Found out last week that most fridge compressors fail from voltage sags, not age

I was reading through some service manuals from a seminar I went to in Phoenix, and a stat caught me off guard. Apparently something like 70% of compressor failures in residential fridges come from low voltage or sags during peak hours, not just normal wear and tear. I always just swapped the part and moved on, but now I'm thinking about checking voltage more often on calls. Has anyone else seen this hold up in their own jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabeth_ramirez13d ago

That matches up with what I started seeing about three years ago when I got a cheap little recording voltmeter. I had a customer whose fridge kept dying every summer, replaced the compressor twice before I thought to check the voltage during the hottest part of the day. It was dropping down to 105 volts right when the AC kicked on next door. Put in a hard start kit and told her to run a dedicated circuit, and that fridge has been running fine ever since. I've started recommending voltage monitors to customers now, especially in older neighborhoods with smaller service panels.

noah91412d ago

And the hard start kit is a band-aid a lot of people overlook, I've had good luck with them in the short term but a dedicated circuit really is the long term fix. The voltage drop at the panel is the real killer, especially with older homes where the main breaker is already marginal. Good on you for catching it before they replaced the compressor a third time, I bet they thought you were a wizard.