10 Year Old Sharp Refrigerator Making Loud Noise

[Jingthing]

I guess it's the compressor and it's making the noise all the time. It might be related to some sudden power outages the other night for when the noise started, but I am not certain. The unit is still cooling and freezing. Obviously, it's off warranty. Any suggestions? Is it a safety hazard now? Is it likely to stop working soon? Is it worth repairing (if you can guess the likely cause) and if so, who to call (in Pattaya) to repair it? I don't have the purchase paperwork, it came with my condo. Even if it's safe and working, I can't tolerate that noise forever, so its either fix it (if that's practical) or toss it.

Edited March 20, 2011 by Jingthing

[gotlost]

Don't worry either it will work or blow up. Have a reputable appliance dealer look at it. If the repair bill is to much junk it and buy new.

Edited March 20, 2011 by gotlost

[transam]

I believe there is a fan on the motor,perhaps it's a bit wobbly and hitting the casing. Or the compressor is knackered.

10 years, time for an upgrade eh.

[Jingthing]

I believe there is a fan on the motor,perhaps it's a bit wobbly and hitting the casing. Or the compressor is knackered.

10 years, time for an upgrade eh.

But the thing meets my needs fine so it wouldn't be time except for the new problem.

[gotlost]

I believe there is a fan on the motor,perhaps it's a bit wobbly and hitting the casing. Or the compressor is knackered.

10 years, time for an upgrade eh.

But the thing meets my needs fine so it wouldn't be time except for the new problem.

Your needs may be getting bigger. When the fridge takes a dump you'll decide.

[Jingthing]

I believe there is a fan on the motor,perhaps it's a bit wobbly and hitting the casing. Or the compressor is knackered.

10 years, time for an upgrade eh.

But the thing meets my needs fine so it wouldn't be time except for the new problem.

Your needs may be getting bigger. When the fridge takes a dump you'll decide.

Actually I'd like a bigger fridge but the space is carved out for a reduced size one, so upgrading won't really do much for me as an improvement, except to replace a broken unit.

[Jebhead]

Scrap - 10 years is a good life span out of a fridge....

JH

[Jingthing]

Scrap - 10 years is a good life span out of a fridge....

JH

That's the kind of advice I am looking for. Would new ones be more energy efficient?

[transam]

Scrap - 10 years is a good life span out of a fridge....

JH

That's the kind of advice I am looking for. Would new ones be more energy efficient?

YES,

if have the 1 to 5 scale for efficiency, eeeer, or is A to E, hmm, 1 or A grade must be an improvement on a 10 year old fridge.

[gotlost]

Scrap - 10 years is a good life span out of a fridge....

JH

That's the kind of advice I am looking for. Would new ones be more energy efficient?

Yes. The new fridges are more energy efficient than your 10 year old unit..

[LennyW]

Numchai are very good with their service, came round and ffixed my fridge, simple stuck switch/sensor and they only charfed 400 baht.

The Numchai service centre is round the back of the Numchai shop on Sukhumvit.

[Mario2008]

A new fridge will mean you will save on your energy bill. In case of a 10 year old fridge I would buy a new one. Of course the electricity bill is a bit cheaper than in my old country.

[GarryP]

When mine had similar problems to yours, I got a local repair shop come round to look at it. The fellow immediately told me it needed a new compressor. I told him in that case I would just dump the fridge and buy a new one as replacing the compressor is not much less than buying a new fridge. The service fellow swiftly had a change of heart after having another look, and decided simply replacing a relay would solve the problem. He realized he wasn't going to make the killing he'd hoped so better a switch than nothing. Been no trouble since and that was two years ago.

Won't bother repairing it if it breaks down again. Will buy a replacement instead. They're more efficient now. JT, I would suggest a replacement. They're not expensive and it beats faffing around with repairs that may or may not work.

[Thailaw]

Scrap - 10 years is a good life span out of a fridge....

JH

That's the kind of advice I am looking for. Would new ones be more energy efficient?

Yes. The new fridges are more energy efficient than your 10 year old unit..

From www.aham.org (Assiociation of Home Appliance Manufacturers, Washington, DC.)

