Fridge Repair Or Replacement

[yoslim]

I got a 4 year old Hitachi fridge, the freezer part is working very well but the fridge part even put on max cold doesn't get as cold as I would like it to be. (takes ages to cool down stuff I put in at ambient temperature).

Any handy man who could have a look at it or any place where they would take the old one in for some baht if I buy a new one ?

[action]

If the freezer part is working, your compressor is working, so this may not relate but I had a fridge with a bad compressor and I took it to a shop on Tepprasit. I told the guy to look at it and when I went back he had already fixed it and wanted 8,000 baht saying he replaced the compressor with a new one. He was polite and I didn't want any problems so I paid him and took it home. About 3 months later the compressor went out again. I took it to a different shop and they told me the compressor had never been replaced, but they could fix it. Again, 8,000 baht. The fridge worked for a couple of days and then stopped. I went to the shop and they came to my house and ended up telling me it couldn't be fixed. I said I should get my money back, but of course this is Thailand. They said the money had already been spent on parts. So I spent 16,000 on this thing that could have gone to a new fridge. I gave it away and bought a new fridge that has worked fine for years. My advice.. Buy a new one.. Not only did I throw away my money, but the first time it went out I was out of the country and all of the food rotted for 2 weeks. Cleaning it out was the worst smell I've ever experienced.

You may try turning the frezer adjust down, that may direct some of the energy toward the fridge section.

You could also try to sell it in the classifieds section on this site or another site.

[yoslim]

Thanks for the advice, I put the freezer down will see what happens... If not better I will go shop for a new one

[black fox]

in my opinion it always better to buy new ive also had appliances re paired but they never seem to last long and cost more in the long run but you can always take a chance,

[seasia]

Just an idea but maybe ask Numchai for a quote to look at it/repair if possible ?

Their naklua service centre no. is 038 428304

[yoslim]

Just an idea but maybe ask Numchai for a quote to look at it/repair if possible ?

Their naklua service centre no. is 038 428304

thanks they gave me Hitachi service center number and technician is coming over to check on Tuesday, 400 baht service charge

[striderman]

this may sound daft but i had some problems with my hitachi and i thought the door seal on the fridge bit was not closing as it should.

somebody on another forum suggested rubbing vaseline on the door seals and door and believe it or not it worked.

cost me 50 bht and i still have most of the contents of the jar.

[ignis]

in my opinion it always better to buy new ive also had appliances re paired but they never seem to last long and cost more in the long run but you can always take a chance,

Not always so, have 2 large double door ones, newest is 8 years old next month, the other about 6 months older, something went wrong with this one, and it stopped working, couple of Villages away is the Gas man, also does electric repairs, called him, took a week for the part cost 2,500 baht, that was over 4 years ago, still working fine..........

Guess it is what fridge, both mine cost over 40,000 baht each in Home Pro Sales..........

Likewise Fans, the gas man repairs them it the motor is dead, 250 baht.. again all my Fans cost 1,500 - 3000 baht each, all are over 8 years old, of my 10 fans one need a new motor, packed up a week ago, only 3 are still as bought.

My Panasonic Combi Microwave has also been repaired twice......... bought early 1991, so is 21 years old.

Edited September 15, 2012 by ignis

[RabC]

I have a large double door fridge freezer, the compressor packed in about 6 years ago, it was only a "part" not the complete compressor and they guy we called had it up and running in 2 hours with a total of 600 baht, still running smoothly and is now 10 years old.

[bobobo]

Make a deal. You buy a new one. The shop take the old fridge with them, when they deliver..

[Semper]

in my opinion it always better to buy new ive also had appliances re paired but they never seem to last long and cost more in the long run but you can always take a chance,

Not always so, have 2 large double door ones, newest is 8 years old next month, the other about 6 months older, something went wrong with this one, and it stopped working, couple of Villages away is the Gas man, also does electric repairs, called him, took a week for the part cost 2,500 baht, that was over 4 years ago, still working fine..........

Guess it is what fridge, both mine cost over 40,000 baht each in Home Pro Sales..........

Likewise Fans, the gas man repairs them it the motor is dead, 250 baht.. again all my Fans cost 1,500 - 3000 baht each, all are over 8 years old, of my 10 fans one need a new motor, packed up a week ago, only 3 are still as bought.

