2011 Camelot residential refrigerator install questions…discussion.

[Ron Shantos]

For the past 2 days I have tried to get a written document that supports that the Frigidaire has a Digital Inverter Compressor.  First on a chat I was told that the Frigidaire did have that technology.  I was told they would provide a document that confirmed that fact and it was to be emailed to me.  On a chat follow up they NOW said NO that it did not.  Spent most of a day on phone and chat to get confirmation from Frigidaire with NO success!  There is no way to talk to a human being at Frigidare to get ANY information or documents. Yesterday I went to Home Depot to cancel the Frigidaire and ordered a Samsung RF18.  

The good news is the cavity for the refrigerator is ready except I will need to remove the GFCI from the inverter. Hopefully that will not be a big task. 

I would like to thank Tom and this Forum for great information and feedback. It is much appreciated.

[Tom Cherry]

36 minutes ago, Ron Shantos said:

For the past 2 days I have tried to get a written document that supports that the Frigidaire has a Digital Inverter Compressor.  First on a chat I was told that the Frigidaire did have that technology.  I was told they would provide a document that confirmed that fact and it was to be emailed to me.  On a chat follow up they NOW said NO that it did not.  Spent most of a day on phone and chat to get confirmation from Frigidaire with NO success!  There is no way to talk to a human being at Frigidare to get ANY information or documents. Yesterday I went to Home Depot to cancel the Frigidaire and ordered a Samsung RF18.  

The good news is the cavity for the refrigerator is ready except I will need to remove the GFCI from the inverter. Hopefully that will not be a big task. 

I would like to thank Tom and this Forum for great information and feedback. It is much appreciated.

Great…to clarify….you CAN use the Refrigerator ICEMAKER OUTLET.  The GFCI was in the AUXILIARY or “add on” inverter.

Left a phone mail message.  Proceed with the install.  I’ll look at your prints and we can determine IF the Icemaker outlet is on the MH GFCI….and if and how we can get it straight power.  Well over 50, maybe 100 members have done that….so.

We’ll talk offline and you can do that afterwards.  BUT your Inverter should be good to go,

BTW….Kitchen Aid is just as bad.  I wanted to know if I should add a plug in surge supperssor to the outlet so that our new LED dishwasher was protected.  Getting the combo for FT KNOX VAULT was easier. The large local dealer, who provides the extended warranty requires ALL Refrigerators to have a PLUG in suppressor…for the 5 year warranty….they are considering all LED 120 VAC items,

I have a Belkin 120 VAC Cube surge suppressor on my microwave and the Samsung in the MH…and the MH has a hard wired Progressive. All my home appliances and TV and such, even coffee maker and washing machine have them…

ADD ONE!

[cbr046]

Our home 2016 Samsung fridge's compressor gave up the ghost earlier this year.  The compressor was covered under warranty (woohoo!) but not the labor.  The Samsung tech said he could change it out but not guarantee it would work, and we would be out the labor cost and necessary incidental parts, which I seem to recall was $1,000, but the $300 compressor was covered.  WHAT A CROCK THAT WAS!  The point is:  Read the small print on your warranty if that's the purchasing reason. 

We replaced it with a Frigidaire . . . . and it might not last either. 

Our Samsung GAS stove died about a month ago.  A $200 control board fixed it . . . . for a $900 gas stove. 

The fancier they get (engineering wise) the quicker something will go wrong.  The 30 yo fridge in the basement is still going.  Same for the 25 yo freezer in the garage.  Washer / Dryer is 26 yo.  Just basic stuff.  Sadly I had to retire my 54 yo Kenwood stereo, but it's on the list for repair.  I'm temporarily replacing it with a 50+ yo Knight Kit tuner mated to a 58 yo Wurlitzer jukebox amplifier.  Tough stuff. 

I have no idea what got me started on all that . . . .

- bob

[Ivylog]

Bob, I’d put a KW meter on the 30 year old fridge and 25 freezer…bet you’ll be surprised how much it’s costing you to run them. I did and the 30 year old fridge was costing $0.75/day ($270/year)… replaced with a $500 one that cost $0.16/day to run so it paid for itself in less than 3 years.

[Tom Cherry]

1 hour ago, cbr046 said:

Our home 2016 Samsung fridge's compressor gave up the ghost earlier this year.  The compressor was covered under warranty (woohoo!) but not the labor.  The Samsung tech said he could change it out but not guarantee it would work, and we would be out the labor cost and necessary incidental parts, which I seem to recall was $1,000, but the $300 compressor was covered.  WHAT A CROCK THAT WAS!  The point is:  Read the small print on your warranty if that's the purchasing reason. 

We replaced it with a Frigidaire . . . . and it might not last either. 

