This goofy fridge has a really clever design. It's also kinda terrible.

In a 24/7 Wal*Mart at 0200 (2AM) I was shocked to see the Frozen Food Bunker reading 68º Apparently that was a normal defrosting temperature.

Is this the same fridge that feature's in the Cardi B - Bongos music video?

In Europe this is just a normal fridge. It is also a normal sized fridge, i have never seen a bigger fridge in somebodies home then the red fridge.

Wire rack shelves might help with the top to bottom temperature differential, and they might be cheaper too.
A thin layer of insulation around the compressor cubby might help prevent heat transfer to the interior, and it wouldn't cost much.

Norra? From atomic heart?

My father still using Russian 70s fridge called ZIL that designed similar to this one , those things are immortal, the only thing that broke in it over course of 50 years is a compressor starter relay - 10$ part that was changed in 90s when I was in first grade - still works 2023 👍

the little red fridge that almost

you could have over heated the compressor and it went out on thermal overload.

This one is a mess. Very hard to follow. The temperatures in F on voice but on C on the screen and very tiny F on the graph. The direction of the fan said as back to front then front to back then up to down then down to up...
Also putting thermometers in receptacles and drawers is not really helpful, you saw that in the water heater video. You are just measuring pseudorandom vortexes of convection. Each time you shift the cans in the fridge to a new layout you'll get a new cooling profile as the new geometry affects how the air flows.

What I love about this channel is I’m 27 minutes in and I know I’m in for a good 33 more minutes

Why no vent tube from top to bottom pulling air from top to bottom?

I;ve never understood why we dont make fridge + hotwater tank in one unit. Probably because even in a perfect outcome the hotwater needs about 9x the energy.

My families lake cabin has had the same fridge since the 50's and it was the old one from my wife's grandfather's house.
G.E. from the 40's
Works great.

Small size? It's a normal European fidge size.

i cant believe people want wifi and tv for frigdge that really silly

love the old fashioned design

you have very positive energy

I have an idea for a video. Make experiments to prevent the fridge from running at peak hours using different methods, A timer, filled water bottles, overcooling, phase shifting material. This could be a great help to help counter the duck curve and save power at peak hours

I will stick with my 1988 Frigidaire Elite until it dies. It may cost a bit more in electricity but just keeps going.

I keep imagining worm cans

it's perhaps not air, but cold radiation. Like heat do.

watching a properly implemented temperature sensor is so satisfying

Question: did you see if the fridge thermostat had an adjustment? If so you could set it to say 38 F and put the bulb in the fridge, without the need to have a fancy (if cheap) controller.

Ale c is strong! The fridge label says it weights 99 pounds and he seemed to easily lift it.

This is the third video of yours I've watch and I've now subscribed. Based on the data I thought the temp sensor was going to be close to the freezer, but I'm glad you figured it out. Love your solution.

Great

I noticed on the first test results after stocking the fridge that the time delta was around the same despite the temperatures so I thought there was some sort of time limiter for the compressor or something to, Idk, preserve the lifespan of it? But then the fan tests shattered that theory. Now the entire thing just screams to me that they only tested and calibrated the thermostat design while it was empty.

Strangely proud of the fact that I got halfway through you explaining the weird temperature patterns and realized it was something to do with where they put the probe.

So the back wall of the fridge compartment is for most of the time dark, moist, and cool. That sounds like a brilliant way to make sure your refrigerator grows mold.

The main problem is that a forced air circulated system compared to non forced one.
Your old fridge is doing its work designed to it. Thats why messing with vents and thermostat "broken" its work.
Newer models with forced air flows have less rules to follow because its designed the current usage type, and demands.

The old days there are rules to follow:
-never fill the fridge to 100% from 0% instant
-only use ~75% of the space to let air flow
-I case of cleaning/defrosting the whole fridge, then let it run empty for a while before start packing back.
-use the shelves and door places according their design:
=door for milk and drinks, and washed eggs
=top shelves for less cold demand items (depends on design, but here thats the normal)
=lover shelves for colder demand items (depends on design, but here thats the normal)
=crisp container for veggies
=let space between items to help the cooling of them
-never put too hot items in the fridge, let them cool for room temperature
-use ice packages in the freezer, and in case of need place them in the fridge section to help cooling the food

And there are more "rules" what my mother and grandmother tought me when I was a child, but I have a modern fridge, so most of them either became habits, or forgotten by the time.

There was a recall on select serial numbers from this model refrigerator. Make sure to check whether or not yours is one of them. I believe some of them caught on fire.

