Hitachi inverter refrigerator

[TheCruncher]

Just wanted to know if anyone has experience with the particular refrigerator pictured below. I have finally after 2 replacements reached an agreement with Samsung that they fully refund me for the inverter side by side I bought a year ago, since it made a horrible knocking sound.

So I'm in the market for a new fridge, which obviously will not be a Samsung, and the Hitachi R-S600P2TH I can find at a really good price, new and with full warranty.

Mr Google doesn't know about any known issues, so I thought I post it here in the hope that there are any members who have the same.

[seajae]

mate, I am in a similar boat, I bought a samsung 2 door fridge, top door is the freezer but it has never closed fully since it was delivered. We phoned the service number on the fridge and they simply refused to come to the house and wanted us to take it to them, I told them it was full of food etc and was way to big for us to man handle out of the house and offered to pay for them to come but they refused. I emailed Samsung Thailand but received no answer, got to the stage where we were contacting them every couple of months but still no answer. Wife tried the service people several times as well with no luck, warranty expired and Samsung simply ignored us. Last month I decided to try contacting Samsung USA and they answered me straight away, found out what the problem was and told the thai people to show up which they finally did. They played around with the door for an hour then told us it was a faulty door and needed to be replaced but seeing the warranty had expired we had to pay them and pay to have a new door fitted, the fact they had refused to attend to this while the warranty was in place didnt come into it. I politely told the technician what they could do with the door and am now looking at the same fridge you are, after my experience with Samsung and the fact that they do not honour their warranty or even answer any queries I will never buy from Samsung Thailand again, thing is in any other country they are a top company, its simply the thai office that is the problem, they refuse to lose any profit by actually repairing their faulty goods. Your lucky, at least they actually did something for you.

[TheCruncher]

I bought my Samsung January 2015, had it replaced twice, but still had the same problem of loud knocking noise.

In the past 2 weeks i had 3 technicians visiting, with the latest a head technician from Bangkok. They started the usual game of blame the customer. We are here for 15 minutes already and we don't hear any strange noise so it must be in your imagination.

Then they also tried to blame the inaccuracy of my thermometer, as I had found out that during the night the temperature would float between - 21C and -7C, so they mounted my sensor at the top of the freezer and theirs at the bottom.

After half an hour of that kind of practices, where it was clear that they wanted to find fault by the customer, they asked if I had to go somewhere in the afternoon.

I told them that I had to go to the OCPB office very soon. They got the message and awarded a full refund right away.

By the way I have involved OCPB in an earlier case about a phone which they didn't want to honor the warranty, so they knew I was serious.

My experience with most of the companies, big and large, in Thailand is that it is enough to mention the magic 4 letters to get things going.

[keeniau96]

Thank you gents, have been considering a Samsung fridge but no way now after hearing about them.

[MaeJoMTB]

My Samsung Inverter fridge (2 door fridge/freezer) is 3 years old now.

Worked perfectly since day 1.

10 year warranty on the inverter/compressor.

[TheCruncher]

In case any one is interested in the issues I had, there is a report about below, take a look. The thing is that this not only happened at night, but throughout the whole day, and I had made plenty of recordings for them.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2950678/Mystery-fridge-s-strange-NOISES-solved-Scientists-finally-trace-source-loud-sounds-haunt-kitchens-night.html

http://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/1418450360/2015/02/1418450360_4048499350001_samsung-fridge-1423737836604.mp4

Edited January 23, 2016 by TheCruncher

[Thian]

We have Samsung side by side with icemaker and waterdispenser and we love it. It's 5 years old now but we bought extra warranty.

It makes strange noises like a clicking relay nonstop when it's very warm. I guess our kitchen gets too warm (33-35 celcius max.)

When i called them for that noise one day their phonenumbers they put on the fridge were never answered. I found other numbers but they couldn't speak english. They offered to send a engineer but since the fridge is standing on blocks to protect for flooding we can't move it so they can't open the backside...I told them to not come. It works fine though.

It costed 30-35K baht and for that price we are happy. If we need another one i won't buy Samsung again but sure will buy one with icemaker and waterdispenser outside.

