Surge protector for refrigerator?

Why do you want to get a surge protector for a refigerator?

A refigerator is not a particulary sensity piece of equipment.

If you are that concerned I would suggest that you get a whole house unit that will also protect TV, micro waves, etc.

Here are a couple of examples.

http://www.smarthome.com/4870.html

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?prod_id=100396357&cm_mmc=1hd.com2froogle-_-product_feed-_-D27X-_-100396357

http://www.stayonline.com/tvss.aspx?gclid=CKXqxL3jxYoCFQF-PgodRwIlfw

I agree completely with BillHart. The recommended surge protector for a refrigerator is NONE.

A refrigerator is basically just a compressor motor, and electric motors are not delicate. In fact, about the only thing in your house more impervious to surges or drops are the burners in an electric stove or electric baseboard heaters.

Consider surge protectors for computers, TV's, stereo equipment, and similar electronic gear. But don't worry about your refrigerator.

I'm in agreement with the previous posts. Refrigerators are a source of surges and unlesss you have some typr of fridge with electronics in it, I'd not bother doing anything.

Invest in a surge arrester for your service and install point of use transient voltage surge suprressors ay the locations suggested by Tim.

You MAY need a surge protector for your fridge. Some, such as a sub-zero fridge, come with motherboards. So it is not safe to say that there is no need for a surge proctector for a fridge. As more and more devices (fridge, oven, microwave, dishwasher) contain more delicate and complicated electronics it is best to double check before plugging in your expensive appliance.

I have had 2 refrigerators go out within a week apart from each other. One in kitchen and one in garage. It cost 200.00 to get someone in here to fix and then the cost of the repair for the first one. We are having a new refrigerator delivered and I want to know what kind of surge protector I should get for it. This one will replace the one in the garage.

If you really need a surge protector, the I will reccommend my personal favorite which is a Hubbel #HBL5262IS which is equipped with an audible alarm to let you know when it has quit working.You will probably need to purchase this at an electrical supply house.

As outlined in other posts above, you should also invest in a whole house protector. These are very robust and will handle surges that would destroy the point of use protection.

What do you recommend for a surge protector for a GE Refrigerator/freezer that has electronic board? GE rep recommended one when he came to fix, but didn't give a brand name.

Lightning storm took out my fridge. Toasted the motor and who knows what else? I am definitely not plugging in my next fridge without one!

This is the second time I've had to replace a board from lightening on a refrig.

I was originally told that I couldn't use a surge protector on a refrigerator due to the pull of amps for defrosting. It would be always kicking out.

This second time the serviceman said he knows there is a surge protector available for this type of use but he couldn't remember the name brand.

So is there a surge protector that will work closely enough to protect the board on a refrigerator but still allow for the amp surge when in defrost.

put it on a surge protector.it will work good.

what you don't want it on is called a gfi.

there is such a thing as a "whole house surge protector."

i don't know how rich you are though.

3 yrs old GE frigerator stopped working. Technician replaced motherboard and suggested to use a surge protector. I don't know what power range (watts or joule) I should buy.

My both frigerator stopped working. GE replaced motherboard. I unplugged the other one. But the funny thing is that after a while I plugged it back, it started working again !? This Sanyo small frigerator.

You could try a "Sola CVR-1000" or a "Sola CVR-2500" depending on the power requirements, this are power regulators for AC Motors...

Interesting how refrigerators have chnaged since these posts, 2007. Now 2013, leading OEM's include leading electronics manufacturers, Samsung, LG, etc. Today they are laden with electronics, motherboards, digital displays in the door, LED's, etc. all subject to surge damage, especially in those regions that experience weather with lightning/energy surges.

Believe that this topic deserves an effective and direct answer

All surge protectors connected to a socket will still let threw voltage up to 330 volts or even more depending on the specifications of the surge power bar. Anything connected to a surge protector still uses 250%+ of the power requirement when there`s power surges.

