Noticed how much fridge compressors changed in the last 15 years

I was working on a 2008 Whirlpool side-by-side last week and it hit me how different the compressors are now compared to what I started on. Back then it was all about those big, heavy reciprocating units that would just run forever even if they got a little dirty. These days I'm seeing more and more inverter compressors with variable speed drives, especially in Samsung and LG stuff. The newer ones are way more efficient but they're also a nightmare to diagnose when they fail because the electronics go first. I had a 2019 model last month where the compressor was fine mechanically but the inverter board was shot, cost the customer almost $400 to fix. Made me miss the old days when a bad compressor just meant a hard start kit or a replacement. Has anyone else noticed the shift getting harder to keep up with?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonp7615d ago

Man, you're speaking my language. I ran into basically the same thing with a 2020 LG last spring - compressor hummed but wouldn't start, and sure enough it was a dead inverter board. The old R12 and R134a stuff was bulletproof compared to this new tech where half the components are surface mount and impossible to test without a scope. Miss the days when you could tell if a compressor was shot just by feeling the heat and checking the ohms.

jenny4715d ago

Funny you mention the 2020 LG... I had almost the exact same model at a rental property last summer. Ended up swapping the inverter board for a rebuilt one off eBay for like 45 bucks. That thing fired right up and has been running fine ever since. I still keep a multimeter in my truck for the old stuff, but yeah, without a scope you're basically guessing on half these new boards.

iris92710d ago

Oh man, I swear my brain turns to mush every time I have to troubleshoot one of those inverter boards. Makes me wonder if I'm getting old or if the tech is just trolling us at this point.