My Panasonic Combi Microwave has also been repaired twice......... bought early 1991, so is 21 years old.

Good on you, I also hate this throw-away society.

[andywadsworth]

This is a suggestion - it worked for me. I know nothing about the technology of fridges but if you

turn it over down on it's side, then over and over until it's completed 360 degrees and wait a couple of minutes after each turn.

As I said it worked for me and fridge worked perfectly again.

[candid]

This is a suggestion - it worked for me. I know nothing about the technology of fridges but if you

turn it over down on it's side, then over and over until it's completed 360 degrees and wait a couple of minutes after each turn.

As I said it worked for me and fridge worked perfectly again.

I suppose the logic behind this is to get refrigerant migration. BUT If you get liquid refrigerant in the compressor, you will damage it beyond repair.

[RabC]

This is a suggestion - it worked for me. I know nothing about the technology of fridges but if you

turn it over down on it's side, then over and over until it's completed 360 degrees and wait a couple of minutes after each turn.

As I said it worked for me and fridge worked perfectly again.

I suppose the logic behind this is to get refrigerant migration. BUT If you get liquid refrigerant in the compressor, you will damage it beyond repair.

They do normally advise not turning a new fridge on until it has been rested in its new position for a while so it is feasible the trick may work. Liquids will settle.

[Harrywonka]

Hi all, I was a fridge repairman for many years in my younger days. Repaired them day in and day out. Onsite, and in our workshops. 1000's of them

The rolling over method used to work quite well sometimes on the fridges that worked off a heater element, rather than a compressor, when they had a system blockage.

Fridges are strange and temperamental creatures, so I won't rule anything out, but in general if you want to wreck a normal fridge, rolling it about without waiting for a sensible length of time before turning it on again is a fairly good way.

They will take pretty much any postion as long as you wait long enough for the compressor oil to drain back down to the compressor again before turning it on.

We even once had one standing on its head for weeks (can't remember why!) but after two days upright again we turned it on again and it went on for many years working well.

The problem comes when the oil that should be in the compressor is sitting in the pipes on the high pressure (out from compressor) side. Then it gets pumped at, I forget now, but something over 100 psi anyway, around the system.

When it hits the very small capillary tube and eventually the drier, blockages start developing, and the poor old compressor starts pumping overtime.

It may not burn out, or may do, depending on how much oil you left in the high side pipes, but it may not do it much good.

As I say, anything is possible with the temperamental things, but if you do start rolling one about, leave it turned off for at least an hour. It's very unlikely to fix it, though it seems to have done so for Andy.

We used to often transport them laying down (we made sure the high pressure pipe out from the compresor was pointing skywards, so no oil would go into it.) and tell the customer to leave it turned off for at least one hour.

In my great many years in that trade I never found any reason to say otherwise.

Harry

[yoslim]

NumChai repair team came over today, of course the fridge was working better and my bottle of water was in fact cold when I checked in the morning. I still insisted they check the fridge (wasn't going to pay for nothing ) and they opened it up and there was some ice (small defrosting problem) so they melted it with a hot fan and now it works again as it should. dam_n I wish I had know better and saved 400 baht

[ignis]

NumChai repair team came over today, of course the fridge was working better and my bottle of water was in fact cold when I checked in the morning. I still insisted they check the fridge (wasn't going to pay for nothing ) and they opened it up and there was some ice (small defrosting problem) so they melted it with a hot fan and now it works again as it should. dam_n I wish I had know better and saved 400 baht

Still a lot cheaper than buying a new one

[yoslim]

5 days after the repair guys came over

Any advice on what I should do ?

Edited September 23, 2012 by yoslim

[Harrywonka]

Google - ukwhitegoods -

Brilliant forums on there. That site helped my engineers out at times no end when I had the white goods business in UK.

You will most likely find an answer by asking on there, or you may even find it written already by someone.

Of course. Uk model numbers and Thai ones will be different I assume but you will work it out somehow.

Good luck.

Harry

Edited September 23, 2012 by Harrywonka

[Harrywonka]

Of course, if you print off that picture and take it to Numchai they may know straight awa. Make sure you have make and model details with you if you do just in case they ask.

Several things it could be, depending on make and model of fridge. May be some electrical sensor or other but each make has it's own reason for doing such things, as well as reasons common to all fridges.

UKwhitegoods may provide an answer or Numchai or suchlike.