Appliances and electronics not connected to a surge protector have no protection against any surges.

New technology high quality whole house surge suppressors can now clamp voltage at 130 volts. Improving life expectancy by up to 32% of all electronics including appliances, electronics with microprocessors and anything with a motor.

Research and detailed information about power surges, surge protectors and lightning strikes can be found on this page:

http://armur.webs.com/surge-suppression

According to industry standards, power line surges inside a building can be up to 6,000 volts, and 3,000 amperes, and deliver up to 90 joules of energy. Including surges from external sources.

Any surge protector offering protection over those specifications is extra for nothing, a gimmick.

Typically destructive surges are hundreds of thousands of joules. Lightning and other high-energy transient voltage surges can only be suppressed with a whole house surge protector.

Surge protectors can offer no protection against indirect or direct lightning and other high-energy transient voltage surges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_protector

can a refrigerator protector be used with any other appliance?

Last week the circuit board in the fridge burned out due to electric fluctuation. That made me look for surge protector and many consider it not at all necessary. But the technician who came from GE recommended a protector. Still I can't find one.

Be warned, the type of protector you need for a refrigerator or window A/C units is not for the motor but for the compressor. What damages a refrigerator or window A/C is not so much surges but the times when the electrical service "blinks" or goes off for just a very short time and then back on. The compressors are then re-starting under load and this will do expensive damage.
Both Tripp Lite and Belkin, probably many other manufacturers also, have these in 120V and 240V single outlet devices made exactly for these applications. They have a 3 minute delay before the power is restored, giving the compressors time to pressure equalize. They also will sense and perform the same for a brown out or high voltage surge..keeping the appliance disconnected until the line current is restored to normal.

My Maytag, model MFD2561HEQ, has both a "motherboard" and also a device called an "overload relay". Problems have been numerous i.e., both of the above devices, and the ice maker, have been toasted due to our frequent lighting storms here on Viliano Beach, Fl.

Unless someone else has a better product that they've used and can recommend, I'm going to order the Hubbel 5262IS surge protector.

Note: Thankfully, I ordered a 12 month service plan that has covered labor and replacement parts.

Also, if you live where there are similar weather conditions then I highly recommend a surge protector for you electronic devices.

Too bad the most current content is not at the top of the list instead of way back on the last page.

My fridge has a motherboard for the condenser. Cost $200 in a service call after several power flickers in the latest snowstorms/icestorms. Again, the repair person suggested a surge protector. Certainly worth my money considering the fridge is only a few years old.

Need a surge protector - need to know where to find one and don't need the old news first.

Lowes has appliance surge protectors. I had to get one for my oven, after a mother board fried. I also picked up one for my frig too. They have them set up in the section with the regular surge protectors.

Anyone who says you don't need a surge protector must have an ancient refrigerator.

Trust me. A surge protector is definitely needed for a refrigerator. Today's modern refrigerators contain computers which allows you to program the appliances to do many things. That's what will get fried. It happened to me. The days of a refrigerator containing basically just a compressor motor, and electric motors are not delicate are ling gone my friends. Live and learn

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008OCHYO6?pc_redir=1405254536&robot_redir=1
This is one I came across. Looking for one for myself. I'm in FL & the storms and power issues are messing up my appliances. I search appliance surge protector and found some. I searched Appliance surge protector delay (since I read delaying the power returning is better) & found this one on amazon.

ho

i have a 1986 sub zero do i need a surge protector , i just went for a fortune for a compressor

i have no computer basic fridge 2 compressors in this overpriced sub zero. I'll buy a samsung next time for 1/3 the price. 10k for a fridge is absurd. Dont do it

Very interesting and helpful posts, but PLEASE PUT CURRENT POSTS ON TOP!!! Thank you.

Modern refrigerators have circuit boards that are sensitive to power surges. The article was fine 10 years ago.