Our Samsung GAS stove died about a month ago.  A $200 control board fixed it . . . . for a $900 gas stove. 

The fancier they get (engineering wise) the quicker something will go wrong.  The 30 yo fridge in the basement is still going.  Same for the 25 yo freezer in the garage.  Washer / Dryer is 26 yo.  Just basic stuff.  Sadly I had to retire my 54 yo Kenwood stereo, but it's on the list for repair.  I'm temporarily replacing it with a 50+ yo Knight Kit tuner mated to a 58 yo Wurlitzer jukebox amplifier.  Tough stuff. 

I have no idea what got me started on all that . . . .

- bob

Ivy responded.  This is a highly debated subject.  I had extended warranty on a 2007 GE unit.  It never had a major issue....but it had it's SHARE of "nuisance" issues... and MAYBE I was picky.

It had a fancy "crisper" and there was a fan...and it ran ALL the time.  OK...the tech came out.  OPPS...design GOOF.  So he ordered an UPFIT kit.  It was a fancy " baffle and foam" kit...  Much like folks tape up or put cardboard on an air vent that blows on them. BUT, the ENGINEERS (and I IS ONE and did Product Design) came up with it.

Then, before it went out of extended warranty, I had it rebuilt.  The tech that came out laughed.  He said... WISE MAN. He has two sets of EVERY single replaceable item, including the compressor, for his HOME unit.  He figures he will get 30 years out of it...  BUT, he KNEW every part and every part, eventually failed.

OK...after 17 years... I finally replaced the Icemaker Auger drive motor.  Cost $100.  I figured that by now...I would have replaced the unit. BUT, it has been a JEWEL.  I guess it was the NEW parts...but that was within the first 5 years.  GO FIGURE. I have a Refurbished Icemaker mold...a COVETED ON...I can adjust the size of the cubes... That works great as I can get them the right size so they do NOT melt (during defrost) and then turn into an iceberg.  

NOW, from a RES REFER angle....which is the HEART of this topic.  A 30 YO Refrigerator will work in an unheated garage in Diluth, MN....or close.  BUT, a NEW Samsung will NOT work below 30 deg. I found out the HARD WAY.  New Res Refer.  It stopped the first night.  We were in the NC mountains and got a freak frost and hit 25.  Next NIGHT....not as cold...but STOPPED.  FWIW...when the Samsung will NOT COOL and you keep fiddling with the setting nd such....STOP.  UNPLUG IT... It takes maybe a minute...the tech says at least 5....when it is off....IT RESETS.  Then it will run.... If it is STILL COLD....it shuts down.  

OK...when I got back... I insulated the REAR access panel and the frame. It has a better R value than the sidewall of the slide.  Did the same to the TOP access panel.  It has NEVER missed a beat since.  A REAL Samsung tech said he gets maybe 25% of the calls when the temp drops.  A new Samsung is put into a garage or on a back porch (hey...we are urban...but still rural where I live).  The NEW ENERGY STAR MODELS were NEVER deigned for low Temps.  If you are in the NC mountains and have a freezer on the back porch...it costs a LOT less to run...it is COLD outside.  BUT, replace it.  You have to have an ALL WEATHER UNIT.  Lowes stocks them...not in Raleigh, but in the Mountains.

SO...that's it....my Samsung has been perfect.  YES, no appliance is 99.999% fail proof.  BUT, we have had good success. There were some quirks with the older ones...but since say 2015, no issues with the new ones.....

[GringoScot]

Brad Loehr, I replaced all of the overhead lighting in my Monaco with some low profile LED lights with a 25, 50, 75,100% adjustments.  These are very reasonably priced, available with multiple frame colors, and gave me about 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch more clearance.  This helped with my recent Frigidaire FRFG1723AV upgrade.

[GringoScot]

Ron Shantos, while a bit late as you seemed to have ordered an alternative refrigerator from Home Depot, but for the other members considering a residential upgrade, you might check Best Buy.  Never been a strong shopper with their company, but they do offer online alternatives from their outlet stores.  We purchased a Frigidaire FRFG1723AV for about $830 including sales tax.  This did not have a box but came with a full warranty and Best Buy loaded the refrigerator into the Penske van.  Now, I am used to industrial inverters running elaborate automation in manufacturing plants, so I perceive "inverters" a bit differently.  The Frigidaire does have a variable speed compressor that is designed to run 100% of the time except during the defrost cycle.  Our Frigidaire refrigerator ran perfectly on our previous Magnum ME2012 inverter.  We did recently replace the ME2012 with a pure sine MS2012, but this was predicated on my replacement of the house golf cart batteries with a LiFePo4.  Too, the 460Ah powered our Frigidaire for 5 straight days on a recent trip to the mid-west.  Wife was happy.