Also i will build a nice frame with wheels to put it on in case it needs service....It's 20 cm above the floor now, higher then the waterlevel during the floods.

[cigar7]

I have 2 Hitachi inverter fridges, but not the side by side models. One blew the main circuit board, which became infested with micro ants. Hitachi service was phoned, they arrived about a day later. On the first trip the diagnosis was wrong, they wanted to replace the fan. 2nd trip they agreed it was the circuit board. They estimated it would take 2 weeks to replace the board, although the board was in Bangkok. I went to Bangkok, purchased the board and installed the board my self. The fridge was not under warranty. The board was about 2500-3000b, which seems reasonable for a fridge purchased for 22,000b. They had 50 boards in stock in Bangkok. I guess the service response time also depends on where you live. I'm in Pattaya.

In my opinion, the Japanese brands, are built better and have decent service.

[mogandave]

I have 2 Hitachi inverter fridges, but not the side by side models. One blew the main circuit board, which became infested with micro ants. Hitachi service was phoned, they arrived about a day later. On the first trip the diagnosis was wrong, they wanted to replace the fan. 2nd trip they agreed it was the circuit board. They estimated it would take 2 weeks to replace the board, although the board was in Bangkok. I went to Bangkok, purchased the board and installed the board my self. The fridge was not under warranty. The board was about 2500-3000b, which seems reasonable for a fridge purchased for 22,000b. They had 50 boards in stock in Bangkok. I guess the service response time also depends on where you live. I'm in Pattaya.

In my opinion, the Japanese brands, are built better and have decent service.

Having a fridge down for two weeks waiting for parts that are 100km away is good service?

[Thian]

I have 2 Hitachi inverter fridges, but not the side by side models. One blew the main circuit board, which became infested with micro ants. Hitachi service was phoned, they arrived about a day later. On the first trip the diagnosis was wrong, they wanted to replace the fan. 2nd trip they agreed it was the circuit board. They estimated it would take 2 weeks to replace the board, although the board was in Bangkok. I went to Bangkok, purchased the board and installed the board my self. The fridge was not under warranty. The board was about 2500-3000b, which seems reasonable for a fridge purchased for 22,000b. They had 50 boards in stock in Bangkok. I guess the service response time also depends on where you live. I'm in Pattaya.

In my opinion, the Japanese brands, are built better and have decent service.

Having a fridge down for two weeks waiting for parts that are 100km away is good service?

They can't ship it overnight by EMS to make their customer happy?

But are those Siemens fridges (who cost much more) any better??

[onetime]

Thank you gents, have been considering a Samsung fridge but no way now after hearing about them.

+1

[cigar7]

I have 2 Hitachi inverter fridges, but not the side by side models. One blew the main circuit board, which became infested with micro ants. Hitachi service was phoned, they arrived about a day later. On the first trip the diagnosis was wrong, they wanted to replace the fan. 2nd trip they agreed it was the circuit board. They estimated it would take 2 weeks to replace the board, although the board was in Bangkok. I went to Bangkok, purchased the board and installed the board my self. The fridge was not under warranty. The board was about 2500-3000b, which seems reasonable for a fridge purchased for 22,000b. They had 50 boards in stock in Bangkok. I guess the service response time also depends on where you live. I'm in Pattaya.

In my opinion, the Japanese brands, are built better and have decent service.

Having a fridge down for two weeks waiting for parts that are 100km away is good service?

Yes, I agree 2 weeks for fridge is far too long, that's why I went and got the part myself next day and installed it in less than an hour. At least Hitachi had the part in the country, and near me. In my opinion, servicemen need more training in diagnosing problems.

My Sony TV needed repair, and the part had to be shipped in from Singapore. Took 3 weeks to get the TV back.