I really don't understand the ignorance of some individuals. A person asks a legitimate question and gets a lot of stupid, uninformed answers. If you bought a refrigerator in the last several years, it will have a electronics board with a microcomputer on it and a control board. Both of these will be subject to damage in the case of electrical surges. A surge protector is definitely useful to avoid damage which is typically not covered for any significant length of time by the manufacturer's warranty. Any surge protector capable of handling the current requirements of the refrigerator is acceptable.

Hello! I have a very important question! Recently we have bought a new house and there an overvoltage system is installed. I am not sure which one but something like this one http://hardware.eu/overvoltage-protection/phoenix/2920447.html, brand is the same. But I think that it is not enough to protect fridge from power spikes and surges. Do I need to buy wall outlet surges protector?

I must disagree with all postings that a refrigerator-protector is useless.
I have worked on large refrigeration / air condition units where a replacement compressor costs 25000.00 and more, all of this units have a built-in timer which cuts the power to the compressor for at least 3 minutes when there is a power outage.
The minimum of 3 minutes is the waiting time for the operating pressure of the system to fall back to the static pressure, so that the compressor can start easily and right away.
The Start-Winding of a compressor is made of very thin copper wire that is energized first until the compressor picks up speed, after that only the Run-Winding is energized.
If the compressor cannot turn at full speed, the compressor continues to start, burning up the Start-Winding and than it's usually game over.
This of course only happens when the compressor was running already.
The most dangerous power outages are the ones of less than 3 Minutes that can kill a fridge or anything that uses a compressor. It can only happen so many times, then the insulation of the thin wire in the Start winding breaks down and shortens out.

I've seen many almost new fridges and air conditioners getting destroyed by short and or repeated power outages of less than 3 minutes, so when I bought my house, the first thing that I connected was a self-built fridge-protector that cuts the power by 3.5 minutes after a power outage to make sure my fridge and deep freezer would not get destroyed.
The thermal overload protector that is attached to the compressor is not good enough to protect the compressor if short period outages occur repeatedly.

I must disagree with all postings that a refrigerator-protector is useless.
I have worked on large refrigeration / air condition units where a replacement compressor costs 25000.00 and more, all of this units have a built-in timer which cuts the power to the compressor for at least 3 minutes when there is a power outage.
The minimum of 3 minutes is the waiting time for the operating pressure of the system to fall back to the static pressure, so that the compressor can start easily and right away.
The Start-Winding of a compressor is made of very thin copper wire that is energized first until the compressor picks up speed, after that only the Run-Winding is energized.
If the compressor cannot turn at full speed, the compressor continues to start, burning up the Start-Winding and than it's usually game over.
This of course only happens when the compressor was running already.
The most dangerous power outages are the ones of less than 3 Minutes that can kill a fridge or anything that uses a compressor. It can only happen so many times, then the insulation of the thin wire in the Start winding breaks down and shortens out.

I've seen many almost new fridges and air conditioners getting destroyed by short and or repeated power outages of less than 3 minutes, so when I bought my house, the first thing that I connected was a self-built fridge-protector that cuts the power by 3.5 minutes after a power outage to make sure my fridge and deep freezer would not get destroyed.
The thermal overload protector that is attached to the compressor is not good enough to protect the compressor if short period outages occur repeatedly.

Damage to appliances from power surges is real. Virtually every new appliance has some form of electronic component that can be destroyed when power surges.

We live in a rural area and extreme power fluctuations are common during power outages. The control panel in our $1,500 dishwasher failed recently, most likely the result of a power surge when power was restored after a major wind storm. We are replacing the dishwasher with one that can be plugged in (vs hard-wired) so it can be surge protected. Will do the same for our fridge and washer (surge protect, not replace :) Every time the power blips on and off, the washing machine panel comes to life.

