Face punch and badassity - broken/fixed fridge freezer

[s0198362]

My fridge/freezer stopped cooling.  I was an idiot and called someone to look at it.  $95 and they told/showed me a burnt out solder connection on a relay switch on the circuit board.  “Repair” person said the unit was 19 years old and not worth buying a new control board for ($250).  A new similar size fridge would cost $1500 - $2500.  I looked up the part, went to my local electronics store (i mean a store that sells kits for building kid robots etc.), they ordered me a new relay switch for $7.

A new solder iron for $10, and I fixed it for a total of $17.  So baddassity for that.


Face punch for paying $95 for a diagnostic I could have done if I’d thought of it.
Double face punch as i know about doing this as I have previously replaced a component on my clothes dryer circuit board.

[cool7hand]

Impressive. Most impressive.

[SunnyDays]

Don't punch too hard - you still saved $112 over the repair price.

Wanna come look at my RV?  AC isn't working.

[AMandM]

Wow, I did not know that you could replace individual components soldered onto a circuit board. In your shoes, I would probably have paid the $250 for the whole board, and still considered it a win vs. $1500 for a new fridge. Or I'd have looked for a secondhand fridge.

Thanks for the new knowledge!

[s0198362]

Wow, I did not know that you could replace individual components soldered onto a circuit board. In your shoes, I would probably have paid the $250 for the whole board, and still considered it a win vs. $1500 for a new fridge. Or I'd have looked for a secondhand fridge.

Thanks for the new knowledge!

Just turn the board over and look for carbon deposits.  That indicates an overheating joint.  Typically it is best to replace the component rather than trying to re-connect the component with the circuit.  An over heated joint indicates a failing/failed part.  Other things to look for include "blistered" capacitors (the bits that look like mini batteries), and darkened resistors (the sausages).  All easily replacable.

[MasterStache]

Great job OP! Always feels good when you can fix things yourself.

Wow, I did not know that you could replace individual components soldered onto a circuit board. In your shoes, I would probably have paid the $250 for the whole board, and still considered it a win vs. $1500 for a new fridge. Or I'd have looked for a secondhand fridge.

Thanks for the new knowledge!

Just turn the board over and look for carbon deposits.  That indicates an overheating joint.  Typically it is best to replace the component rather than trying to re-connect the component with the circuit.  An over heated joint indicates a failing/failed part.  Other things to look for include "blistered" capacitors (the bits that look like mini batteries), and darkened resistors (the sausages).  All easily replacable.

My spouse had a huge rear projection TV when we met. It started to act up and the picture went bad. I pulled the circuit board and could see a large capacitor had gone bad. They are pretty easy to spot because they literally start leaking. A couple bucks for a capacitor, few minutes of soldering and the TV was working like new once again.

Soldering is a handy skill to have.

[shureShote]

Awesome!

I had a gate resistor on a FET burn up that I replaced on a door opener. That was one of my more subtle repairs that was a big savings.

A meter, some patience, and a good attitude will make some of these possible.

[Tempname23]

Wow, I did not know that you could replace individual components soldered onto a circuit board.

Thanks for the new knowledge!

I spent much of my career replacing individual components soldered to PCBs. Starting with Video equipment in the 70s, Automotive test equipment, then geophysical test equipment, then on VCRs. I still have a bench setup at home and have dabbled in removing and replacing a few surface mount ICs. I purchased a hot air station and tweezers to help. Already had my Optivisor, for better vision.

[Just Joe]

Took your lead and fixed our's too. Our's just seems to have been frozen up or ??? No obvious reason it stopped working, doing fine now. Took it apart, put it back together and it works. Go figure.

[Viking Thor]

I don't see the face punch.

Total cost to fix was cheap. Yeah I guess its possible you could have saved the $95 but most people would have bought a new one or at least paid the fee to repair.

Also if you didn't know the problem in my view the $95 was a great value. You didn't know the problem and by diagnosing they enabled you to save a lot of money.