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Christopher A. Young
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"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

got a really old fridge in my kitchen, nothing special just
a 15-20 year
old typical white boxy thing. Bought myself a new gadget
the other day,
one of those wireless thermometer thingys that also records
max and min.

CY: Sounds like fun. Are you an engineer?

Well here it turns out that while after I'd moved in I
thought I'd
calibrated the fridge correctly (PO's of the house were kind
of
eco-nuts, and had set the fridge too warm, presumably to
save energy) it
was still running a little warm. Tweaked it a little last
night, reset
the thermometer thing before I left for work (figuring it'd
stabilize
overnight,)

CY: Yes, overnight should do it.

and came back home to find that while I'd gone the fridge
temperature had ranged from 32F to 42F. weird.

CY: Not really. Sounds like a model with a defrost cycle.

obviously since I was
gone all day nobody had opened a door. So it seems that
it's not
holding the temp in a narrow enough range (since the fridge
portion
should, ideally, be between 33 and 39F at all times)

CY: Except in defrost.

Also, it seems like every time I walk through the kitchen,
the darn
thing is running. Is this typical? Seems to me I don't
recall that
anywhere else I've lived, usually the fridge would only be
running 50%
of the time or less, correct?

CY: Correct.

Typical room temp this time of year
ranges from 62F (away) to 67F (morning and evening) so it's
not like
it's especially warm in the kitchen. I don't have a
kill-a-watt, but
might get one. Would that tell me anything about whether it
is time for
replacement or not?

CY: Not really.

(do they tend to draw more or less current if
they're low on freon?)

CY: The running amperage goes down if low. The totaly watt
usage goes up, cause it's running all the time.

I know for a fact that this is a sealed system
(was just under it not long ago for its first cleaning
probably ever)
and it's not a particularly special fridge, so getting a new
one
wouldn't make me cry at all.

CY: It's not all dificult for a refrigeration tech to add
freon to a refrigerator. I've done it enough times.

Along the same lines, were I to buy a new fridge, it'd
probably be set
on its side to fit in the back of the truck to get it home.
How long
should it sit in its installed position before being plugged
in? 12
hours? Longer? Wouldn't want to blow up a new compressor
for doing
something dumb...

CY: No way to know. Different models of fridge, compressor
turned in different directions. It's a gamble in any case.

nate

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