The Abysmal Fridge Offerings

Series4Episode10 on 17/12/2024 - 11:07
Last edited 17/12/2024 - 11:17

What's available now is abysmal!
Us consumers should be demanding much better for our $
Watched a youtube by this second hand appliance dealer in the US "Bens Appliances and Junk" about what new fridges were well made and long lasting, the answer was "Nothing is"

I live off-grid and until recently my system was not big enough to support a decent sized inverter running a AC fridge 24/7, the first DC fridge I purchased not only rusted out within 13months but died at 14months and cost a bundle!

Up until yesterday I'd been living out of a camp fridge used as a freezer, was $399 on special at Supercheap Auto it lasted 3 years running pretty much 24/7 till yesterday, I now have enough battery storage and a decent sized "Bullet Proof" inverter to run things all day and night, went down to the shed and pulled this Westinghouse silhouette moist cool 391lt fridge Made in Australia in the early 90's from what I can work out, I was storing tools and stuff in it… the fridge was dumped into the metal recycling bin at the tip about 5yrs ago, was on it's side and had been thrown in from a height, that's how you get stuff into the metal bin, checked it over, plugged it in, ran it for a few hours, cleaned it, it's working brilliant!

Having worked for many years with a friend I've known since teenagers who's a fridgy/sparky who I spoke with about this last night and brought up the fact that most new fridges have the condenser coil attached inside the metal side walls, helps make the fridges compact, the theory is the large sheet metal surface will shed heat easily, fact is it's inefficient and stupid, then we enclose those fridges into a cabinet and restrict air flow to those surfaces, the style of fridge with the condenser at the back passively cooled, simple design is a thing of the past.

Computerized bleep bleep every single time you open the door with a myriad of components to have you scrambling to save your food from spoilage each time the thing develops a fault is now the norm!

Good luck!

So much for new crap!

Electrical & Electronics Refrigerator

Comments

  • Dollar General on 17/12/2024 - 11:20
    +34

    Go ahead caller, I’m listening

    • Caped Baldy on 17/12/2024 - 12:56
      +9

      I heard this in Frasier's voice.

      • TheRealCher on 17/12/2024 - 15:29

        I just though of Niles telling Daphne about it in the kitchen… You won't believe what I heard in the lobby

    • AndyC1 on 17/12/2024 - 21:00

      Click.

  • pharkurnell on 17/12/2024 - 11:21
    +12

    Your call is important to us…. Leave your name and number after the tone, and we will ignore that too…

    BEEEP

  • geekcohen on 17/12/2024 - 11:23
    +4

    Thank god you don't have to buy something new and go through the "Lets Confirm It's You" process all over again!

      • rumblytangara on 17/12/2024 - 21:23
        +8

        Dude… clicking a mouse twice a stalker does not make.

        Stalkers

        You've used this word five or six times in this thread.

        In the words of the great swordsman Inigo Montoya:
        You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

  • Gunnar on 17/12/2024 - 11:28
    +3

    I got the idea when I noticed the refrigerator was cold

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 17/12/2024 - 12:38
      +1

      So then, "mono" means one, and "rail" means rail! And that concludes our intensive three-week course.

  • techno2000 on 17/12/2024 - 11:31
    +1

    Yeah its all junk nowadays.
    Bought a bar fridge a year ago.
    The only non chinese brand for a bar fridge was Westinghouse.So i bought it.
    It makes all veggies and fruits go mouldy super quick unlike my normal fridge.
    I can only use it for eggs,milk, soft drinks etc.

    Maybe the chinese brands are better….maybe not.

    All junk.

    • freefall101 on 17/12/2024 - 11:44
      +6

      Have you tried cleaning it really well? Seriously, it sounds like you have mould in there somewhere, you need to spray every surface with vinegar, check behind all the seals, give it a really good cleaning if everything is regularly going mouldy.

      Sounds like it's cold enough if your dairy is doing fine, if cleaning doesn't work there's probably mould in the vents in the fridge somewhere. A fridge isn't cold enough to kill mould once it's in there.

