So yeah, not fiction, but man, I gotta say I have learned more about refrigerators in the last week than I ever thought I would need to know. And yes, it was intentional.
A few months ago, I had a couple trees come down, taking out the power lines to my house … mostly. The house was still getting current, so when I got home, and found the house dark, I went to the circuit panel and found the main breaker had tripped so I cut it back on. And everything was fine … for about a minute.
In that minute I opened the ‘fridge door and the light blew out. And a few seconds later everything went out. That’s when I went outside with a flashlight and saw the trees covering the far side of my deck. Long story short, the entire debacle killed the ‘fridge, but left the freezer functioning fine.
So I broke out the dorm ‘fridge and had been using a two appliance solution for the last few months. Problem is, that solution sucked. The dorm ‘fridge is way to small, so no cooking in excess of a single serving which is a pain. And while the freezer worked, it also built up ice, so it was not working the way it needed to be working. On the flip side, it made ice cream turn into a brick and I discovered you can make the world’s most decadent ice cream sandwich with vanilla cherry ice cream and chocolate fudge pop tarts … but I digress (seriously, try it some time … though each one is like 500 calories or so, so don’t go crazy with it).
Thanks to the glorious invention of the internet, I was able to research what the issue could be (with the ‘fridge, not the decadent pop tart ice cream sandwiches, the issue for which is quite obvious) and ran with the free solutions first (defrost the entire thing, check the connections to be sure there was nothing blocking air flow from freezer to ‘fridge). Those did not solve the problem, so this last week I broke down and installed a new compressor fan motor. That was an adventure in itself as the replacement motor was fairly different from the old one. And it was not in the most accessible of locations. So wire stripping/splicing, jury rigging a ground mount, and a little back strain from being in unnatural positions all checked off the list and the compressor fan motor was working.
That did not solve the issue.
Though it did improve it a bit (we’re talking a ‘fridge sitting at just above 40F at the coldest setting compared to a ‘fridge sitting just under 50F at the coldest setting). The temperatures of a cool and warm spring day, not the temperatures of a usable refrigerator … which is kind of the point of the ‘fridge’s existence.
Not being one to deprive an appliance of the fulfillment of its purpose, I then tore apart the freezer section and discovered the evaporator fan was not triggering.
“Ahha!”, says I, “Now we’re getting somewhere!”
I managed to track down a replacement and installed it on Friday late afternoon. This was also a bit of an adventure, with connections that were so tight I actually pulled a mount free from the old motor before the connector would come loose. But there was no contortion involved, so it was certainly a less painful endeavor. I put the freezer section back together, plugged it all back in, and I had a working evaporator motor!
“Sweet!”, I think as pictures of having fresh produce at my beck and call bounced through my head.
I left it alone for about an hour, all plugged in and doors closed and then went to check on it.
The ‘fridge was sitting at 40F.
The freezer was still colder than Michigan in the middle of a cold snap, so I loaded a few things back in there (my cooler space is not extensive, so the items that were in the questionable cooler went back into the freezer). I went out to hang out with friends for the evening and spaced on checking it when I got back.
Saturday morning I went to move the thermometer from the ‘fridge to the freezer to make sure everything was still getting to somewhere below 0F and lo and behold the temperature in my ‘fridge was …
just below 30F.
Not exactly where one wants a ‘fridge … it is a ‘fridge not a low grade freezer (though that dorm ‘fridge tends to disagree a bit). But I at least solved the Case of the Warm Refrigerator. And all for about $140 (which is significantly cheaper than replacing the entire thing). Now I just need to tweak things around a bit and all will be right with the world.
Well, except for the microwave, which also fried when those trees came down. I think it might be the fuse in the microwave that needs to get replaced …
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Erm…glad it’s working? Did you manage to adjust the ‘fridge to a more ‘fridgey temp?
I did! Currently sitting at about 34F or so. Just need to clean it out and it will be good to go. That is my project for this afternoon. I figure anything that was still in there (condiments and the like) will get tossed out … except the beer. That should still be good. Then I can retire the dorm fridge again (or move it into the office area and use it to keep drinks and whatnot handy when working).