor fan placed on the kitchen counter would do the trick. It did! Within a couple of hours the fridge temperature was down where it belonged. It was actually quite sculptural looking. There were a couple of cool weather days that made me wish there wasn’t a large fan blowing in the kitchen, but it was manageable. Oh the sacrifices one must make for cold milk!

While spending time cleaning the fridge and thinking about how great it is when things work properly, I started thinking about our extra fridge in the basement. We store extra milk, beverages, produce and baking supplies downstairs. For the last year or so the fridge has developed a continually worsening problem with condensation. In fact I keep a towel in the bottom of the fridge and change it every few days because it is soaking wet. This is not a lot of fun. I decided to simplify my life and replace that refrigerator. I went online to find a make of fridge with no freezer (that didn’t cost the earth) and found one. Then I called around to see if there were any available in the city. My second call hit pay dirt, and I was promised a new fridge within the week. Low and behold, I got it on time. The only minor inconvenience was that I had asked for a call the day before so that I could prepare the fridge and surrounding space and instead I had about 30 minutes warning. But the scrambling was worthwhile. I sorted and tossed and reloaded and now have a beautiful energy-efficient fridge in my basement.

During the same week I received a phone call from someone working at our vacation home. I’m sure you’re surprised to hear this, but the fridge there didn’t seem to be cold enough. Give me a break. That fridge is only a few years old. The house is located at such a high altitude that we normally set the temperature as low as it will go to prevent things from freezing! I gave some suggestions and after the fridge was vacuumed and plug checked and door closed etc. it was just fine. Thank goodness.

The repair of the Sub Zero cost half as much as the new refrigerator downstairs, but as they are both working well, I’m happy. Chilling story don’t you think?