    • apsilon on 17/12/2024 - 13:02
      +4

      Your Westinghouse is likely a Chinese fridge or at least made somewhere in Asia. AFAIK it's been about a decade now since any fridges were made here.

  • try2bhelpful on 17/12/2024 - 11:38
    +2

    I know I’m going to regret wading into this but what do you consider the be an acceptable time for a fridge to survive?

    • CurlCurl on 17/12/2024 - 12:10
      +4

      I know I’m going to regret wading into this but what do you consider the be an acceptable time for a fridge to survive?

      If you get 10 years you have done well.

      Being involved with white in the 60s, 70s, and 80s you will be lucky to get 10 years out of the current crop.

      Cost saving is the reason. Where manufactures where running 1/5hp motors with oil coolers and 1/4in condensers, they dropped down to 1/6hp motors with NO cooler and 3/16in condensers. It was all down hill from there.

      Frost free fridges have a fan cooled condenser. The fan sucks the dust in and blocks the condenser. Over the years the build up prevents the gas from cooling. Kaput.

      An aside, I sold my parents 1958 one door auto defrost Kelvinator in 2011 in perfect working order in 4 star condition on E bay for $700.

      • randomvis on 17/12/2024 - 12:31

        Great reply. So the answer is maintenance.

        • CurlCurl on 17/12/2024 - 15:28
          +1

          Great reply. So the answer is maintenance.

          You can clean the condenser on most fridges. At the back at floor level you shout see a grill over an opening. Remove the grill and look inside. You well see an object that looks like a small radiator. they gather dust and it blocks the cooling of the gas

          Fridges today are too fancy with electronics and a right pain to repair. That's if you can. The old ones had a compresses, timer and a thermostat.

      • try2bhelpful on 17/12/2024 - 14:15

        Most of my fridges have lasted at least that. The real problem is the prohibitive cost of getting a repairer in. My last fridge turned into a cupboard because “something” broke and it stopped being cold. It took an embarrassing long time to cotton on. We called in a repairer and he said it “might” be this. We could spend some bucksaroos whilst he phfaffed around to determine if that was the problem or we could pony up for a new fridge. Guess what we did. We gave the old fridge to a second hand white goods store so he could strip out anything useful.

        Several things
        A) fridges have got a lot more complicated compared to the cool boxes of yore. This was the problem we had with ours, something had gone bust in the control area. If you want a fridge that will never breakdown get a Coolgardie safe.
        B) fridges are comparatively cheaper now than they were when I was a kid. If you want to see something fun go to MERS at Chadstone and look at the wall with the first catalogues they had. Anything electronic was a fair whack of several months wages.
        C) Repair people are expensive. In the old days you called in a repair person. Now you just get something new.
        D) go simple. Don’t buy anything with the bells and whistles, just more stuff to go wrong. We now have a fridge inside and a an upright freezer in the garage.

        My solution is I buy quality and on my platinum credit card so I get extra warranty. If you are subject to “infant mortality” then go chat to the seller about ACCC.

      • photonbuddy on 18/12/2024 - 13:25
        +1

        Cost saving is the reason.

        While that is certainly part of it, I also think it's a design change to make people buy new fridges.

        It's pointless for a company to sell a product that will last 20 years, as that means they don't get to make a sale for 20 years.

        It's simple business. Planned obsolescence has become a reality so business can survive.

        Who is to blame for all this? We are. We all want the best price for things. That means cutting corners, and making us replace them more often than we need to.

      • banana365 on 18/12/2024 - 14:24

        Part of the drive to lower power compressor motors is that the harder you drive a motor, the more efficient it is. It will end up running more of the time too, but even with that taken into account you're using less power by driving a small motor harder so they get to put a lovely big "Look how energy efficient we are!" sticker on the front. The fact that your fridge dies earlier as a result isn't a problem to them, it's a bonus.

