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LG Fridge- compressor dead after < 2 years.


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2019 Aug 21, 6:33pm   3,499 views  25 comments

by krc   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

Just FYI seems like LG has a significant problem with their linear compressor fridges. Compressor failed < 20 months after purchase. Noticed that there are a number of class action lawsuits on this specific issue. My warranty covers only parts, and no labor (Lowes). Labor is over $500 on a unit that was around 1500 + tax when new. Disappointing. I had moved the original fridge (some sort of Amana built in 1996) into the garage - so we are back to using that for now until I figure out what to do.

Some LG consumer sites saying that LG extended the warranty to cover labor now - so we shall see. Probably a lot of CYA. These self sealed system are also a pain to work on apparently.

Stay away,.,.,.

Meanwhile, anyone recommend a "reliable" brand? Thx...

Comments 1 - 25 of 25        Search these comments

1   RC2006   2019 Aug 21, 6:42pm  

All the brands seem to have shitty compressors among all sort of issues, every year appliances get worse.
2   Patrick   2019 Aug 21, 6:56pm  

RC2006 says
All the brands seem to have shitty compressors


Ten to one all the brands buy the same shitty compressor from the same Chinese supplier.
3   FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden   2019 Aug 21, 6:57pm  

Frigidaire is crap too.
4   Patrick   2019 Aug 21, 6:58pm  

The Germans still have a good reputation for appliances. We have a great Miele vacuum.
5   RWSGFY   2019 Aug 21, 7:46pm  

Avoid anything Whirlpool (KitchenAid) like a plague.
6   RC2006   2019 Aug 21, 7:49pm  

Iranian_Oil_Burse says
Avoid anything Whirlpool (KitchenAid) like a plague.

They have really went to shit the last ten years, they have some of the loudest fridges.
7   Shaman   2019 Aug 21, 8:12pm  

This is weird. I literally just finished working on our LG linear compressor refrigerator. Freezer compartment wouldn’t cool at all and the fridge part wasn’t that cool, either. I checked out the compressor first, and it was humming along nicely, vibrating gently as it pumped coolant. No fault codes on the mother board. The radiator fan was spinning well. Then I remembered looking up another issue a couple years ago when the unit was like a year old. The internal fan motor (which blows air from the cold pipes through the freezer and part of the fridge was noisy. I had even ordered one for my model and forgotten about it. So I took out all the racks inside the fridge and found the access panel inside and took things apart until I got the motor out. Sure enough, applying a volt meter across it for resistance, it was open. It should have been only a few ohms. So I dug around in the cabinets and found the extra motor and installed it.
Then I put everything back together and cleaned up. Seems to be working. I guess we will see if everything gets cold again!

Then I looked at Patnet and whoa! Coincidence much?
8   KgK one   2019 Aug 21, 8:58pm  

My frigidaire, branded as kenmore from Sears had 3 problems in 5 yrs. Warranty is expensive 400 a year. Now it is making issue again , first it makes buzing noise then it make lot of buzzing noise. I think its condenser fan , or defrost issue.

Bases on my research, fridge with ice despensers has lot of issues. Next one will be freezer on top , not too expensive fridge.

So far hear issues with fridgaire, whirlpool, lg, samsung.
Though no one has found good brand / model. Let me know good long lasting fridge brand n model.?
9   Automan Empire   2019 Aug 21, 10:19pm  

Over the last 20 years refrigerators have had several advances in technology, from new refrigerants to linear and inverter drive compressors. These have yielded incredible boosts in energy efficiency, but reliability seems to have gone into the dump. Hopefully it's a technological learning curve and they get longevity numbers back up.

Don't have a rec for good refrigerator brand, but if you're shopping for washer/dryer look at Speed Queen.
10   Heraclitusstudent   2019 Aug 21, 10:44pm  

Patrick says
Ten to one all the brands buy the same shitty compressor from the same Chinese supplier.

Capitalism is a thing of beauty!
11   Heraclitusstudent   2019 Aug 21, 10:46pm  

krc says
My warranty covers only parts, and no labor (Lowes). Labor is over $500 on a unit that was around 1500 + tax when new. Disappointing.

Labor of an American to do minor work is worth more than the work of the Chinese who built the entire thing.

This is not a bubble.
12   Booger   2019 Aug 22, 5:08am  

I would avoid anything made in a shithole country. I buy appliances made in USA by American companies, and don't have issues with them.
13   Shaman   2019 Aug 22, 5:18am  

Update: compressor is also bad. Bah! Gonna call in the warranty i bought four years ago from Best Buy. Pain in the ass!
14   komputodo   2019 Aug 22, 5:20am  

Heraclitusstudent says
Labor of an American to do minor work is worth more than the work of the Chinese who built the entire thing.