Harry

Edited September 24, 2012 by Harrywonka

[NeverSure]

NumChai repair team came over today, of course the fridge was working better and my bottle of water was in fact cold when I checked in the morning. I still insisted they check the fridge (wasn't going to pay for nothing ) and they opened it up and there was some ice (small defrosting problem) so they melted it with a hot fan and now it works again as it should. dam_n I wish I had know better and saved 400 baht

Wish I had read this sooner. Freezer cold means compressor/cold is working. No cooling in refer means there's a blockage. The units always cool on the freezer side and then cold migrates to the refer side. Some have a small fan to move the air and others rely on a vent. In any case the cold air wasn't moving from the freezer part to the refer part. Yours was easy because you didn't have/need a new small fan.

What happened was far better than having a major repair or even buying a new machine, so it's all good.

[allexx]

Bought 5 Mitsubishi refrigerators 20 years ago and 2 of theme is still working, never repaired any of them. When they stop working I just threw them away.

Now I go for Electrolux, the best fridge if you ask me.

[striderman]

this may sound daft but i had some problems with my hitachi and i thought the door seal on the fridge bit was not closing as it should.

somebody on another forum suggested rubbing vaseline on the door seals and door and believe it or not it worked.

cost me 50 bht and i still have most of the contents of the jar.

right this trip i have used the vaseline method on 2 other fridges owned by doubting ex pats and it worked both times.

cheaper option than buying a new one

[cigar7]

5 days after the repair guys came over

Any advice on what I should do ?

When the frost appears on the tubes in a frost free frdige, it is usually 1 or both of the following: the heater element is burned out or; the timer is not functioning correctly. You can check the element, usually a glass tube, with an ohm meter, it should not be an open circuit. The timer, decides the defrost cycle, usually about 40 minutes. If you get a new timer, be sure it is in a factory sealed box, and try to get one with a warranty. Sometimes dealers accept returns on timers and the consumer returns the defective timer, and then the merchant re-sells you the defective timer.

Edited February 12, 2013 by cigar7

[Apiwan2]

My Samsung fridge has packed up now, 8 years old .

Repair guy said the compressor has no power to push the gas up <deleted>

Newd a new compressor and a fridge door seal.

Waiting for the quote later today.

Repair or buy new that is the question.

5 days after the repair guys came over
Any advice on what I should do ?

Sent from my SM-G965F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[alan grice]

Some good offers in macro this month Why bother with Samsung its bitten You enough, and Me , Ive gone to Mitsu Totally.


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[Apiwan2]

Some good offers in macro this month Why bother with Samsung its bitten You enough, and Me , Ive gone to Mitsu Totally.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

I will have a look at the weekend, thanks

Sent from my SM-G965F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[NanLaew]

My 11 year old Samsung with vertical freezer/cooler arrangement started having cooling issues (excess condensation) in the cooler side while the freezer side seemed to be OK. Hauled it away from the wall, removed the back kick plate and removed a pound-and-a-half of black dust, hair and cobwebs from around the condenser coils. Then I removed the ice that was stopping the bottom door seal on the freezer doing its job properly. I guess someone hadn't closed the freezer door properly and the condensation stream froze. Checked all the door seals for malformation, cleaned them and the faces the seal against. All good again.

[Apiwan2]

My 11 year old Samsung with vertical freezer/cooler arrangement started having cooling issues (excess condensation) in the cooler side while the freezer side seemed to be OK. Hauled it away from the wall, removed the back kick plate and removed a pound-and-a-half of black dust, hair and cobwebs from around the condenser coils. Then I removed the ice that was stopping the bottom door seal on the freezer doing its job properly. I guess someone hadn't closed the freezer door properly and the condensation stream froze. Checked all the door seals for malformation, cleaned them and the faces the seal against. All good again.

Bloke said 8,500 for a new compressor or 6,500 2nd hand .

Considering I paid 40K for it now I've got to think buy a new one or take a gamble .

Lovely big fridge, but if I buy a new one it will probably be a smaller one

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[jacko45k]

12 hours ago, Apiwan2 said:

Lovely big fridge, but if I buy a new one it will probably be a smaller one

I would get a new one, be around 11,000 baht. If it is a newer inverter model it might use less electricity and be quieter. Will be in Numchai myself later, second fridge in 2 months just packed in, both were 12 years plus old.