Refrigerator noise


Seriously guys, how do you deal with it? My fridge is in the vicinity of my living room with all my equipment. It's pretty old machine, and the compressor is making noise almost half the time it's on ( seems to me pretty unusual, when I go to see my friends I never hear anything). I even set the level lower, but to no avail. Anybody with a similar problem? How can you check noise of a new fridge in a fairly loud environment of big store? Any recommendation (brand names)? No ice boxes please... :-)
branislav
Branislav

exactly. Fridge plugs into it. Google for remote outlet or the like. Amazon sells them, Plenty of others too. some come in pairs, triples, singles. Etc.

Place the power outlet remote right by the amp, which I assume is not remote controled. When you go to turn off the amp last as should be, turn on the fridge!

I'd caution against covering a compressor with anything. It is more than fortunate that a previous exp of covering one proved to be a positive one. Compressors get terribly hot. Hot enough to burn your skin by simply touching them sometimes.

The apparent noise is coming from both the fan and the compressor. When a compressor begins to rattle or become more audible, it's on it's way out. Bearraings usually are the reason.

Fridges cycle too. They turn themselves off to defrost everyday. This cycle might have, over a period of time, shifted somewhat.

I'm near positive this defrost period can be reset so it occurs in the wee hours so as not to disturb. I'll get back as to the how of it.

Intermatic as well as some other switch makers produce timers for appliances like water heaters as was suggested above.

these are hard wired products most often and a possible need here. A mechanical one won't do. you could inquire at the Adult Toy Store, (Lowes, Home Depot) for acquiring one and with enough room mount it to the wall outlet feeding the ice box.

Then all you have to do is listen at exactly those times and no others. remember? You and it are then on a timer!

...hence the note on the remote (memory) controlled device.

If one can not relocate the ice box... can't or wont' buy a quieter one... can't or won't close off the kitchen area from the listening area... turning off TEMPORARILY & easily, the box seems the solution. Sheeessssshhhhh!

this ain't rocket science or room treatments! The latter appearing now, the simpler task. lol
Tvad- You are misinformed about Sub Zero. Consumer Reports refuses to acknowledge the fact that a SubZero has a 12-year warranty while the most other refrigeration units have is 12 MONTHS. Of course one would expect more service issues! That is only one of several discrepancies in C.S. analysis. Consumer Reports should be read with care not only for appliances but also automobiles and several other important categories. My graduate degree is in marketing research. Some of the analysis developed by COnsumer Reports is based upon insufficient data. THAT IS A FACT.
FWIW I'm with Sit on the insufficient data CR collects.

The Gibson ice box came with a 10 year compressor wtty. as std fare.

one of the rental - retail chains I ran an outlet for and was the appliance buyer for as well, put out the Gibson's in their rental department for years. Thereafter Kelvinator. Thereafter as needs were, others were used to supply the rental population.

Durability, longevity, as much trouble free operation as is possible is the PRIME concern in that industry. Service was/is always a consideration.

of all the brands used in that corporations history Gibson & Kelvinator fared best having the lowest incident numbers. Those numnbers were reflecting, shuffling them out to the customer, upstairs and down, picking up said items by default, or merely relocating them for the customer. Lots of moving about... lots of different ware and tare from several owners during the lifespan of the appliance, and we guaranteed 100% zero cost to the customer for ANY repair issue, providing in the case of fridges, same day replacement or repair.

it was incumbent on us to select as worthy and well built a product as was possible at the time. Those two did best then. They were available for retail too.

it always amused me that people routinely came in with CR under their arm to get the best deal.

Times have changed and so it goes for appliance makers. things have sure, uh, cheapend up. on shore and off.

Wanna know what might be a good path to go appliance wise?

Call your local rent to own outlet and ask what they're putting out on rent these days... and what causes them the least issues.

Call a few different ones in fact. I assure you, they'll know. It's a larege part of how they stay in the black.

I don't think CR polls them though.
This subject has been of interest to my wife & I as well. We researched as well as we could, considering Bosch, LG, GE & Samsung. We cook a lot & make dinner from scratch every night, so it had to function well from a utility standpoint as well as being quiet. Tvad is right, every brand has it's detractors. Remember the old trusim, an unhappy customer tells ten people, a satisfied customer tells one. In the end, we bought a 24 cu. ft. Samsung, rated @ 44 db., which is competitive with all the brands that actively promote quietness as a feature. After replacing the fridge with the same model after only four months because Samsung couldn't provide repair parts for a loud, ratcheting ice maker, I can tell you there are substantial differences from one fridge to the next. The second one is less quiet than the original. Still generally quiet, but it's quite annoying considering the first one was inaudible from eight feet away and the replacement can be heard from 16 feet away. If my experience is applicable on a broader scale, I can easily see how experiences are so variable. Regarding reliability, I would also urge consideration of WHO you buy from as a warranty is no better than the company administering it. My experience with appliance repair through major large retailers is abysmal. I'd always try to buy from smaller local retailers than have more responsive and nimble warranty service departments. FWIW, Audiocircle has had an active thread on this subject for some time now as well.