When Your Fridge Starts "Crying" — Time to Say Goodbye?

For almost half a year, our trusted Sharp fridge has been acting up. Water droplets started forming on the ceiling of the top shelf, so much so that all our food containers placed there were constantly wet. It became a daily frustration to wipe down the shelf and dry off the containers. I finally had the time to call in a fridge technician, hoping to solve the problem once and for all.

The first technician diagnosed the issue as a loose gasket (rubber seal on the doors) and replaced it. While that initially seemed promising—no more water droplets—the fridge suddenly stopped cooling properly on the same day. Our food was no longer staying cold, which led to an even bigger headache. We had to discard a lot of food from our fridge and freezer. What followed was a long-drawn drama involving five visits from two different technicians, and replacing a faulty defrost sensor in the freezer. Despite all the tinkering and replacement parts, our fridge still isn’t performing at 100%.  The repairs set us back RM800.

The second technician kindly left us a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature. Apparently, the ideal fridge temperature should be around 4°C. After the fifth repair attempt, the temperature started to drop again, but it’s still inconsistent. During the day, with frequent door openings, the fridge struggles to stay at the optimal temperature. At night, when left undisturbed, it managed to hit the sweet spot of 4°C—just once. And now, the dreaded water droplets are making a comeback on the top shelf ceiling. It’s like a bad cycle we can’t seem to break.

Our fridge will turn 17 this November. That’s a pretty long life by modern standards, I suppose. Electrical appliances nowadays don’t seem to last the way they used to. I remember our old fridge and washing machine at my parents’ house easily lasted over 20 years with barely any issues. Back then, manufacturers took pride in making things durable. Now, it feels like planned obsolescence is the name of the game—if things don’t break, how will they keep selling?

I think it’s finally time to say goodbye to our hardworking fridge and start scouting for a new one. Hopefully, this new investment will last at least one and a half decades.

How old is your fridge? Is it still running well, or is it starting to "cry" like ours?

On 3rd May, our fridge temperature had been hovering above 15 degrees Celsius. All our dairy produce and perishables had to be transferred to the other fridge in the wet kitchen. That fridge has been stuffed full to the brim ever since. Hope it won't conk out too!