Appliance failures - relays

This $27 part makes a lot more sense--

The claimed improvement is a bit extreme too. Upping the freezer temp from

-10c to 4c cuts the temperature differential in half, assuming an ambient of

But, it's still a cheap, easy way to get a hyper-insulated fridge that's super efficient.

Cheers, James Arthur

On a sunny day (Fri, 22 Aug 2014 08:15:33 -0700 (PDT)) it happened snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in :

Yes you can get those in the local parts shop too, I have played with those :-)

Yes.

Interesting. How old is the refrigerator and what is its nominal cubic foot (or liter, if you swing that way) capacity?

One thing to look out for when hot-rodding a refrigerator like this: Some models have small heaters (like, a watt or three) just under the skin that heat the skin to help avoid condensation. If the fridge has an "energy saver" switch, then it very likely turns these heaters on and off. Some fridges only heat the strip between the freezer and fresh- food doors, but others heat a greater area. If you are adding external insulation, it is probably a good idea to switch off or otherwise disable these heaters.

One thing I noticed when comparing a 1990-vintage fridge to a 2009- vintage one (same maker, similar cubic foot capacity) is that the 2009 fridge has a *lot* thicker doors - presumably filled with insulation - and somewhat thicker side walls. Another trick that the 2009 fridge does is to have a P-trap in the freezer drain tube; older fridges just ran the tube straight down into the defrost pan, which constantly leaks a small amount of cold air.

Matt Roberds

The local electric utility is offering a $75 payment for recycling a working refrigerator or freezer that is from 2002 or before. You might see if something like this is available in your area. (Or a nearby area where an accomplice lives... then you have to do the fuel/time/hassle trade-off matrix. :) )

Matt Roberds

Kenmore model (top-freezer), 2004 vintage, eyeballs to be 21 ft^3. (The manual is uselessly generic on anything important, but a great source of light-bulb-changing safety tips.)

Heavens to Mercatroid! Those heaters are only used by nazi carbon-war criminals!

(I hope the newer fridges don't have them!)

There was a quantum jump in mandated efficiency in 2001, which led to the thicker walls.

That's clever. When testing I fished a temperature sensor lead directly into the freezer, apparently holding open a tiny gap in the seal open. It promptly iced.

Cheers, James Arthur

Darn. Kenmore just uses a string of numbers. In most other brands, there tends to be a "15" or "18" or "21" - the nominal cubic foot capacity - buried in the model number somewhere.

They ship the same manual with several different models, probably.

How the hell did we Godwinate while talking about refrigerators? (

I'm not sure. If it has an "energy saver" switch then it probably has them. Without such a switch, it may or may not. Try finding a parts breakdown for your model online (easy to do these days) and look.

Aha, thanks. I see we are due for another breakpoint later this year.

I don't know if it's a consequence of the P-trap or something else, but I have noticed that it's hard to open one door immediately after you've closed the other one. Sometimes there is a slight "pressure equalizing" whoosh or hiss, and then the door is easier to open.

If yours *doesn't* have an icemaker, there is probably a hole in the back wall for the water tube for field installation. It will have a soft foam plug in the hole, maybe a plastic cap on the inside of the freezer, and maybe a paper sticker on the outside. You can sneak a sensor wire through there (put the foam plug back) if you want.

Matt Roberds