[mogandave]

I have 2 Hitachi inverter fridges, but not the side by side models. One blew the main circuit board, which became infested with micro ants. Hitachi service was phoned, they arrived about a day later. On the first trip the diagnosis was wrong, they wanted to replace the fan. 2nd trip they agreed it was the circuit board. They estimated it would take 2 weeks to replace the board, although the board was in Bangkok. I went to Bangkok, purchased the board and installed the board my self. The fridge was not under warranty. The board was about 2500-3000b, which seems reasonable for a fridge purchased for 22,000b. They had 50 boards in stock in Bangkok. I guess the service response time also depends on where you live. I'm in Pattaya.

In my opinion, the Japanese brands, are built better and have decent service.

Having a fridge down for two weeks waiting for parts that are 100km away is good service?

Yes, I agree 2 weeks for fridge is far too long, that's why I went and got the part myself next day and installed it in less than an hour. At least Hitachi had the part in the country, and near me. In my opinion, servicemen need more training in diagnosing problems.

My Sony TV needed repair, and the part had to be shipped in from Singapore. Took 3 weeks to get the TV back.

So why the claim that Japanese brands are built better and have decent service?

[TheCruncher]

A heads up for those who consider buying the Hitachi fridge pictured in the OP.

List price is 61.000 Baht, but it can currently be purchased around 35K everywhere. I purchased it for 29.900 last week Friday.

On Wednesday the PCB was replaced by Hitachi under warranty, because the freezer never reached the set temperature and the fan runs very noisy 24 hours a day.

After the PCB swap nothing changed.

The freezer temperature was set to -21C but the lowest it reached in those 7 days has been -19.2C, where most of the time it would be between 17 and 18C.

The fan would run 24 hours a day at whining level so that you could hear it in the next room, or at a distance of 15 meters from the fridge.

I have to say that the fan from the Samsung fridge could not be heard even when standing next to it.

Hitachi claims that this sound is normal for their product, explanation was that their fan runs at 150 rounds/sec where others only run 50 rounds/sec, but agreed to give me a full refund.

So buyer beware if you're looking for this product.

I should add : According to the energy label it is supposed to use 1.18 kWh in 24 hours. I attached a Kill-a Watt meter to it and the average was 2.16 kWh per 24 hours.

Freezer is fully loaded and door is opened 2 times a day and the fridge door may be 10 -15 times since I'm single, so no excessive usage

Edited February 4, 2016 by TheCruncher

[seajae]

well after bagging Samsung our new fridge is, you guessed it, a Samsung, latest model 2 door(no ice/cold water dispenser) and after a week I have to say it is doing ok so far. We went to buy a new fridge at Sirisin and after telling them why we didnt want a Samsung the salesman went through the list of fridges they sold(Hitachi, LG, Sharp and several others) and told us the the facts on each of them. The Samsung fridge he recommended to us was not the most expensive either, in fact is was one of the lower price models but he explained that it was also very reliable, 10 year guarantee on the inverter and as they had their own Samsung service centre they would guarantee any problems we had would be dealt with in our house, he also said they would get a new door(the door was faulty when we bought it but Samsung refused to replace it) for the other Samsung fridge that was the problem for us. While Samsung Thailand may not provide a back up service Sirisin obviously does, pity we didnt buy the original Samsung fridge from them. Our new fridge was delivered last saturday and after 6 days it has impressed me, -23 in the freezer, 1 in the fridge, plenty of room and extremely quiet. As the salesman explained, this model as 2 fans & 2 cooling units so that the freezer and fridge run on their own seperate coolers, the Hitachi(the one we were going to buy) has 2 fans but only one cooling unit and has a recommended sales price of 39.990 baht. The fact that the salesman was able to explain and show us why he recommended this Samsung model was pretty good considering I dont usually change my mind easily once its made up but I do listen to reason and facts, we paid 29,990 baht for this model(reduced from 34,990) RS552NRUAWW/ST, it has the white finish but after having a stainless steel one I much prefer this as they are a lot easier to keep the outside clean(plus it goes better with the new kitchen).

Samsung Thailand may not be a good company to deal with but their saving grace in this case was the service provided by Sirisin, after reading TheCrunchers last post on his new Hitachi fridge maybe we got it right, lets hope so.

