That moment my fridge compressor seized up at 2am on a Saturday

I was just chilling at home after a night shift, grabbed some leftovers, and heard this weird hum from the kitchen. Opened the fridge and the temp was already at 50 degrees, food starting to sweat. Knew right away it was the compressor since it was hot to touch and the fan was running fine. Had to pull the whole unit out, check the start relay and overload, turns out the start relay was fried. Swapped it with a universal part I had in my van and it kicked on after 15 minutes. Has anyone else had these cheap start relays fail more often than the actual compressors on Samsung fridges?

3 comments

3 Comments

king.wyatt1mo ago

Samsung had a bad batch of start relays in their 2019-2021 models. The plastic housing warps from heat then the contacts don't mate right. Had three neighbors with the exact same symptom, compressor hot but not running. Swapping that $8 part fixed all of them. The actual compressors on those are built solid, they just kill them with a bad relay.

williams.kim1mo ago

Yeah you said "that fix is so cheap" and it got me thinking. There's this whole pattern I notice where companies design stuff so when one tiny part fails the whole thing is junk. Like car manufacturers putting the oil filter in a spot you need to be a contortionist to reach, or phones with screens glued shut so you cant swap a battery. They know most people will just buy new instead of fixing. But here's the thing, that $8 relay proves they cant make everything idiot proof. Some of us are gonna figure out the weak link and laugh all the way to the repair bench. Its like a little win against planned obsolescence every time. Keepers those compressors are.

gracewebb1mo ago

Swapping an $8 part instead of dropping a grand on a new fridge almost feels illegal, like you're getting away with something. Samsung must be furious that fix is so cheap.