My refrigerator went out last week.

My neighbors said they had a never-used refrigerator in storage (they have three storage units full of furnishings for an entire house...) they would sell me for $400.

It doesn't work properly. First night it kept me up all night beeping constantly saying the door was open (it wasn't). Finally figured out how to disable that setting, but now the refrigerator won't get below 45 degrees internal temp. Hovers between there and about 55.

Freezer works just fine, though it's hovering between 0 and -10... I guess trying to get the refrigerator part cold enough.

With Black Friday sales, I figure I'm better off just buying a new one as opposed to sinking more money in this one. Question is - what should I do with it? Just chunk another fridge?

It's running and the freezer gets plenty cold. Don't know if I can sell it to someone who can fix it. If I should pay to have it fixed. Or just put it out on the curb again...

Have you asked your neighbor about taking it back?

ETA - speaking for myself, I try to avoid Black Friday appliances and electronics because they are often lower quality items.

BenTheGoodAg said:

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Have you asked your neighbor about taking it back?

ETA - speaking for myself, I try to avoid Black Friday appliances and electronics because they are often lower quality items.

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I'm not that concerned about that part right now. We're good friends, we'll figure something out.

More or less wondering if I should just take this essentially unused GE fridge to the curb, when the freezer works fine, the fridge gets cold (just not cold enough) and it cosmetically appears in great condition.

Eh, If just buying the cheapest TV in the store, or one of the specific "deal busters" or whatever they're called, sure. But if you know what you're getting, for example we just bought a Samsung Frame TV, not worried about it.

Definitely not worried about it for large name appliances. Heck, for an item like that the increase in manufacturing and assembly costs, increased SKU's, etc. would probably outweigh any savings from cheaper items. Besides, lot of these black friday appliance sales are simply 25% off all appliances at Lowes, Best Buy, etc. Not like they are 25% this one model only.

TheOC16 said:

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BenTheGoodAg said:

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Have you asked your neighbor about taking it back?

ETA - speaking for myself, I try to avoid Black Friday appliances and electronics because they are often lower quality items.

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I'm not that concerned about that part right now. We're good friends, we'll figure something out.

More or less wondering if I should just take this essentially unused GE fridge to the curb, when the freezer works fine, the fridge gets cold (just not cold enough) and it cosmetically appears in great condition.

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Buy you an Inkbird temp control, an Inkbird humidity control, a humidifier, a de humidifier and a terrarium heat bulb and turn it into a salami making machine........it would work great for that. Been there done that. The temp controller will work with the fridge compressor and heat bulb to keep the temp at whatever you set it at.......usually 52 to 56 degrees. The humidity controller will work with the humidifier and dehumidifier to keep the humidity where you set it at.... usually 80 to 85%........

Rattler12 said:

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TheOC16 said:

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BenTheGoodAg said:

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Have you asked your neighbor about taking it back?

ETA - speaking for myself, I try to avoid Black Friday appliances and electronics because they are often lower quality items.

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I'm not that concerned about that part right now. We're good friends, we'll figure something out.

More or less wondering if I should just take this essentially unused GE fridge to the curb, when the freezer works fine, the fridge gets cold (just not cold enough) and it cosmetically appears in great condition.

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Buy you an Inkbird temp control, an Inkbird humidity control, a humidifier, a de humidifier and a terrarium heat bulb and turn it into a salami making machine........it would work great for that. Been there done that. The temp controller will work with the fridge compressor and heat bulb to keep the temp at whatever you set it at.......usually 52 to 56 degrees. The humidity controller will work with the humidifier and dehumidifier to keep the humidity where you set it at.... usually 80 to 85%........

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Interesting. I'm familiar with what you're talking about - as I have a similar setup for a refrigerator I use for dry aging.

But I'm not that into salami.

Garage fridge gave out on me after 15 years - a good run. Researching disposal with our normal trash pickup, they required a technician to drain freon and attach certification to fridge before they would pick up.

I found a scrap metal place to take it for $12 bucks. I think that was a win.

Move it to curb and buy whirlpool/maytag only. GE is Chinese junk unfortunately.

I'd try jumping the door open switch and see if that makes the fridge side cool down.

Might also put some stuff in the fridge - water, soda, anything to take up space that won't spoil if too warm. I've always heard they work best when there is stuff inside.

If it thinks the door is open, the evaporator fan will not run. That is why the fridge side is not getting below 45 or whatever. Solve the door switch issue and you should be good.

It's not shutting down the cooling totally on the fridge side, just the fan that circulates the cold air. That's why is gets cool, but not cold.

There is a switch that checks if the door is open. Find out and replace it. You will probably have a working fridge for another $20 or so.

The plot thickens!

Me thinks good friends get together and work out a Beer Ref whose residence might be mid-way or fav.place to drink and MAKE it work, with all paying repairs the same (+ you get some $$$ back for this LEMON).

As a last resort, prior to beer day, even if borken, it's filled with ice & beer ... the insulation is still top notch. Some will lay them on the ground to keep the Cold Inside like a chest freezer.

Not funny? Some practice this! ...
but OK Google my email for hate mail.

Go to appliancepartspros.com and click on chat with pro at the top of the website. Free assistance to troubleshoot the issue and recommend the part replacement to resolve your issue. Saved me thousands of bucks over the years. No kidding as they've helped me with all kinds of home appliance issues.

And if you purchase the part from them and it doesn't resolve your issue, you can return the part for a full refund, no questions asked.

This is very valuable info. Thank you. About to turn around and explore this for my demon-possessed dishwasher...

Update on the Fridge:
Huge thank you to aggie_wes and EnviroAg96. The day before I was about to buy another fridge (Black Friday sales) y'all diagnosed the problem, even with me leaving a piece of the puzzle out. I'm in College Station and happy to buy you a drink before the next Aggie sporting event of your choice. I would have never known about the fan not running and being needed to properly cool the fridge.

I ordered the switch part online, but interestingly enough - the existing switch itself works just fine. The problem is that it wasn't even touching the door when the door closed (diagnosed by doing a Facetime call with my girlfriend and leaving my phone in the fridge to watch what was happening). I don't really understand how this is possible as the door closes and seals good and is level. But there is a huge gap between the switch and where it should hit the door.

Remedied this by just sticking a piece of foam to the door so that it would activate the switch. Now the fridge works just great.