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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 8, 2021 12:21:11 GMT
I don't envy you. I would not want to do appliances only. Todays are so bad!!!! That is SO true! I picked a relatively new Samsung (maybe 7 years old) for useful parts. Got very little. The evaporator coil was literally made of heavy-duty aluminum foil. I kid you not. You could put on a pair of leather gardening gloves and then "wad up" the evaporator by hand with little difficulty. |
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Post by ChrisJ on Jun 8, 2021 14:20:32 GMT
I just diagnosed a Samsung fridge with a frozen up fridge section ice maker today. It requires a service kit that includes a new ice maker, a new “drain tube with heater”, a few other odds and ends like new refrigerant line clips (the ice maker has a refrigerant line that it clamps around, yes really), a new control board, and caulk that you put all around the perimeter of the ice room. I’ve done several of these. The cost? $400 including the kit and labor. Ridiculous. I’ve also seen multiple cases where the fridge temp is way off either due to a defrost issue due to a bad suction line temp sensor (defrost sensor) or a bad fridge section temp sensor. You would think they would program the computer to defrost after a set amount of time if the sensor wasn’t reporting the need for a defrost cycle. Also had one a few weeks ago that left me shaking my head. Top of the line Samsung fridge with a giant screen in the door and cameras in the interior. Spent 10 minutes searching through menus trying to find the temp settings. Never could find them. I did find menu suggestions and a way to transfer a shopping list to your phone, ways to put pictures on the screen etc. Eventually gave up and started diagnosing it old school. Compressor was running but nothing was happening. It was out of happy gas. It was 2 years old. Let me repeat that. IT WAS 2 YEARS OLD AND WAS BRICKED. UTTER GARBAGE! I completely forgot you repair these for a living. My memory isn't what it used to be.  |
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Post by ckfan on Jun 8, 2021 19:51:30 GMT
Yes, the new evaporators are extremely fragile and are very likely to leak. It’s amazing that more of them don’t leak. I think the EPA needs to go after these garbage manufacturers for spewing lots of refrigerant into the atmosphere. I would love to see that, especially for Frigidaire. Can’t tell how many ofThose I’ve diagnosed with leaks.
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Post by ChrisJ on Jun 8, 2021 20:05:46 GMT
Yes, the new evaporators are extremely fragile and are very likely to leak. It’s amazing that more of them don’t leak. I think the EPA needs to go after these garbage manufacturers for spewing lots of refrigerant into the atmosphere. I would love to see that, especially for Frigidaire. Can’t tell how many ofThose I’ve diagnosed with leaks. Air conditioning seems to be similar. Guys doing installations and repairs cannot vent etc but cheap evaporators by all means dump 10 pounds. |
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Post by ckfan on Jun 8, 2021 21:06:39 GMT
Yes, the new evaporators are extremely fragile and are very likely to leak. It’s amazing that more of them don’t leak. I think the EPA needs to go after these garbage manufacturers for spewing lots of refrigerant into the atmosphere. I would love to see that, especially for Frigidaire. Can’t tell how many ofThose I’ve diagnosed with leaks. Air conditioning seems to be similar. Guys doing installations and repairs cannot vent etc but cheap evaporators by all means dump 10 pounds. Exactly my point. |
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 9, 2021 12:40:12 GMT
Air conditioning seems to be similar. Guys doing installations and repairs cannot vent etc but cheap evaporators by all means dump 10 pounds. Exactly my point. This is like saying the following: "It is illegal for me to 'manually open a valve' and blow off a system charge into the air." - True "It is legal for a manufacturer to design a system which is guaranteed to fail by leaking the charge into the air." - True "Therefore, it SHOULD be legal for me to install a timed solenoid valve on a system, set a 1 hour timer, walk away, and let it blow off the charge in my absence at a later time." The third line seems preposterous, doesn't it?! Well, that is exactly what the manufacturers are doing by inadequately designing the refrigerant-containing components of a system. Think of all the 50+ years old vintage systems we find which still have a charge? It's not that hard to design a system which holds its charge. The automotive industry got hit hard by the EPA for this same thing in the 90's. They had to redesign the compressors and line fittings for a guaranteed refrigerant retention time. The precedent is set for this very situation so expect something to come down the line sooner or later. |
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Post by ChrisJ on Jun 9, 2021 15:21:55 GMT
This is like saying the following: "It is illegal for me to 'manually open a valve' and blow off a system charge into the air." - True "It is legal for a manufacturer to design a system which is guaranteed to fail by leaking the charge into the air." - True "Therefore, it SHOULD be legal for me to install a timed solenoid valve on a system, set a 1 hour timer, walk away, and let it blow off the charge in my absence at a later time." The third line seems preposterous, doesn't it?! Well, that is exactly what the manufacturers are doing by inadequately designing the refrigerant-containing components of a system. Think of all the 50+ years old vintage systems we find which still have a charge? It's not that hard to design a system which holds its charge. The automotive industry got hit hard by the EPA for this same thing in the 90's. They had to redesign the compressors and line fittings for a guaranteed refrigerant retention time. The precedent is set for this very situation so expect something to come down the line sooner or later. While we're on the subject how about putting refrigerants into computer dusters....... Am I crazy or is R134A used in computer dusters, even now? |
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Post by ckfan on Jun 9, 2021 23:58:37 GMT
I honestly wonder if they haven’t designed a “timed valve” in the form of steel tubing ruining inside the cabinet along the door seal perimeter. It’s the Yoder loop and is meant to act as a mullion heater to keep sweat off of the cabinet and seals. You can’t repair a leak there because you can’t get to it. Seriously, I’ve probably diagnosed 30 Frigidaire models with leaks that can’t be found. They are usually around 5 years old. A few have only been a couple years old.