[TheCruncher]

well after bagging Samsung our new fridge is, you guessed it, a Samsung, latest model 2 door(no ice/cold water dispenser) and after a week I have to say it is doing ok so far. We went to buy a new fridge at Sirisin and after telling them why we didnt want a Samsung the salesman went through the list of fridges they sold(Hitachi, LG, Sharp and several others) and told us the the facts on each of them. The Samsung fridge he recommended to us was not the most expensive either, in fact is was one of the lower price models but he explained that it was also very reliable, 10 year guarantee on the inverter and as they had their own Samsung service centre they would guarantee any problems we had would be dealt with in our house, he also said they would get a new door(the door was faulty when we bought it but Samsung refused to replace it) for the other Samsung fridge that was the problem for us. While Samsung Thailand may not provide a back up service Sirisin obviously does, pity we didnt buy the original Samsung fridge from them. Our new fridge was delivered last saturday and after 6 days it has impressed me, -23 in the freezer, 1 in the fridge, plenty of room and extremely quiet. As the salesman explained, this model as 2 fans & 2 cooling units so that the freezer and fridge run on their own seperate coolers, the Hitachi(the one we were going to buy) has 2 fans but only one cooling unit and has a recommended sales price of 39.990 baht. The fact that the salesman was able to explain and show us why he recommended this Samsung model was pretty good considering I dont usually change my mind easily once its made up but I do listen to reason and facts, we paid 29,990 baht for this model(reduced from 34,990) RS552NRUAWW/ST, it has the white finish but after having a stainless steel one I much prefer this as they are a lot easier to keep the outside clean(plus it goes better with the new kitchen).

Samsung Thailand may not be a good company to deal with but their saving grace in this case was the service provided by Sirisin, after reading TheCrunchers last post on his new Hitachi fridge maybe we got it right, lets hope so.

Seajae, sorry to be the bearer of the bad news, but the model you just bought is the one I returned. It runs very quiet indeed, but wait until you have it a week or 2, then the loud bangs will start during the defrost cycle.

Believe me it is loud, as in the video clip I posted, and will wake me up in my closed bedroom which is 17 meter away from the fridge location.

By the way, you can inform Sirisin that the Hitachi fridge has the same twin cooling system as Samsung.

Edited February 5, 2016 by TheCruncher

[Thian]

We have the samsung side by side , stainless with ice/water dispenser. It makes noise if the icecubes are dumped but that's allright...It costed 30-35k for a showmodel because it was sold out 5 years ago and i couldn't wait.

It goes untill -27 which is good, i don't use the filter anymore because it's replaced by a real waterfilter with UV.

For the hitachi i would go to Phuntip and buy a nice fan there (the topmodel or most expensive one). In a airdryer in Europe i built an aircon-fan and since then it's very silent and works great.

For a fridge here make sure it can breathe, place it away from the wall (10cm) and make sure it gets some fresh air all the time. Ours had been in 15 cm water during the flooding but still worked fine....

[TheCruncher]

We have the samsung side by side , stainless with ice/water dispenser. It makes noise if the icecubes are dumped but that's allright...It costed 30-35k for a showmodel because it was sold out 5 years ago and i couldn't wait.

It goes untill -27 which is good, i don't use the filter anymore because it's replaced by a real waterfilter with UV.

For the hitachi i would go to Phuntip and buy a nice fan there (the topmodel or most expensive one). In a airdryer in Europe i built an aircon-fan and since then it's very silent and works great.

For a fridge here make sure it can breathe, place it away from the wall (10cm) and make sure it gets some fresh air all the time. Ours had been in 15 cm water during the flooding but still worked fine....

Do you mean replacing the fan from the Hitachi refrigerator with an aftermarket one?>

[Thian]

We have the samsung side by side , stainless with ice/water dispenser. It makes noise if the icecubes are dumped but that's allright...It costed 30-35k for a showmodel because it was sold out 5 years ago and i couldn't wait.

It goes untill -27 which is good, i don't use the filter anymore because it's replaced by a real waterfilter with UV.

