r/mildlyinteresting • u/giant2179 • 22h ago
34 years of vibration severed the copper wire inside the power cord to my freezer
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u/TyrKiyote 22h ago
This is the kind of problem you want to see when fixing something. Here's to another 34 years on the next power cable.
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u/giant2179 12h ago
I do love a simple fix. They really don't make them like they used to.
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u/INeverSaySS 11h ago
Id check the power rating, odds are you are paying a lot in electricity for the unit, that a new one would recuperate quite quickly.
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u/giant2179 10h ago
I did the math when I got it for free 8 years ago. The energy savings does not offset the cost of buying a new one. Especially when a newer model would've crapped out the compressor by now.
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u/INeverSaySS 10h ago
I bought my freezer 14 years ago (2012) and no compressor issue so far, which is why I commented. 8 years lifetime sounds really low, and against a 35 year old one the payoff time is only like 6-7 years anyways.
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u/Enough_Supermarket_7 22h ago
Planned obsolescence/s
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u/mattstorm360 14h ago
We calculate we can provide a 30 year warranty before it breaks.
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u/Enough_Supermarket_7 14h ago
Nowadays they break it before you buy it "preventative obsolescence" xD
Whats already broken, cant break again
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u/GilliamOS 13h ago
I had a Samsung washer do that twice on the drain pump wiring. After the second time, I replaced it.
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u/I_-AM-ARNAV 11h ago
The washer?
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u/GilliamOS 11h ago
Washing machine.
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u/I_-AM-ARNAV 11h ago
Damn. I built custom wiring for mine. The wiring for motor burnt out. It lasted another 7 years after which I retured it.
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u/polishatomek 10h ago
Thats pretty bad, couldnt this cause a fire under the right conditions?
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u/giant2179 10h ago
Not with the insulation intact. If the insulation had worn through it could short out and would likely trip the breaker
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u/polishatomek 8h ago
I meant the wire having more resistance than an undamaged one, generating heat and therefore catching fire. Yknow, less strands, less ampacity?
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u/imreallynotthatcool 8h ago
These pumps run at like 24 volts. I can hold that on my toung and not feel much. You would have to overvoltage the hell out of it to start a fire.
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u/chofah 4h ago
Hell yeah! Let's overclock the shit out of my freezer! Gonna get that shit so cold!
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u/imreallynotthatcool 2h ago
You really wanna get stuff cold, put your freezer's condensor in a refrigerator.
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u/polishatomek 8h ago
It's the amperage that makes things get hot, not voltage. This actually makes this worse, since you need more amperage at lower voltages to transmit the same amount of watts. (wattage = amperage times wattage). That's why things like fpv drones have such thick internal wires, so they don't fucking melt.
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u/imreallynotthatcool 5h ago
Bro, I just wired a touchscreen controller with the same voltage into a steel rollforming machine. You wanna tell me again about how you know more about my job than me?
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u/garmack12 9h ago
Series Arcs, meaning arcing across a gap in the same conductor can absolutely cause enough heat to cause a fire
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u/AzerothianLorecraft 11h ago
modern ones last 4 years you got lucky.
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u/giant2179 10h ago
I got this one for free 8 years ago. Even with the few hundred dollars worth of food I just lost, it's still a better deal than buying a new one.
Temp sensor has been ordered. Learned my lesson!
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u/AzerothianLorecraft 9h ago
ya older is normally better when it comes to appliances. ( my grandmother bought a fridge in the '50s it is currently in my garage holding beer. fits perfectly with the Fallout decor.)
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u/giant2179 22h ago
I isolated the break in the copper and cut the insulation exactly at the break.