Poll of the Day > I think my refrigerator is dying...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Which would suck. Because I don't have money for a new one... Well, I might be able to get money for a new one. But I don't want to...

Anyway, it's making this noise constantly(Which it has done before, but I can't remember that noise well enough to know how similar they are). And the food in the freezer isn't as frozen as it was before. I think the stuff in the bottom part is still fine... for now...
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Well you better go revive it!

Oh. The noise stopped. I'm not sure if that's good or bad... I'm going to assume good until I have a reason to suspect otherwise. And I hope the freezer starts freezing again...
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You can probably get someone to repair that, we had the same thing and someone came and fixed it in about an hour. I didn't ask what was causing it, or what was done to fix it, as it's not my fridge (I'm just renting a room now....so not my problem lol). Sorry I can't be more help but if you call a repair place and describe the noise th ey can probably tell you how much it'll cost.

I don't think he used any parts though and was here less then an hour (and I think most of that was clearing out ice etc), so it might only be as much as 1 hour of labor costs (so less then $100).
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Buy some ice cream if you don't already have it. It must be under 10 degrees for ice cream to stay solid.

If the Ice cream isn't solid, your freezer is warming up.

9/10 times, the cooling all happens in the freezer and the air is circulated to the refrigerator (on more expensive models they each have their own cooling)

IF you are hearing a sound, it is probably one of two things:

1) the fan in the freezer is being blocked. Probably (usually) by ice build up. Of course, fans also go bad, but they don't usually make noise if they go bad.

2) the compressor is starting to crap out. You probably have a leak in the system and have lost most of your refrigerant, so the compressor has had to work constantly to try and keep it cold. Might as well buy a new fridge if this is the case.

Start saving money yo.
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Is there a weird smell coming from the freezer?

Check the condenser fan (turned off) for dirt build up and breathing space by dusting surrounding coils
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See if someone can repair it first.

A few years ago, the same thing happened to mine. I felt like my drinks weren't as cold anymore (at first I thought I was paranoid but it turns out I wasn't.) Then the stuff in the freezer wasn't really freezing anymore, the ice cream for example was slush.

Basically, the humming noise I'm generally used to hearing every so often was gone.

So I flipped through the yellow pages (this was like 3-5 years ago) and found a guy who does those kind of repairs. He said over the phone that even if he can't fix it, he will charge $20 just for the drive out here and for looking at it. But he fixed the cooling system in the freezer and it ended up costing me $60 which I was super okay with as opposed to having to buy a new fridge completely.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Start saving money yo.

This honestly. The TC must be a homeowner, because if he rented an apartment, it would be the landlord's responsibility to replace it. A responsible homeowner should have a good savings account that is solely for emergencies like this. A refrigerator isn't even that expensive, especially not compared to some things you will eventually need to replace like the HVAC and roof. Imagine if the TC needed to replace his roof with no savings instead... holy shit he would be in trouble...

Zangulus posted...

rogerskg1979 posted...

AllstarSniper32 posted...

Start saving money yo.

This honestly. The TC must be a homeowner, because if he rented an apartment, it would be the landlord's responsibility to replace it. A responsible homeowner should have a good savings account that is solely for emergencies like this. A refrigerator isn't even that expensive, especially not compared to some things you will eventually need to replace like the HVAC and roof. Imagine if the TC needed to replace his roof with no savings instead... holy shit he would be in trouble...

Not all places are furnished with a fridge as a renter.

This. I'm renting a house. But the fridge wasn't already installed. And I bought my own. And the stove. The dishwasher came with the place, though. If it was her fridge, I would have pretty much called her. But the fridge is working now.

Also, just having a savings doesn't always mean much. Getting a roof replaced can cost a lot. And other home repairs. While I would have some money saved for emergencies, it might not always be enough to help, sometimes.

kukukupo posted...

1) the fan in the freezer is being blocked. Probably (usually) by ice build up. Of course, fans also go bad, but they don't usually make noise if they go bad.

This is what I believe the problem was.
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LinkPizza posted...

While I would have some money saved for emergencies, it might not always be enough to help, sometimes.

So...having some money saved for emergencies it helps just as much as having nothing saved up?
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

LinkPizza posted...

While I would have some money saved for emergencies, it might not always be enough to help, sometimes.

So...having some money saved for emergencies it helps just as much as having nothing saved up?

That's now what I'm saying. Having money saved up is good. But depending on the cost of said emergency, it may not be as helpful. So, if came to be way more than what I have saved up, it would probably be better to take out a loan in those cases and pay it back.
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