        • CurlCurl on 18/12/2024 - 15:15

          Part of the drive to lower power compressor motors is that the harder you drive a motor, the more efficient it is. It will end up running more of the time too, but even with that taken into account you're using less power by driving a small motor harder

          Correct

          The compresses till sometime in 60s were massive and ran around1400 RPM. Westinghouse and Kelvinator ran their own compresses and kept them for many years. The compressors became much smaller and ran at 2800RPM

  • CurlCurl on 17/12/2024 - 11:50

    The only non chinese brand for a bar fridge was Westinghouse.

    Are Westinghouse fridges made in Australia?

    While some products are stated to be manufactured in Australia, including its ovens, others are imported from Europe, China, and South-East Asia. In particular, some fridges are claimed to be from Thailand and some dishwashers from Turkey. Westinghouse freezers, cooktops, and rangehoods are made in China.

  • MS Paint on 17/12/2024 - 12:15
    +5

    Cool story.

    • freefall101 on 17/12/2024 - 12:18
      +9

      Broken fridge makes scents. Cheers.

  • CheapandUsed on 17/12/2024 - 12:45
    +1

    Entry level prices of fridges has come down massively but so has the quality. A high quality fridge is still expensive.

    Many of the deals posted here are for fridges that are $1500+ not your bargain basement sub $1000.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/refrigerator

  • rumblytangara on 17/12/2024 - 12:58
    -1

    Needed a TL:DR

    But of all the things to fixate on being wrong with the market in Oz, the best you could come up with was refrigerators?

    • Series4Episode10 on 17/12/2024 - 13:05
      -1

      Write your own "short stories" … educate us!

      • rumblytangara on 17/12/2024 - 13:09
        +5

        No thanks, I think the site could do with less whitegoods stream of consciousness fanfic.

  • Series4Episode10 on 17/12/2024 - 13:00
    -6

    Now I know why there's such crap on the market! … items worthy of the deserving consumers!

    • MS Paint on 17/12/2024 - 13:14
      +7

      Take a chill pill. Ohh hang on. That's right. I forgot.

        • MS Paint on 17/12/2024 - 13:20
          +7

          How is replying to your post/comments stalking?

          Also I'll think you'll find it's season 4 episode 10.

          • Series4Episode10 on 17/12/2024 - 13:23

            @MS Paint: Because you attack everything I've ever posted or commented about since you got all sad over me saying some Ozito stuff is utter crap, you've even re-posted previous stuff of mine on unrelated posts … deny that … go on! you have a problem "23031 comments" on ozbargain … FFS!

            • Randolph Duke on 18/12/2024 - 12:26
              +2

              @Series4Episode10:

              Because you attack everything I've ever posted or commented about since you got all sad over me saying some Ozito stuff is utter crap, you've even re-posted previous stuff of mine on unrelated posts … deny that …

              That sounds like the memory a stalker would have.

          • Series4Episode10 on 17/12/2024 - 13:25

            @MS Paint: Proved my point … stalker!

            • MS Paint on 17/12/2024 - 13:26
              +1

              @Series4Episode10: What are you banging on about? Can you provide a link? I reply to the post/comments, not the individual (except HeWhoKnobs). I have no recollection of dealing with you in the past.

              • Series4Episode10 on 17/12/2024 - 13:29
                -3

                @MS Paint: You just posted proof that that's what you do … short memory, I'm sure "23031 comments" on Ozbargain makes it hard to recollect who you've been stalking and attacking!

                • MS Paint on 17/12/2024 - 13:32
                  +3

                  @Series4Episode10: Give me a link and I'll own it.
                  Don't give me a link and I will await your apology.

                    • MS Paint on 17/12/2024 - 13:41
                      +3

                      @Series4Episode10: Are you seriously confusing me with someone else? As I said, give me a link, and I'll own it. I'm waiting.

                      • kiitos on 18/12/2024 - 08:13
                        +1

                        @MS Paint: It's weird, there isn't even any reply to their comment in the thread I presume there referring to.

  • Protractor on 17/12/2024 - 13:58

    So buy a dead, low-mileage quality brand upright freezer and convert it to a fridge.