Average Useful Life of Major Home Appliances

National Family Opinion, Inc. (NFO), 1996 Survey

Appliance Average Useful Life*

Disposer (In the Sink) 12 years

Trash Compactor 14 years

Room Air Conditioner 12 years

Dehumidifier 11 years

Dryer 13 years

Washer- Top Load 14 years

Washer- Front Load 11 years

Range- Slide in Single Oven 17 years

Range- Double Oven 18 years

Range- Drop in Single Oven 11 years

Oven- Built In 16 years

Cook Top- Single Built In 13 years

Cook Top- Double Built In 21 years

Microwave Oven 9 years

Dishwasher- Built In Under Counter 13 years

Dishwasher - Portable 11 years

Refrigerator- Side By Side 14 years

Refrigerator- Top Mount 14 years

Refrigerator- Bottom Mount 17 years

Refrigerator- One Door 19 years

Refrigerator- Built In 14 years

Refrigerator- Compact 5 years

Freezer- Chest 18 years

Freezer- Upright 15 years

*The age of an appliance when it is replaced because it cannot be repaired or costs too much to repair. ( This does not infer the appliance will be without repair during it's lifetime.)

NFO Sept. 1996 (emphasis added).

I assume that your is a smaller 1 door model, so 19 years is the average useful life, which is about what I expected. You are half way there............... Call Numchai. They are good, as has been said.

Edited March 21, 2011 by Thailaw

[Darrel]

It may just be the motor knocking against the body or the heat exchanger pipes at the back. Try pushing them (gently) and see if there is any change. Also try switching it off for 30 minutes.

[jdinasia]

<snip>

ThaiLaw I would suggest that a report of appliance average lifetimes in the USA isn't particularly valid in Thailand. A 10 year old fridge is WAY past its prime in Thailand.

[Thailaw]

<snip>

ThaiLaw I would suggest that a report of appliance average lifetimes in the USA isn't particularly valid in Thailand. A 10 year old fridge is WAY past its prime in Thailand.

Do you have any authoritative source to substantiate your totally speculative (and I think incorrect) claim? I expect that the average life of a refrigerator (like cars) is actually longer in Thailand than in the US for 2 reasons: (1) the incomes of the population are on average lower so they will, ceteris paribus, repair rather than replace a costly item, and (2) the cost of repair is much (I'd make it all caps but it wouldn't add any weight to my argument)) lower in Thailand than in the US, so the repair of an expensive item is justified in Thailand where it might not be in the US (I just repaired a costly CD recorder/player ($18 repair cost); in the US I would have tossed it and bought a new one). They, to my knowledge, do not collect such statistics in Thailand, so the data from the US are the "best" available, and certainly good enough for the issue at hand. One can debate their applicability, but if anything they are probably short as relates to Thailand.

[onnut]

If you can put up with the knocking you may get another year out of it.

But for a 10 year old fridge probably better to go and get a new one.

[jdinasia]

Authoritative? No, that is why I used the word "suggest". Comparing a fridge made for the US market and one made for Thailand (other than the very top of the line full sized units that are comparably priced to the US) just doesn't make any sense. So the question is back to you, Do you have any authoritative source for comparing the lifetime of a fridge in Thailand to that of one in the USA?

Brand new Samsung fridge in Thailand has a 1 year warranty not in-home service. (with 5 years for the motor)

Warranty length in the UK is twice that for in-home service. (same as Thailand for the motor and coolant system (sealed systems only)

The weight of the fridges in the UK (valid to consider construction quality) is 3 times that of a comparably sized unit in Thailand and the price in the UK is 6X that of the price in Thailand.

Gaskets and seals in Thailand are not the same quality as in the UK.

A 10 year old fridge in Thailand (not the same quality as in the UK) is way out of warranty, it isn't the same specs, it is made from inferior materials etc ...

