The Virtual Repairman's Appliance Help

[Guest]

Kenmore Refrigerator Model 58695

Refrig stopped cooling and then after a day or 2 will start cooling/freezing again for another 1 or 2 days and then continue with this same cycle of working and not working. Lights work and can hear fan going. Had Sears service out 2 times. First time said a loose wire to compressor which I questioned since why did it cool/freeze at all. Second time, it was in its freeze/cooling cycle so the repairman said cannot test to find what is wrong when it is working ok at the time he is there. He told me to unplug it for 24 hours and let the compressor cool completely down and then plug back in. I did and it worked when I plugged back in for 1-2 days and then stopped again and now back on and off, etc. Any suggestions and how am I going to get it fixed if it happens to be working on the day the repairman comes (can't continue to take days off work to keep meeting repairman).

[Virtual Repairman]

Greetings;

I wish I could have looked up your model, but you did not give the correct model number, just some general stock number on your booklet. Please look in the FF section and see if there is not a proper ID plate somewhere that has the model number, which begins with 3 numbers followed by a dot.

For the compressor to cut out like this indicates a weak compressor. For the repairman to state that it was a "loose wire" or some other excuse, is simply his way of avoiding having to do a sealed-system repair on the unit. Call Sears back and demand that the compressor be changed. Most of them have a 5-year warranty on the parts.

[Guest]

The model number is 596.58695890. Unfortunately, unit is over 6 years so I will have to pay for repairs. Should I demand and pay for compressor replacement and just hope that is it?

[Virtual Repairman]

Replacing the compressor is not all that big a deal. It's about a third the cost of a new unit. If you bought a new unit insted, the warranty has changed to 1 year on everything. There is no 5 year compressor warranty. What does that tell us? Two things:

1. Manufacturers have lost faith in the cheap, outsourced components which comprise their products, and can no longer provide a warranty on things which commonly break after 1 year. (Gets into their net profit, you see)
2. Manufacturers have decided that it is more important than ever to buy the "extended service plan",since the warranty is now only a year. (How convenient

Whichever you decide, there's no "right" or "wrong" way to go, considering the current state of affairs. Apparently they have forced us into a corner between cheap parts and extended service plans to offset the cost of frequent repairs.