The appliance repairman suggested either a surge protector for each device or a surge protector on the electrical service panel. I asked the advice of our electrician and he said he put one on his service panel, but also one to protect each plug, as well. Our house is equipped with an outside electrical cut off, so the surge protection can go there and is DIY, if you are handy. It is not expensive, as might be assumed. Better than repairing or replacing $10,000+ worth of appliances.

Surge protection is explained well here:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,387874,00.html

Refrigerators today are more complex. I have a Whirlpool (model GC5SHEXNB00) with an Embraco 3-phase compressor. It has a frequency shifter to convert the 120VAC to 3-phase 230VAC for the compressor. It also shifts the frequency from 53 to 150 Hz. I have lost the frequency shifter three times due to storms. I also have an older GE refrigerator that survived the storms without incident.

I meant to mention the 53-150 Hz frequency shifting was done to slow/speed up the compressor motor to meet EPA energy savings. I have included a picture of the frequency shifter. Note the power input vs the output for the compressor. I am an Industrial Electrician who has worked for years with such equipment just more on a industrial scale.

I had posted a photo as BV010956 of the frequency shifter and later noticed the label in th3 photo is unreadable due to the site shrinking the photo. So I uploading just the label itself in hopes it will remain readable. As for my refrigerator I have installed a dedicated line (old house) to the refrigerator and surge suppressor in the panel. Hopefully this won't happen again. I should have done this before but you know the saying "The cobbler's children has no shoes." I procrastinated too long.

There are a lot of uninformed people replying to this post. A surge protector is critical for refrigerators. The compressors are controlled by computer boards on all models within the last 10 years and a surge can easily destroy the computer board. It happened to me.

A surge protector recommended by the guy who installed our refrigerator a few years ago just saved our fridge when a surge caused by a damaged wire in the power line fried several outlets and a surge protected power strip and left us with no phones, no electronics, and no power in refrigerator or freezer. It took the electrician one minute to turn it back on vs having to replace the fridge. The unit was a Monster Power Appliance PowerCenter AP200. I don't know if it still exists, but I see plenty of appliance surge protectors on Amazon and at Lowes and Home Depot to choose from, and I'm going to go out and get a replacement (this one burned out doing its job, you can smell it) asap.

I wish uninformed people like Billhart would not respond unless they are sure they know what they are talking about!

I completely disagree. Our home was recently hit by lightning, and several small appliances and our refrigerator fried. The entire entertainment system was fine. However, since we did not have a surge protector on the fridge or microwave or coffee maker they bought it. Because we did not use a surge protector on those items, we had to file against our homeowner's insurance. Surge protector would have paid to replace these items. Can't wait to see my new rates next year.

I'm chuckling at the replies that you don't need a surge protector. We had our fridge die when power came back after an outage about 10 years ago. It turned out to be a relatively inexpensive part to get the fridge back up and running. This just happened AGAIN a few weeks ago, but this time the repair person said we should just buy a new fridge as the repair/part costs were so high! This is in 2 different houses in different countries (US and Canada). Both times occurred in houses less than 10 years old and with high end appliances. If the power outage is planned by the power company or widespread, many insurance plans won't cover it, so you're on your own for replacement costs... spoiled food, repairs or a new fridge like in this last case!!!

Almost bought a surge protector when I found this on GEappliances.com :

"It is not recommended to add a surge protector to GE refrigerators and freezers. The compressor is sensitive to temperature and current overloads and will shut itself down with a surge. It will also restart itself. A surge protector will override this system, and if there is a power surge, your refrigerator will not restart."

After hurricane Irma, fridge worked exactly as described above :)

Link
http://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=16877

Are you sure?

My mother lives in Puerto Rico and due to the power outages her refrigerator went out. It is a side by side with an ice maker. Do you recommend a surge protector?

From G.E.(see link below): REFRIGERATOR SURGE PROTECTION

http://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=16877

GE would also like to sell you a new refrigerator...

