Would You Bother Trying to Fix a Freezer?

witsa on 21/08/2024 - 23:21

I got an upright freezer from haier. New it seems to be about 800 bucks.

It's about 7 years old and lately it's been displaying an e1 error. Not sure what it is, but it's still cold.

I suspect it might be the thermostat isn't working or something. I've got a smart plug on it and since the error has displayed, I can see that rather than turning off periodically it seems to be on power all the time. It's costing about 20c per day instead of 10c.

Anyway my question is, would you bother fixing it? It'll probably cost 200 for someone to just look at it and then depending on the problem the parts and labour might cost even more.

And I only suspect it's the thermostat. I have no clue. Who knows - it could be something else entirely. I'm paying a quarter of the price just for someone to take a look and fixing it might cost almost the same as a new unit.

Should I just buy a new unit? Maybe not a haier this time?

Electrical & Electronics Freezer

Comments

  • jv on 21/08/2024 - 23:24

    Would You Bother Trying to Fix a Freezer?

    No

  • AndyC1 on 21/08/2024 - 23:26

    Use google to search for the error and see what the problem is.

  • fantombloo on 21/08/2024 - 23:36
    +3

    Get an inkbird 240V thermostat and run it off that. Set your own temperature and hysteresis, has compressor timeouts too. I use one to run a chest freezer as a refrigerator and it works great. Search "Inkbird ITC-308" - under $50.

  • Wort on 21/08/2024 - 23:44
    +3

    google seems to point to a dodgy fan, which seems to fit. The freezer will be getting cold but can't move the cold air efficiently causing it to run 100% to compensate. Had this happen to a fridge, got so cold that fan froze over. Had to defrost it to get the fan moving again.

    • witsa on 21/08/2024 - 23:48

      That's interesting. So you turned it off, took everything out, scraped the ice off the walls and turned it on again and it worked?

      • Wort on 21/08/2024 - 23:56
        +1

        basically, fan was jammed to begin with which caused it to freeze over. took a few knocks to get it to spin after defrosting. fridge was on the way out, otherwise would've look at replace the fan in the long term. older they get the more they wear out sometimes a bit of gunk/dust is enough to stop the fan

        • witsa on 22/08/2024 - 00:40

          I think I'll definitely try defrosting it to see what happens.

          How did you get to the fan?

          • Wort on 22/08/2024 - 00:46
            +1

            @witsa: on my fridge it was in the back wall, behind thin plastic. just hitting it was enough lol… to actually get to it required a bit of disassembly.

      • JIMB0 on 22/08/2024 - 05:19

        It can take days for the entire thing to defrost.

        • skillet on 22/08/2024 - 09:44

          Leave the doors open?

          Hair dryer?

          A small heater?

          • JIMB0 on 22/08/2024 - 09:48

            @skillet: Yes. I've seen someone defrost their freezer for too short a time and the ice melted and froze the fan solid because they didn't leave it long enough.

      • SBOB on 22/08/2024 - 07:52

        scraped the ice off the walls and turned it on again and it worked?

        You need to empty the freezer and turn it off for, leave the door open and leave it for a day or two. So schedule it with a freezer clean out and left overs weekend ;)

        My old lg fridge/freezer had a similar problem but I use to remove then back fan section, take it outside and defrost it with some warm water and some time.

    • marcusv on 22/08/2024 - 11:41

      I had something similar happen. Switched it off for a day or so to let it defrost and then it was good as gold.

  • Ozbar Gain on 21/08/2024 - 23:51

    Are you sure about that 20c pd cost? Seems really low.

    Since you've got a smart plug there, you might put it on an alternating schedule, something like on for 45m and off for 15m every hour

    • witsa on 22/08/2024 - 00:43

      Yeah that's what it says. It's also the middle of winter. I do notice it goes up in the summer time. But yeah basically double the cost.

      Yeah could try a schedule as a last resort. I also got solar so could even have it on more during the day then at night!

  • try2bhelpful on 22/08/2024 - 00:34
    -1

    We looked at fixing our fridge. Got the guy to come out and he told us what he thought the problem might be. Fixing that would cost us $600 and he wouldn’t guarantee that was the issue. As was mentioned above try defrosting it and see if this seems to fix the issue.

