Monday, December 27, 2010

The Knocking Noises Grow Eager

Off to the land of my knocking refrigerator.  For you avid readers (gluttons for punishment), you may remember that I mentioned my knocking refrigerator and the fact that I thought it was my ice maker.

It wasn’t the ice maker.  After turning off the ice maker, the knocking continued.

Over the weekend its knocking became incessant.  So incessant that I dug for my tool set and wiped the dust off.  It was time to go to work.

Had I known at the time this would become blog fodder I would have taken pictures.  As it is, I’ll just have to steal pictures from other sites.  Recently, I’ve discovered that Windows Live Writer somehow links to pictures on other sites.  Some of my posts are missing pictures because of this.  It’s not a practice I condone and it was done accidentally.  You have my heartfelt apologies.  If I weren’t so lazy I’d go fix all my old posts.

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This is kind of what the bottom of the back of my refrigerator looks like.  Except backwards.  The black canister with the white label is apparently the compressor (compresses the gas to make things cold).

When I rocked it, it made a noise almost exactly like the knocking noise that had been accosting me for the last few weeks.  I had found the culprit, but how to fix it?  It was bolted to the bottom of the fridge and the bolts were lose so I tightened them.  But, the knocking was coming from inside the canister.  Logically, I figured if it couldn’t rock, then it wouldn’t knock.  It seemed logical at the time.

I took some pizza boxes apart and used some duct tape to create some anti-rocking wedges.  I wedged one underneath the canister and another above the canister.  This, my eager readers, was not a good idea.  In hindsight, I can see why.

The thing knocking, on the inside of the canister, continued to knock.  And now that the canister couldn’t rock, all the thing inside could do was continue to knock.  Knocking without rocking encourages louder knocking and a more persistent knock that continues for up to a minute rather than the 15 seconds or so.

I removed my pizza box duct tape wedges and did my Google research.  Immediately I found a guy that explained that inside the canister the compressor site atop springs and when the springs break or weaken, the compressor knocks.  All I have to do is replace the compressor or the springs?  The guy also explained that when this knocking starts, it signals imminent system failure.  It could last a week.  It could last a month.  It could even last a year.  He also explained that it’s not something you can fix.

A new compressor costs around $600.  A new fridge costs around $700.  Today, I have ordered a new fridge.  It should be in on January 2nd.  Merry Christmas to me.

Another interesting tidbit is that in the great state of Texas, they are offering me a $250 rebate on the purchase of an energy star appliance!  It kind of depends on what you are ordering (the amount of the rebate).  They don’t guarantee you the rebate.  It relies upon proper disposal of your old unit and that the funds don’t run out before they get to your entry (sorted by postmark).  You just gotta love the government.  I know I do¡

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