    • CurlCurl on 17/12/2024 - 16:31

      So buy a dead, low-mileage quality brand upright freezer and convert it to a fridge.

      Not easy to do. Ive seen many attempts.

    • ihfree on 17/12/2024 - 16:41
      +1

      the fridge was dumped into the metal recycling bin at the tip about 5yrs ago, was on it's side and had been thrown in from a height,

      Could also pick one out of the metal bin.

  • Wiadro on 17/12/2024 - 15:58
    -2

    ok tin foil hat

    • ihfree on 17/12/2024 - 16:49
      +4

      There's mainly aluminium foil in supermarkets now. Feel free to read my post

      The Abysmal Foil Offerings

  • ihfree on 17/12/2024 - 16:48

    Fair post, I guess. This is reasonably well known across many different product categories.

    There are a few other things to consider -

    • If prices stay the same, corners have likely been cut
    • Quality stuff, AFAIK, still lasts a decent amount of time but you are obviously paying more for it.
  • Gunnar on 17/12/2024 - 17:07

    Have you asked ‘AJ’ from EB Games Liverpool for advice? He’s helped me out before and it was great

  • Puglife on 17/12/2024 - 22:52
    +1

    My fridge has lasted 7 years, still going, no maintenance. Its just an average Samsung fridge.

    My freezer is a cheap Hisense chest freezer, that cost $180 and is going on 7 years, never had an issue.

    Everything is junk these days, but sometimes you are lucky and sometimes you aren't…

  • EFC94 on 17/12/2024 - 23:11

    With all due respect, you must be living in squalor if your system isn't good enough to support a simple camping fridge set up. I've had a 12v camping fridge set up going in my car for 10 years now. Fridge was on special for $4/500, battery and solar panel to charge it were a similar price. In fact I rarely (if ever) have devices or appliances break on me, I'm starting to think that all these people with issues just don't treat their belongings very well.

    • JakeyJooJoo on 18/12/2024 - 11:09

      Harsh baseless statement about their living arrangement.

      One can live well in a good home without an electrically powered refrigerator.

      Modern 12v fridges use a lot less energy than electrical fridges have in the past. That said, refrigeration and air conditioning remain the 2 big home energy users, even in an energy efficient house.

      Going off grid, accommodating electrical refrigeration and or air conditioning requires a lot more energy storage, redundancy, and expense, comparatively to not having those 2 things.

      In the past I've lived like a king off grid using gas refrigeration, it made life a lot easier, and absolutely not 'living in squalor' .

  • outlander on 17/12/2024 - 23:30
    +2

    I agree, but that's capitalism for you. It makes some things really well and cheap, and then puts it in a form that makes little sense. You haven't even touched upon what I consider to be the bigger problems, like the recent switch to resistive startup elements that only last 2-3 years. Basically half the fridges/freezers you see on the side of the road that look newish use them, a little disc that costs 20c and is practically guaranteed to break.

    And there's the thinness of insulation. Fridges back in the 50s had walls the thickness of your hand for a reason.

    One day I'd like to make my own fridge, and see how power efficient I could make it.

    • Speckled Jim on 18/12/2024 - 07:22

      One day I'd like to make my own fridge, and see how power efficient I could make it.

      Along similar lines, the Westinghouse we bought in 2011 is still going strong. We were just thanking our lucky stars last weekend. Upstaging it though, a "Rank Arena" bar freezer from a 2005 BigW purchase.

      When looking back in 2011, the sales guy showed us how the panels in the imported fridges would commonly have dents, the legacy of long journeys. Admission time: it was HN and our decision to buy Aussie made was partly for those cosmetic reasons — we didn't know what corners were being cut.

      We haven't outgrown the fridge, and not likely to. I'd love to update it with better quality components, new seals etc one day to see if I can get anywhere near its first life!

