It seems the majority of today's consumers is more interested in saving a dollar than gettng "real" rather than "perceived" quality. Therefore, with the short sighted, immediate result bean counter, bottom line, share price, and bonus mentality, we are getting what we have driven the market to.
ON another note, if the door insulation is now saturated with water, what are the heat (cool) losses of your unit. Will the added energy usage cost you more in the next year, two years, etc. than the cost of a new unit? What do you think the ROI is?
I would think that the end of the story was only the intro. I would be ripping the foam out and figure how to replace the plastic tubing. The foam can be bought in a can at the home centers. Perhaps the plastic tubing can be replaced with a more rugged product.
Beth, this is why some "new" ides are at all times and under all conditions, poor choices. The mandate of much higher efficiency in refrigerators has taken us away from the dys when things like that were repairable. The only reliable water chilling system that I have seen was one that did not have the connections in a door, but rather in a fixed panel. The problem is that it is not possible to build a good product using cheap and inferior materials.
BUT there is available a means to do the repairs and then restore the original level of insulation. Foam insulation in a number of different materials is available even in stores like Home Depot, and while it may not be exactly the same as the original foam, it ought to insulate fairly well.
But the actual repair is another challenge, since just replacing the failed components will allow the same failure to happen again. The challenge would be to come up with an approach that would not be suject to failure in the reasonable life of the appliance, which should be at least a minimum of ten years. That will require a great deal of thinking. When you arrive at a solution please share it with us.
You would think as a minimun the specifications of the design would be "does not leak". But often if appears that this is some kind of foreign concept. I wish the industry and the the consumer as a whole would expect more and be willing to pay for more. When will consumers stop going by price and pay extra for quality.
What does everyone else think? Can a quality driven consumer drive a quality driven product from a quality drivien manufacturer?
Small drips and leaks have high potential for big problems in your house. We once had a drip on the bottom of our refrigerator from the inlet of the water supply to the ice maker. As it dripped under the refrigerator, the leak was not noticed for some time which allowed over time for the water to penetrate the floor tiles and into the underlayment which when found required replacement of the flooring to avoid black mold growth. Good job in disconnecting the selenoid to avoid any possible future failure.
Thanks for clarifying what you did to resolve the problem. I'm tucking it away just in case. Your in-laws are indeed lucky with getting 50+ years out of an appliance. But I have to say, no matter how great my appliance performed and held up over the years, you'd have to count me among the group that would be wanting a new, state-of-the-art appliance after a certain amount of time. Hence, the feeling that if my GE fridge gives me too many hose problems after a good solid decade of use, I guess I have to be okay with moving on to the next innovation.
The fridge is still usable. We just can't use the water-in-the door feature. To make sure nobody accidentally tries to use this feature, I removed power from the solenoid valve that controls the water in the door. It is conveniently located ar the rear of the fridge, behind a removable panel. I also disconnected the water line from the output of the solenoid, and plugged the output port of the valve. Consequently, water can never get to the leak in the hose.
The icemaker is fed by a different line that is totally accessable (go figure!) The refrigerator, the freezer and the icemaker still work.
We don't plan to repalce it until it can't keep food cold and/or frozen. Hopefully we can get at least 10 more years out of it.
BTW, my in-laws ahave a 50+ year old Frigidaire that is still working. It's not their main fridge, but that's quite an enviable lifetime for a kitchen appliance.
I know, Rob. I saw that model number and my heart sank. But then again, I'm jonesing for one of those new french door models!!! Problem is, timing is never right!
Ah, Beth, this is the Monkeys Blog nightmare scenario. You go to the blog to see what people are facing in poorly designed products and you see your own product getting ripped.
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