So, the temperature sensor doesn't measure the interior of the fridge at all. It just measures the compressor and acts like a 555Timer to keep the cycle going. (Where, the cycle length of 33min targets ~34F)

Something to watch at 3:00 a.m.

Well dang buddy, that was basically Chapter 8 or so in Thermodynamics 101... HVAC & Refrigeration. Could have saved yourself weeks of tediousness by just reading the HVAC chapter in any ThermoD textbook haha. Smooth move with the electronic controller, i wouldnt have considered that over even a different mechanical thermostat... electronic wouldve been my last thought but the data sure looked solid, nice one.

The probe is placed in the shell near the evaporator to provide thermal mass. The mechanical thermostat probably works fine but thge probe needs to be in a jar of liquid. They have it calibrated to the evaporator to act as a cutoff to stop freezing up. These designs do need adjustment with more stuff in the fridge. You want the probe taking ths templ of thermal mass not air.

show the ice scraper, please

phew Haven't finished yet. Taking a breather. Did you keep the power supply for the fans IN the fridge????? 🤔

You are not alone. When my fridge was getting to cold i swapped the mechanical thermostat and was also surprised that it was not under the cover when I tinkerd with it. When I watch this I was just waiting for you to make this discovery.

The thermostat of the fridge did not mesure the space in the fridge (like your thermostat-tracker), rather the walls of that fridge, and they get cold faster. Then the thermostat switch of the compressor, and the walls get warm fast, so the thermostat will switch on again. That goes as long, as the average temperatur-diferenz between Walls and inner space will be in the right level of the normal opperation-modus of that device-construction.
So, the "rippel"-graph is normal (for that placing of the thermostat-sensor).
As i firstly saw the "rippels", i thought this is compressor-overheating. Because....small compressor for relativly big fridge.... but... that problem with placing of temp-sensor (capilar-pipe?) is more likely. Where it is placed, it will get cold faster, as in the fridge.

Edit: ok, you mentioned the problem with that sensor placing.

Its not unrelevant, if the fridge/freezer is full or empty. The cooled things/Mass in the fridge will help to hold a lower temperatur, when load more stuff at roomtemp in it. What means, if the fridge is half full, and loading the other half in, the reaction of the cooling-cyclus will be diferent.

In some fridges, the switch for the light is an opener and a closer, so you could theoretical build in such a fan, that only will blow, if the door is closed. Just mentioning, because i once repaired the thermostat and had to disconnect all the cables and re-connected the light at the wrong pin, so the light was on, when the door was closed and of, when opened. ...sic.
But, if that fan does not make it better....

I do not understand, why the temps in the fridge should be under 0 grad celsius? Is 5 C not enough? You know, every grad C will cost much/disproportional more energy, as the one 1 C befor had cost. And the small compressor has to work more, as a bigger one, so that will be a problem for his life-time functionality.
So, at the end of the video you recogniced the reason, why they fit the thermostat somewhere in the walls: because that will not effect the operating-cyclus of the compressor, when open the door. But that is strange, because modern electronics and delay-modules will solve that problem. And they did not cost much. But it makes it complexer, as it usualy was in the past of simple fridge-constructing. I wonder, why there are capilar-thermostats until today. That makes no sense in the 21. century.

By all the explaining and researching one thing is missing: How much energy suck that fridge out of the wall when the compressor is running and how much over a timespan in normal use? That cannot be much, because of that small compressor. But that small compressor will need more on-time to cool down, so.... there is less marge for unnormal situations (like full load of roomtemp-stuff)

Your final statement probably supports my belief that while we thought early electric refrigerators were great, the reality probably is that they were only a lot better than the previous technology, the icebox. A block of ice sitting in those things couldn't have kept everything properly cool as it melted down getting smaller and smaller. We simply didn't have the technology to measure the temperatures in multiple locations without opening the door often and messing up the cooling. Interesting video, giving us lots of incite into the difficulties of refrigerator design.

I tried. I really really tried. But only made it halfway. :) Dont stop making these though. They are awesome. Will come back to finish it off. PROMISE!

you're an amazing man

you know that?

i know it's not a particularly insightful comment, but i've heard it said, it's better to leave the big brain stuff to those of us with big brains


for technical matters like this, my brain ain't so big..
..i know when to concede my position, thusly

Was the odd on and offs while cooling the cans a result of a thermal protection in the compressor?

Lol how is an hour video of a refrigerator interesting all the way to the end. Good job.

Only 38 minutes in when commenting, but are you sure the fans were running consistently? Could the battery output have been severely diminished when the fridge got very cold. Very tired so there’s a good chance I’m being very dumb lol

That is not a small fridge! 😮

I would have thought the fan and battery pack would have produced a fair amount of heat