Advantages of double conversion regulators:

The highest among all stabilizers is the accuracy of setting the output voltage;
stability of the frequency of the output voltage, independent of the input voltage;
wide range of input voltage (110-300 V);
high reliability due to the absence of mechanical elements;
low heating due to the use of special MOSFET or IGBT transistors.

I bought one from RCA - I argued with GE over the claims I am reading of people coming home to find their circuitry fried due to a storm or other power problem - after saying I could not use one, they said "I could use one if it was made for a refrigerator" - I had asked them what they were doing to protect the delicate circuitry in todays crap from surges - which I did not get a good response too. One argument is that even if the circuitry doesn't immediately get damaged, is that it gets weakened with each "hit" - a good surge protector made for a fridge may be a very good investment.

The various people who responded to the initial question about surge protectors for refrigerators and other home appliances, such as freezers and air conditioners seem to be living in the dark ages of appliances! Of course today's refrigerators have sensitive electronics! (not the, and I quote from one who should be anonymous) "sensity" appliances. Maybe he meant sensient {Heh!)?
At any rate, a common mode of failure of today's crappy refrigerators, not meaning inexpensive, but just poorly designed, is that either the controlling electronics or the compressor motors fail from surges of voltages from which they are not protected. I would suggest that in some areas, an even greater problem for the compressors is that the simple refrigeration compressor is not protected against low voltage, and so would overheat in brownout conditions when supply voltage drops to, say, 80-90 volts due to poor management by the utilities, and is caused to fail from overheating. Advice, short of implementing surge protection and backup power is to unplug such appliance as soon as brownout conditions are noticed, and not to reconnect such appliances until it is known that the supply power is again stable. In days before affordable UPS devices for higher current draw I had my computer systems on a ferroresonant (CVT)transformer because the neighborhood had 86-125 volt swings, high draw to large motors shut down time, respectively, which was tough on computer lifetimes. They also worked on smaller refrigeration units. Never a failure after the CVT transformers were installed! This was 30 years ago, and there are better power conditioning systems available today, I'd guess.

I feel for the fellow who had a Maytag motherboard fail because of a relay circuit. It just so happens that I had the same thing happen, and understand that many have experienced the same. I believe that since then (at least 30 years ago), Maytag has a warranty extension on the poorly designed board. I found the fault on the old board myself after replacing it with a new board, yes, $200 for that $20 value board, and saved it. I took the board to an 8th grade science class (middle school, average students, mostly, described the problem that can occur when resistors of too low current value are used in a higher current circuit, and several students spotted the problem withing a minute of receiving the board that was circulated around the class. The failure was not in the relay on that board, but in a 1/10 Watt resistor. Shame on the cheapskates at Maytag! Shame again for not replacing everybody's board with one of competent design!

I review of the stack of comments in this link it begs the question, what brand(s) do not fault out during these outages/surges? If enough people become aware of faulty Engineering/Design and quit purchasing the bad products, it will force a design change. Or the company will go belly up.

Absolutely needed. We experienced a power surge in the house a couple of years ago when lightning struck the in-ground water meter in our front yard. The surge killed many of our appliances and electronic devices including TVs (largest one was a month old!), cell phones, and refrigerators. The 1960/1970ish single door refrigerator in the garage died immediately and the 3 year old Samsung side-by-side sustained damage to its internal computer. Had we invested a little bit of money on good surge protectors, they all may have survived unscathed or simply survived. Anything with a plug is now connected to a surge protector of one type of another after this very expensive lesson.

Thanks for the comments. The mother board in my less than 3 year old refrigerator was damaged due to the power outages in my area. The repairman recommended that I get a surge protector for the refrigerator. I found one at Lowes for large appliances.

I will add something that no one else has. When you look for a SPD for your fridge, be sure that it:

1) Alerts you in some way that the surge protection has failed. The Hubbell 5260 series outlets have an audible alert. In my opinion, the Hubbell or similar device is the only one suitable for a fridge.

