GOOD GOD KILL ME or fix my fridge. you know, either or.

Dr. Frenchenstein

So last night i get home from a nice dinner, and my fridge is making these grinding noises from the freezer (it's a side by side) and the icemaker arm is down, which should mean it is making ice, but there is no new ice. I've been having issues getting water to come from the dispenser on the front of the unit, could it be a water line problem that would cause that sort of thing? like, ice maker on, but no water? I unplugged it last night (because it was loud as shit, and 11pm), and when i plugged it back in this morning, it didn't start making the noise again. so we'll have to see if it's doing anything when i get home.

A follow up question. I have an appliance breakdown policy with my insurance company. Has anyone ever used this? i think BGE Home has one as well. I'm just wondering if using that will a)be a colossal pain, or b) raise my insurance rates.

matt has a problem

It won't raise your insurance rates, but the deductible may be as much as the repair (if you have a deductible).

If both your ice and door water aren't working, it sounds like a water pump problem. Which isn't too hard to fix really, it would be in the back of the unit near the bottom, but finding the part yourself might be a chore.

bowen

I think you should invest in a life insurance policy because with the way your luck is going you're going to lose a leg as your whole house collapses on top of you.

Serious advice: what's your deductible like?

mts

i called in my new purchase insurance when our AC unit didn't work. blew a cpacitor or something, only cost me like 75 bucks to have them come out and fix it. sounds like it is water pump to me especially the noise

zepherin

How old is the fridge, and what brand is it? Some of them have pretty lengthy warranties.

Also tell it to stop trying to make ice (flip the arm). If you have a water problem going into the ice maker, and your telling it to make ice, it may make loud unpleasant sounds. Tell it to stop making ice and the sound may stop. However the overall problem remains, fixing the symptom and all that jazz.

bowen

I'm fairly certain your townhouse is haunted too. Just throwing that out there.

Dr. Frenchenstein

It's about 5 years old, Frigidaire side by side. I assumed there was no warranty left on it. it came with the house so i'm pretty sure it's cursed as well.

Yeah i've got the arm in the off position atm, and it seems to be working fine. once i get my insurance paperwork, I'll check out the appliance portion. I'm not sure how to go about making a claim on that.

Kuroi Ookami

Call your insurance, I'm sure the rep on the other side will be knowledgeable and helpful in the regard. Then decide if it's worth going through them, or having someone else come out with a water pump to fix it (or yourself).

Casual

Jesus christ Frenchenstein, is this house built on an ancient Indian burial ground or have you just been going around punching gypsies in the face? You're cursed.

Pel

Nix on the ancient Indian burial ground. Odds are good if you're having trouble getting water to come out of the thing, the problem is probably just the filter: routine maintenance! I'd swap that before I waded into any paperwork. The plastic tubes on a lot of those fridges can be pretty flimsy too, make sure it's not getting crimped, possibly by the fridge itself being rolled over it or something like that.

LaOs

My parents also had trouble for a while with the line for the water in the fridge getting frozen/too cold to work properly. I think the only thing that ended up fixing that for sure, though, was moving it to another interior wall (that wasn't connected to an exterior wall) when they renovated their kitchen. (For some reason the previous interior wall was cold as hell--it was connected to an exterior wall.) Maybe you can solve that problem more simply, though (if it is your problem).

bowen

LaOs wrote: »

My parents also had trouble for a while with the line for the water in the fridge getting frozen/too cold to work properly. I think the only thing that ended up fixing that for sure, though, was moving it to another interior wall (that wasn't connected to an exterior wall) when they renovated their kitchen. (For some reason the previous interior wall was cold as hell--it was connected to an exterior wall.) Maybe you can solve that problem more simply, though (if it is your problem).

I'm somehow suspecting that it's related to the water damage he's been having from his neighbor, but I doubt it. Wouldn't surprise me if ripping apart everything leads to this being some sort of nasty thing like that though.

Dr. Frenchenstein

There is a copper line in the back of the fridge that looks bent funny to me. The water comes in fine (I'm a dumbass and had the filter out, and hit the water button, sprayed everywhere) or at least seems to. I'll swap out the filter and try to make ice again tonight, and see if that does it.