For the hitachi i would go to Phuntip and buy a nice fan there (the topmodel or most expensive one). In a airdryer in Europe i built an aircon-fan and since then it's very silent and works great.

For a fridge here make sure it can breathe, place it away from the wall (10cm) and make sure it gets some fresh air all the time. Ours had been in 15 cm water during the flooding but still worked fine....

Do you mean replacing the fan from the Hitachi refrigerator with an aftermarket one?>

Yup, if a noisy fan is the only problem then that's easy to fix. This is the land of fans! My fridge has electric fans but make sure you're not talking about the compressor...that's another thing.

A good fan doesn't make noise though, maybe you need a bigger one or a snailhouse model which are more silent. Phantip and Chinatown have many fans for sale, all sizes and models. Or you can order one from internet.

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=hitachi+refrigerator+fan&rlz=1C1CHWL_nlTH663TH663&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidyeWGxODKAhUJHI4KHYKCAoQQ_AUIBigB#imgdii=tVGgltmBIq3v6M%3A%3BtVGgltmBIq3v6M%3A%3B5nG-7ByJH4xamM%3A&imgrc=tVGgltmBIq3v6M%3A

Here you see one which has rubbers at the corners to stop vibrations (noise) i guess. Maybe yours also has rubbers but they don't work properly because the bolts are tightened to much or so.

I liked the brand SUNON for fans, made in Taiwan. They cost more but are worth it, Phantip sold them in many sizes and voltages.

Or you use an oversized fan and reduce it's speed with a dimmer, then it makes less noise but it's better to buy one of those aircon switches who can change fanspeed...dimmers also work though and cost 80 baht when i used to play with that stuff, thats for a 220V fan though.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Thian

[TheCruncher]

We have the samsung side by side , stainless with ice/water dispenser. It makes noise if the icecubes are dumped but that's allright...It costed 30-35k for a showmodel because it was sold out 5 years ago and i couldn't wait.

It goes untill -27 which is good, i don't use the filter anymore because it's replaced by a real waterfilter with UV.

For the hitachi i would go to Phuntip and buy a nice fan there (the topmodel or most expensive one). In a airdryer in Europe i built an aircon-fan and since then it's very silent and works great.

For a fridge here make sure it can breathe, place it away from the wall (10cm) and make sure it gets some fresh air all the time. Ours had been in 15 cm water during the flooding but still worked fine....

Do you mean replacing the fan from the Hitachi refrigerator with an aftermarket one?>

Yup, if a noisy fan is the only problem then that's easy to fix. This is the land of fans!

A good fan doesn't make noise though, maybe you need a bigger one or a snailhouse model which are more silent. Phantip and Chinatown have many fans for sale, all sizes and models. Or you can order one from internet.

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=hitachi+refrigerator+fan&rlz=1C1CHWL_nlTH663TH663&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidyeWGxODKAhUJHI4KHYKCAoQQ_AUIBigB#imgdii=tVGgltmBIq3v6M%3A%3BtVGgltmBIq3v6M%3A%3B5nG-7ByJH4xamM%3A&imgrc=tVGgltmBIq3v6M%3A

Here you see one which has rubbers at the corners to stop vibrations (noise) i guess. Maybe yours also has rubbers but they don't work properly because the bolts are tightened to much or so.

I liked the brand SUNON for fans, made in Taiwan. They cost more but are worth it, Phantip sold them in many sizes and voltages.

Or you use an oversized fan and reduce it's speed with a dimmer, then it makes less noise but it's better to buy one of those aircon switches who can change fanspeed...dimmers also work though and cost 80 baht when i used to play with that stuff, thats for a 220V fan though.

This afternoon I asked a technician about this, and his answer was that it would not be easy to find such a fan, since they are DC and have 4 wires instead of 2. I have never opened the back of such a fridge, but I also assume that the fan must fit in a housing, so must be an exact size and shape.