No, fortunately it isn’t 134a in duster cans. It’s 152a. David has proven that it works well in R12 systems and some SO2 systems.
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Post by ChrisJ on Jun 10, 2021 11:43:35 GMT
I honestly wonder if they haven’t designed a “timed valve” in the form of steel tubing ruining inside the cabinet along the door seal perimeter. It’s the Yoder loop and is meant to act as a mullion heater to keep sweat off of the cabinet and seals. You can’t repair a leak there because you can’t get to it. Seriously, I’ve probably diagnosed 30 Frigidaire models with leaks that can’t be found. They are usually around 5 years old. A few have only been a couple years old. No, fortunately it isn’t 134a in duster cans. It’s 152a. David has proven that it works well in R12 systems and some SO2 systems. I've always thought that was a brilliant way to keep that area warm vs running an electric heater. Our 2011 Kitchenaid / Whirlpool does that. Although, I've been saying I need to clean the condenser for something like 6 years now. Something I never have to do on a monitor top (I'm not biased or anything). Short of cutting a hole in the floor under it I've yet to figure out a reasonably easy way to clean that folded disaster of a condenser. |
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 10, 2021 12:19:58 GMT
I honestly wonder if they haven’t designed a “timed valve” in the form of steel tubing ruining inside the cabinet along the door seal perimeter. It’s the Yoder loop and is meant to act as a mullion heater to keep sweat off of the cabinet and seals. You can’t repair a leak there because you can’t get to it. Seriously, I’ve probably diagnosed 30 Frigidaire models with leaks that can’t be found. They are usually around 5 years old. A few have only been a couple years old. No, fortunately it isn’t 134a in duster cans. It’s 152a. David has proven that it works well in R12 systems and some SO2 systems. I've always thought that was a brilliant way to keep that area warm vs running an electric heater. Our 2011 Kitchenaid / Whirlpool does that. Although, I've been saying I need to clean the condenser for something like 6 years now. Something I never have to do on a monitor top (I'm not biased or anything). Short of cutting a hole in the floor under it I've yet to figure out a reasonably easy way to clean that folded disaster of a condenser. It would be brilliant, you know, if mankind had invented some sort of non-corroding tubing material so it wouldn't leak in that area. Oh; wait... we have that but the cheap bastards didn't use it. |
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Post by ChrisJ on Jun 10, 2021 12:53:55 GMT
I've always thought that was a brilliant way to keep that area warm vs running an electric heater. Our 2011 Kitchenaid / Whirlpool does that. Although, I've been saying I need to clean the condenser for something like 6 years now. Something I never have to do on a monitor top (I'm not biased or anything). Short of cutting a hole in the floor under it I've yet to figure out a reasonably easy way to clean that folded disaster of a condenser. It would be brilliant, you know, if mankind had invented some sort of non-corroding tubing material so it wouldn't leak in that area. Oh; wait... we have that but the cheap bastards didn't use it. Let's be fair, the condenser on the CA, CK and CG are steel. They don't leak. I feel the material chosen isn't the issue or at least not the only issue. If they're using low quality steel as thin as possible and installing it unprotected in an area that sweats, that would be bad. |
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 10, 2021 13:06:54 GMT
It would be brilliant, you know, if mankind had invented some sort of non-corroding tubing material so it wouldn't leak in that area. Oh; wait... we have that but the cheap bastards didn't use it. Let's be fair, the condenser on the CA, CK and CG are steel. They don't leak. I feel the material chosen isn't the issue or at least not the only issue. If they're using low quality steel as thin as possible and installing it unprotected in an area that sweats, that would be bad. Exactly.... the condenser on the CK and CA is out in the open away from moisture. And it's thick walled. The engineers should know that burying tubing in the door frame insulation where it's guaranteed to get wet, requires corrosion-resistant materials. Yet they disregard this basic principle and allow the bean-counters to win over them. |
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Post by coldspaces on Jun 16, 2021 3:52:01 GMT
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Post by ckfan on Jun 16, 2021 14:48:41 GMT
Wow, that’s insane. I had no idea.
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 16, 2021 14:52:53 GMT
Wow, that’s insane. I had no idea. Crazy isn't it..... Huge EPA fine for letting it out of a refrigeration or A/C system but perfectly OK to spray freely for dust removal. Reeks of politics, doesn't it? |
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