Now --- will someone try and salvage it? Yes. Is it worth salvage? IMHO no. Is the fridge the most expensive kitchen appliance to operate? Yes. Has Energy star ratings changed significantly for fridges in the last 10 years? Yes

[jdinasia]

A quick search on Pantip marketplace comes back with this .....

http://www.pantipmarket.com/electronic/refrigerator/

if you read Thai

[chachachacha]

Really funny these tight as a fish's arse threads . However must say the funniest was the one where a guy has come here on holiday & wants to spend his time looking for a second hand blender . LOL

[Jingthing]

Tight, schmight. An appliance is a long term investment. No harm in trying to be smart about managing them.

Thanks for the ideas, folks. The noise seems to not be constant all the time, and sometimes not so loud.

Edited March 21, 2011 by Jingthing

[chachachacha]

Tight, schmight. An appliance is a long term investment. No harm in trying to be smart about managing them.

Thanks for the ideas, folks. The noise seems to not be constant all the time, and sometimes not so loud.

[/quote Long term or life long (really funny) LOL

[GarryP]

Now I knew that some things were manufactured to lower specs for the local market (4-wheeled vehicles), however, I didn't realise that this also applied to household appliances. Are the Hitachi (substitute any brand with a local manufaturing plant)refrigerators produced locally for the export market really far superior to those made for the local market? What about TV's? Is the same model sold locally of lower quality than the exported one?

[Darrel]

The noise seems to not be constant all the time, and sometimes not so loud.

It surely is vibration. Bend the heat exchanger pipes.

[jdinasia]

Now I knew that some things were manufactured to lower specs for the local market (4-wheeled vehicles), however, I didn't realise that this also applied to household appliances. Are the Hitachi (substitute any brand with a local manufaturing plant)refrigerators produced locally for the export market really far superior to those made for the local market? What about TV's? Is the same model sold locally of lower quality than the exported one?

Depends on the individual product, but yes most things made for the local market are not the same specs as those made for export. For fridges, look at just the base weight of a unit by spec that is for the Thai market and one that is for export. Everything from the box-frame to the motor mounts to the motors themselves are stronger/better. Upgrading to a newer unit from a 10 year old fridge (both local market products) will likely save more in electricity over its life than the unit itself costs. 6-8k just doesn't strike me as worth the thought when compared to a unit that makes enough noise to make one post about it on TVF.

[Jingthing]

Update on my fridge drama.

I now think the unit is most likely only seven years old, not ten. I was basing the ten guess based on the energy rating label but now I realize that is not the same thing as age of unit (based on shopping).

Out of the blue without changing anything (well I did nudge the unit a little bit but don't know if related) the noise just went away. Of course it might come back.

I was concerned that the noise meant it was working harder and would get a huge power bill. So far, the power bill actually went down.

So I guess I'll see what happens and check the next power bill.

Going shopping I found a likely replacement unit which actually has a nice feature I'd prefer -- the freezer on the bottom because I don't use the freezer much, much more convenient to get access to the fridge part.

Some more questions.

I asked at Power Buy whether they would take the old unit away when they brought the new one. They said something about tip the delivery guys, but didn't give me any idea of how much to tip or even guarantee they would say yes. That is frustrating.

Any experience with buying a fridge from Power Buy vs. Numchai? Also interested in policies, if any, about taking the old unit. I am getting the idea it won't be free, but want to know how much.

[Darrel]

I would have thought that someone around here would be delighted to take away a fridge, working or not. People collect used plastic bottles and cardboard which must be worth much less. I would not pay to have someone take it away.

[Jingthing]

I would have thought that someone around here would be delighted to take away a fridge, working or not. People collect used plastic bottles and cardboard which must be worth much less. I would not pay to have someone take it away.

I agree. The thing is working now, anyway. Obviously working is better. I would pay something just for the convenience and to not spoil the food due to timing issues. I have another lead who will take it away for free but the timing might be tricky, might be stuck with a "sculpture" for awhile. It's worth something to me to make this clean, but not alot, so that's why I asked the store how much. But they clearly have no relation to the delivery people's policies which isn't so surprising really.

[Darrel]

If the store was being difficult I would make the removal of the old fridge a condition of the purchase of the new one. Or just tell the security guy/cleaners in your place that there is a fridge going free for the first person to collect it.

For what it's worth, nudging the thing probably stopped the vibration as I suggested it might. That sort of noise is common. It wont consume any more power because it is vibrating anyway.