[TheCruncher]

well after bagging Samsung our new fridge is, you guessed it, a Samsung, latest model 2 door(no ice/cold water dispenser) and after a week I have to say it is doing ok so far. We went to buy a new fridge at Sirisin and after telling them why we didnt want a Samsung the salesman went through the list of fridges they sold(Hitachi, LG, Sharp and several others) and told us the the facts on each of them. The Samsung fridge he recommended to us was not the most expensive either, in fact is was one of the lower price models but he explained that it was also very reliable, 10 year guarantee on the inverter and as they had their own Samsung service centre they would guarantee any problems we had would be dealt with in our house, he also said they would get a new door(the door was faulty when we bought it but Samsung refused to replace it) for the other Samsung fridge that was the problem for us. While Samsung Thailand may not provide a back up service Sirisin obviously does, pity we didnt buy the original Samsung fridge from them. Our new fridge was delivered last saturday and after 6 days it has impressed me, -23 in the freezer, 1 in the fridge, plenty of room and extremely quiet. As the salesman explained, this model as 2 fans & 2 cooling units so that the freezer and fridge run on their own seperate coolers, the Hitachi(the one we were going to buy) has 2 fans but only one cooling unit and has a recommended sales price of 39.990 baht. The fact that the salesman was able to explain and show us why he recommended this Samsung model was pretty good considering I dont usually change my mind easily once its made up but I do listen to reason and facts, we paid 29,990 baht for this model(reduced from 34,990) RS552NRUAWW/ST, it has the white finish but after having a stainless steel one I much prefer this as they are a lot easier to keep the outside clean(plus it goes better with the new kitchen).

Samsung Thailand may not be a good company to deal with but their saving grace in this case was the service provided by Sirisin, after reading TheCrunchers last post on his new Hitachi fridge maybe we got it right, lets hope so.

Seajae, what were the shortcomings for this particular Hitachi fridge, that the dealer told you about?

Hitachi has picked up and refunded the fridge this morning already, but I'm eager to buy a new one, as I can't believe that the noise is a normal occurrence.

Problem is you can't test it at the dealer, and I think Hitachi would not be happy if I buy a new one and call them again next week.

[ignis]

Had a Samsung side by side, nothing but problems and repairs.. bought a big 23 Q Hitachi inverter almost 2 years ago..... the big single door Fridge is ideal and much more room then a side by side, as have a Panasonic big deep freeze so no need for a freezing compartment.

at the same time had a big Panasonic 22 Q, the compressor went about a year ago, felt it was not worth repairing as was perfect for 11 years. have replaced that one also with a bit smaller 18 Q Hitachi inverter, both Perfect and silent.

[seajae]

the Hitachi has dual fan but from the one cooling system, Samsung has dual fan but it is from two cooling systems(one for each side) so less strain on the system and uses less power. I was very particular about this with the salesman as I wanted to know exactly why the Samsung rated as the better fridge. Certainly hope I have not been led down the path as I have spent quite a bit with Sirisin in the last few years and everything from them has been great. Will now watch out for this noise and if it does happen will be back in Sirisin and tearing strips off the salesman, he knew how p*ssed I was with Samsung so if he has lied to us everyone in the store will know.

[TheCruncher]

the Hitachi has dual fan but from the one cooling system, Samsung has dual fan but it is from two cooling systems(one for each side) so less strain on the system and uses less power. I was very particular about this with the salesman as I wanted to know exactly why the Samsung rated as the better fridge. Certainly hope I have not been led down the path as I have spent quite a bit with Sirisin in the last few years and everything from them has been great. Will now watch out for this noise and if it does happen will be back in Sirisin and tearing strips off the salesman, he knew how p*ssed I was with Samsung so if he has lied to us everyone in the store will know.

Believe me Saejae, it is exactly the same. Samsung invented it, but almost every brand has it now.It are separate evaporators.

http://www.hitachi-sales.ae/eng/featureshighlight/refrigerators.html

http://appliancementor.weebly.com/blog/single-cooling-vs-twin-cooling-refrigerator

Edited February 5, 2016 by TheCruncher

[Thian]

The samsung (that i have) has electric fans who get dirty of course. If you ever move the fridge then it's wise to clean them i guess. They are at the back/bottom.

My freezer is small because of the icemaker but i wouldn't live without that, works very good.