Lost $200 on a fridge compressor that wasn't even bad

Spent 3 hours in Gary swapping a compressor on a Samsung fridge only to find out the real issue was a bad start relay. Has anyone else chased a ghost part like that and wasted a bunch of money?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_thea1d ago

Oh man, that sucks so bad! I've totally been there. I once spent a whole afternoon ripping apart a freezer because I was sure the thermostat was shot. Bought a $50 replacement, swapped it in, and it still wasn't cooling. Turned out it was just a loose wire on the control board, a five second fix. Now I always stop and check the simple stuff first with a multimeter before buying anything. Saves me money and way less cussing.

daniel_martin1d ago

I've done enough fridge calls to know that swapping a compressor is almost never the first thing you should do. Samsung in particular has well documented start relay and capacitor issues. Pulling the back panel and checking the resistance on the relay with a multimeter takes maybe ten minutes. A new relay costs around 15 bucks online. You spent 3 hours and $200 on a part that wasn't even the problem. That's not chasing a ghost part, that's skipping the diagnostic step.