  • Benno007 on 18/12/2024 - 08:27
    +1

    I was really sad to have had to toss out our 32 year old Westinghouse a few years ago :-( it had come from Gladstone to Sydney to New Zealand to Brisbane and survived so well for so long. Thankfully got my in laws old fridge as a replacement which is about 8 years old and still going alright, though the freezer drain tube keeps clogging up annually, and is not accessible from the rear like the old fridge.

  • 2esc on 18/12/2024 - 10:07
    +1

    A mate of mine whose off grid built his own large fridge out of coolroom walls as they are considerably thicker than fridge walls. Then used a fridges cooling bit's (the fridge had literally fell off a truck damaged) it worked out well for him.

  • CascadeHush on 18/12/2024 - 10:54
    +3

    I have an abysmal fridge in my basement; a swirling vortex of purlple and yellow light sinking into the floor. Some say it was the result of an occult ritual gone wrong. Some say it was a failed time travel experiment. Some say it was just always there and they built the house around it.

    By lowering baskets on ropes over the edge, I can chill food exactly how I like. 1 meter down is about fridge temperature and 3 meters down is frozen. Of course I can't have pets for obvious reasons. Nine lives don't help when you are falling towards infinity.

    But at least it doesn't cost me any electricity. I don't have to take out the garbage either.

  • jsediv on 18/12/2024 - 11:17
    +1

    Get a load of this guy…

  • movieman on 18/12/2024 - 11:53

    Planned obsolescence perhaps?

  • muzzamo on 18/12/2024 - 12:02

    If you are talking camp fridges, get an engel, not something from kings.

    They have a reputation for lasting generations. But you pay accordingly.

  • wheretobuychocettes on 18/12/2024 - 12:03
    +2

    This user has clearly lost their cool.

  • Purp on 18/12/2024 - 13:07

    If your fridge rusted out that's a user issue.

    What did you keep it outside in the rain 24/7

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 18/12/2024 - 13:18
    +3

    My story begins in nineteen-dickety-two. We had to say dickety because the Kaiser had stolen our word twenty. I chased that rascal to get it back, but gave up after dickety-six miles. Then after World War Two, it got kinda quiet, 'til Superman challenged FDR to a race around the world. FDR beat him by a furlong, or so the comic books would have you believe. The truth lies somewhere in between. Three wars back we called Sauerkraut "liberty cabbage" and we called liberty cabbage "super slaw" and back then a suitcase was known as a "Swedish lunchbox." We can't bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to tell 'em stories that don't go anywhere - like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Give me five bees for a quarter, you'd say. Ah, there's an interesting story behind that nickel. In 1957, I remember it was, I got up in the morning and made myself a piece of toast. I set the toaster to three: medium brown.Now where were we? Oh yeah: the important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones…

  • gromit on 18/12/2024 - 16:08

    how does a fridge "rust out" in 13 months? Are you keeping it outside in the rain or something?

  • R4 on 18/12/2024 - 16:53

    We replaced an LG fridge earlier this year that had lasted 13 years. Whether this is good or not I don't know but it looked good in our kitchen and did the job. It was also enclosed in by cupboards at the back and sides. We've now got a Panasonic fridge that's fantastic and was a good price. We also have an old fridge in our garage that we bought in 1998 and is still going strong - it just looks a mess. Made in the UK. Next to it is a F&P chest freezer that's been running continuously since 2006. I'm not sure where it was made. Saying that, we also had a Samsung French door fridge that lasted less than 4 years. Don't buy Samsung appliances. If you have a fridge that packs up just out of warranty, have a look at ACL and make a claim.

  • Camelface on 18/12/2024 - 17:28

    It comes down to how you treat them. Machines do have consciousness just like us. Treat them nicely (like don't bang the door, leave enough space for ventilation and cooling, keep it clean - just follow the basic steps and common sense for caring something or someone). You'll find things last long and give less trouble. They will just want to be with you for longer.

  • DiscoJango on 18/12/2024 - 17:34

    People spending $1,300 on new iphone every 12 months: wow such good

    Also people spending $1,300 on a fridge once every 10-15 years years: NOT GOOD ENOUGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

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