  • Euphemistic on 22/08/2024 - 05:50

    Look up your model/brand on the internet and check for problems and solutions before you do anything else. Might be a simple fix. Youve got an error code to make it easier to search.

  • whitepuma on 22/08/2024 - 07:04
    +2

    If you have the skills or the curiosity do the following
    1. search online for what the problem is and how to fix
    2. open it up, try and fix yourself
    3.if fails, don't pay $200 for someone to come out, just buy a new one

    If you don't have the skills or curiosity, skip steps 1 and 2.
    If you do steps 1 or 2 and you find the parts are too expensive, skip to step 3.

    This is what I apply for all expensive white goods.

    I've had varying success, I failed at fixing our washing machine, but succeeded at fixing our $1800 coffee machine.

  • EightImmortals on 22/08/2024 - 07:52

    Haier upright freezer E1 error

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BCaeBMkYQY

    Another one here: https://www.osoappliance.com/posts/solving-the-e1-error-on-m…

    And from Haier: https://support.haier.com.au/s/help-and-support/article/Vert…

    All say it's a temperature sensor fault, looks easy to fix from the first vid if you can get the parts.

    • Euphemistic on 22/08/2024 - 08:31
      +1

      How on earth.did you manage to find those links? Is there some sort of way of searching the internet that doesnt involve asking a question on a forum?

      • EightImmortals on 22/08/2024 - 09:20
        +3

        I consulted the tea leaves, lapsed into a deep trance and allowed the universal masters to channel the information through me. I am but a vessel.

        • Euphemistic on 22/08/2024 - 10:15

          Excellent. Do you offer an online training course to learn how this can be done? Is it under $99.99? Will i get a nice certificate upon completion?

  • altomic on 22/08/2024 - 08:05

    I would bother to fix it.

    • Euphemistic on 22/08/2024 - 08:32

      What if its as simple as cleaning out the fan?

      • altomic on 22/08/2024 - 13:03
        +1

        That is why i would bother to fix it

        • Euphemistic on 22/08/2024 - 14:38

          Sigh. Did you edit out "n't" or do i need reading lessons - or maybe just glasses.

          • altomic on 22/08/2024 - 15:41
            +1

            @Euphemistic: A comment can't be edited once it has been responded to.

            i think someone just posted a deal for reading lessons😆

            But , to be fair, a statement (rather than a question) with "bother" in it is usually a negative.

            • Euphemistic on 22/08/2024 - 17:01
              +1

              @altomic:

              a statement (rather than a question) with "bother" in it is usually a negative.

              Thats what got me.

              Suggesting you edited was tongue in cheek.

          • JIMB0 on 22/08/2024 - 16:20

            @Euphemistic: I bothered to notice the original comment was that he would bother to fix it.

            • altomic on 22/08/2024 - 16:36

              @JIMB0: Alan Botha's brother bothers both other better batters.

  • lilbudgie on 22/08/2024 - 08:32

    As for a quick and easy way to defrost a freezer the way we used to do it and I fully realise this is probably not the done thing, and is totally bogan, and all responsibility is yours is that we would firstly unplug and remove all items of course. Obviously our house is ground level so we would drag said freezer to the door, turn on the hose and just hose it out. The water would just melt the ice away and the hosing would clean it out and then it was just a quick wipe over with a towel and drag it back and restock. It was quite quick to do so that no frozen food defrosted, It is also obvious that a little care is taken not to get any electrics wet and also there is always a buddy at the back tilting the freezer slightly forward so the water runs out. Do with this as you will as you are very unlikely to find this in any manual but we found it worked for us.

  • Sinnerator on 22/08/2024 - 08:36

    look for youtubes on the issue and if the time and cost is worth it fix it yourself, otherwise go new

  • JimB on 22/08/2024 - 10:17

    An extra 10 cents a day at 8 years old?

    I wouldn't call someone out to save $36 p.a. It's probably due to die for another reason in a few years anyway.

    I'd try fixing it myself- maybe fan or thermostat.

    I replaced the thermostat on my parents Samsung after the fan kept getting iced up.. after about the 4th time ($30 a pop). Parents bought a new fridge. I wasn't involved in the decision. If I was, they wouldn't have purchased another Samsung.

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