Labor of an American to do minor work costs more than the work of the Chinese who built the entire thing.......fixed
15   georgeliberte   2019 Aug 22, 5:38am  

You said it, Amana.
16   🎂 Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 22, 8:25am  

Samsung has turned out better than the 5 year old GE we had to replace.
The only problem so far is Ice Maker keeps seizing up, and you have to do some button magic to run Manual Defrost.
It's not clear and I had to watch several YouRube videos to find my model and the proper procedure. They say don't do it more than once in a 24 hour cycle. Yet I had to do it twice.
17   🎂 Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 22, 8:27am  

And the Plastics that is used in every Fridge Ice Makers is just stupid. Metal was much better, the ice crusher, the ice conveyor screw, the ice bin, it's all plastic. And is the biggest failure in every modern fridge made today.
18   NuttBoxer   2019 Aug 22, 8:51am  

I forget which one we bought, definitely wasn't LG(read about all the problems). But the rep at the store told us most fridges are only built to last three years now.
19   RWSGFY   2019 Aug 22, 9:00am  

I heard good things about Subzero.
20   RC2006   2019 Aug 22, 9:05am  

NuttBoxer says
I forget which one we bought, definitely wasn't LG(read about all the problems). But the rep at the store told us most fridges are only built to last three years now.


It is the industry standard now. I liked my old fridge that I bought 14yrs ago but when I remodeled our kitchen it didn't match so I moved it to the garage. We bought the same fridge but after a while noticed all the corners that were cut from the last fridge lots of little things especially after I opened up the back to look inside. New fridge is much louder and compressor is on more often than old fridge I can tell the compressor will not last long even the doors feel lighter like the cheeped out on insulation.
21   🎂 Tenpoundbass   2019 Aug 22, 9:34am  

georgeliberte says
You said it, Amana.


Those cheap ass Amana old school Freezer 1/3rd on top, Fridge on 2/3rd bottom. 70's style refrigerators are cheap and flimsy but last for the ages.
When we rented the same house for 11 years. We bought a cheap Amana Fridge because our landlord was cheap and would replace the one that was broken.
That thing lasted 10 years. When we moved in the house in 2010, there was an old Gold fridge on the patio from the 70's. It was covered in rust marks. We bought an Amana to replace it. It still works. The only bad thing about Amana fridges is the plastic shelf clips and plastic bins, break and you can't get them to slide on the tracks, or snap on the door anymore. But so does every fridge out there. You got to be super careful with them all. Or find one that is all metal hardware. But the refrigeration mechanics in those Amana fridges hold up pretty good with very little to no maintenance.
22   FortWayneAsNancyPelosiHaircut   2019 Aug 22, 9:39am  

This reminds of this funny story. I was replacing the dishwasher for this neighbor. I asked him for a wrench (to disconnect water line), dude brings me a screw driver. Some people are fucking inept today.
23   HeadSet   2019 Aug 22, 10:06am  

FortWayneIndiana says
This reminds of this funny story. I was replacing the dishwasher for this neighbor. I asked him for a wrench (to disconnect water line), dude brings me a screw driver. Some people are fucking inept today.


Yes, and a real handi-man would have made the screwdriver work.
24   krc   2019 Aug 22, 10:20am  

Update: LG has changed their warranty for 5 years to include parts AND LABOR. So tech will be here tomorrow to look at it. Sadly, it seems this will be a recurring problem.
Not sure there is an updated compressor that is more reliable or if they just swap in the exact same parts. Will see tomorrow.

And, yes, when we bought at Lowe's I asked the floor rep what was most reliable and he said they all sucked and would need to be replaced in 5 years after warranty is over.
25   RWSGFY   2019 Aug 22, 10:40am  

krc says
Update: LG has changed their warranty for 5 years to include parts AND LABOR. So tech will be here tomorrow to look at it. Sadly, it seems this will be a recurring problem.
Not sure there is an updated compressor that is more reliable or if they just swap in the exact same parts. Will see tomorrow.


Make sure the fucker who comes to repair your fridge not just swaps the parts and re-charges it with freon but hooks up a vacuum pump and evacuates the system for at least 1 hour before recharging.

My KitchenAid was repaired at least 4 times and failed after each repair in mere weeks until I figured out that they didn't do the evacuation part. I shoul've figured it the first time (I've repaired A/C on two of my cars and familiar with all the necessary steps and even own the fucking vacuum pump), but I didn't pay the attention to the work these incompetent fucks were doing. They are reluctant to do it because it means they have to spend at least an hour twirling their thumbs waiting for the pump to do the work, but without it the repair won't last due to contamination* remaining in the system.

*) In the world of refrigeration a sealed system is considered contaminated every time it's opened to the athmosphere. And every time it's contaminated, the dryer needs to be replaced and the system needs to be evacuated.

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