Can i just manually bend the copper tube back to a more reasonable angle? i'm afraid i'm going to jack it up worse.

bowen

Should be able to. Be mindful of joints though.

Figgy

Normally you bend copper pipe like that with a special tool that looks like a spring. Otherwise you risk kinking it. If there is already a kink, the pipe is most likely toast. Trying to unkink and kink will result in a snapped pipe and a very wet kitchen.

You could try replacing it, but the difficulty in that depends highly

R0land1188

If the fridge is in close proximity to the sink it is usually pretty simple. Also you can get plastic tubing as a replacement depending on the connections.

Dr. Frenchenstein

My sink is in an island in the middle of the kitchen, so the water line goes under the floorboards at some point or other. I don't think it was bent enough to have a kink, but if it went much further it may.

Figgy

R0land1188 wrote: »

If the fridge is in close proximity to the sink it is usually pretty simple. Also you can get plastic tubing as a replacement depending on the connections.

Plastic tubing for a supply line? That would involve replacing connectors at some point, wouldn't it? Like, under the floor. Or in the wall.

Dr. Frenchenstein wrote: »

My sink is in an island in the middle of the kitchen, so the water line goes under the floorboards at some point or other. I don't think it was bent enough to have a kink, but if it went much further it may.

Being "bent" is normal. That's why those plyable copper pipes exist. If you haven't been fucking with it, I doubt that's the problem anyway.

Dr. Frenchenstein

Figgy wrote: »

Being "bent" is normal. That's why those plyable copper pipes exist. If you haven't been fucking with it, I doubt that's the problem anyway.

It's bent a bit more than i think it should be (also, the pipe itself is a lot longer than it should be i think). i haven't been messing with it, and water is still coming in, so i'll probably leave that alone. if i end up having a guy come look at it, i'll mention it though.

L Ron Howard

The only solution is to burn it to the ground. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

(I really have nothing to say, I just feel bad for you French with all the shit you've been going through.)

bowen

I'm not too convinced it won't collapse under it's own weight.

Dr. Frenchenstein

That will be me, right before i jump into the pit.

matt has a problem

A bend in a copper pipe isn't anything to worry about, a kink on the other hand is. If it's flat on the outside of the bend, and creased on the inside, you'll have restricted water flow. Bending it back can cause the pipe to break in the crease too, meaning you'll suddenly have unrestricted water flow all over your kitchen floor.

Djeet

Chalk up another vote for the bend likely not being an issue so long as you have flow. I've also got a way too long copper line behind the fridge. If the line is kinked I'd think you'd be able to deal with that by cutting the pipe upstream of the kink and installing a new compression fitting. You'll want a pipe cutting tool, but that and a new fitting should probably run you less than the $60-70 service call from a plumber.

Dr. Frenchenstein

HA! The city transferred my complaint to a contractor(or whatever) to clean up my neighbors backyard. So 30 days and i wont be living next to (as much of) a landfill.

we'll see if they do anything about the inside of his house.

bowen

Do you have a contact? Can you call the dude? If he introduces himself to you make sure you mention the basement issue, and the fix he did, and also that it's still happening. See if you can't get him to inspect the foundation or whatever the hell is going on over there.

Dr. Frenchenstein

all i have is a confirmation number at the moment. I do have the inspectors card from the last time the city looked at the damage from next door though, if i don't get a call soon, i'll give him a buzz.

Figgy

Dr. Frenchenstein wrote: »

Figgy wrote: »

Being "bent" is normal. That's why those plyable copper pipes exist. If you haven't been fucking with it, I doubt that's the problem anyway.

It's bent a bit more than i think it should be (also, the pipe itself is a lot longer than it should be i think). i haven't been messing with it, and water is still coming in, so i'll probably leave that alone. if i end up having a guy come look at it, i'll mention it though.

That pipe needs to be long enough to give slack so you can move the fridge in and out. If it were only long enough to reach, it'd be impossible to install.

Dr. Frenchenstein

good point figgy, it's probably so long because they installed the fridge in a terrible spot, and it has to come out pretty far. the extreme bend is probably just me being paranoid.

The inspector called me and left a message, saying the neighbor guy said i was ok with it... Someone's getting an angry call from me tonight!