2) That the SPD continues to supply power when the MOV (metal oxide varistor) fails. You don't want your food to spoil after a surge has been absorbed and causes the MOV to fail.

3) Always have a spare SPD to replace a failed one.

The Siemens FS140 is a great whole house SPD. $200 + install costs. Good investment! It has an audible alert when the MOV fails.

Also, the Tripplite IBAR4 or Belkin BSV300ttCW are good options depending on application. I have the IBAR4 on my more valuable endpoint devices.

I have a Sole treadmill that made my wifi inoperative whenever I was using it. Putting the IBAR4 on that appliance stopped the wifi interference. The motor in it must be creating a lot of noise on the line.

You're welcome!

What about protecting from short power outages? If a refrigerator or freezer is running and there is a short power outage (say 2 seconds), the compressor will try to restart under the head pressure when the power comes back on. The compressor motor will stall, and the thermal/current overload in the compressor will trip. I have seen where those thermal/current overloads do not reset, and now your compressor is trash. Has anyone seen a simple unit that will keep the power off for like 2 minutes after a short power outage? That would allow the compressor head pressure to equalize.

No surge protector for you fridge huh? What year was yours made? All of the newer models have motherboards. Look up the cost of that little board, it can be hundreds of dollars. Get a protector that goes into standbys and resets itself automatically so you don’t comeback from vacation to a fridge full of rotting food.

Yes. Refrigerator are not like in the old time. My new SAMSUNG is controlled by a bl***y microprocessor !
And yesterday after a power blackout , it stops...of course during the night.!
After research on Google i found out that it needs to be reset by unplugging it for a few minutes or hour to reset the damned thing ! WTF !

We have a 10 room hotel in Mexico on the Playa Linda Beach at Tapachula so are a Salt Corrosion & Lightning Capital, Our whole building Square D surge protector has done Nada. Items labeled Surge protectors cost us a TV, Microwave. A more expensive but 5 yr warranted surge suppressor still allowing current through after 5 years, cost us the electronic board of our LG washer, 2 things that worked for us. 1. UPS our computer was running on along with router etc and the UPS with battery backup saved those items. 2. We had bought about 17 devices as you can find on Ebay or Amazon searching for "Surge Brownout Protectors" these devices cost us less than $10 U.S. on sale at Home Depot at the time, At high Voltage 130 volt, or low voltage 100V they cut out and depending on the unit take 30 seconds to 3 minutes from the time of proper power to allow power through again. What killed all those appliances was the power sort of went out but the voltmeter on the UPS showed a continuous power of about 70 volts, we had some LED lights that alternated between on and off every few seconds at the time as well. Of those 17 purchased about 2 have failed over the years.

We have a 10 room hotel in Mexico on the Playa Linda Beach at Tapachula so are a Salt Corrosion & Lightning Capital, Our whole building Square D surge protector has done Nada. Items labeled Surge protectors cost us a TV, Microwave. A more expensive but 5 yr warranted surge suppressor still allowing current through after 5 years, cost us the electronic board of our LG washer, 2 things that worked for us. 1. UPS our computer was running on along with router etc and the UPS with battery backup saved those items. 2. We had bought about 17 devices as you can find on Ebay or Amazon searching for "Surge Brownout Protectors" these devices cost us less than $10 U.S. on sale at Home Depot at the time, At high Voltage 130 volt, or low voltage 100V they cut out and depending on the unit take 30 seconds to 3 minutes from the time of proper power to allow power through again. What killed all those appliances was the power sort of went out but the voltmeter on the UPS showed a continuous power of about 70 volts, we had some LED lights that alternated between on and off every few seconds at the time as well. Of those 17 cheap brownout surge protectors purchased about 2 have failed over the years. But nothing downstream of them has failed, including another LG washer, microwave, refrigerators, TV's

I see that this post was started a long time ago, but I feel the need to comment. In February 26 of 2018, we had a big snowstorm (I live in Vermont) and our power surged on and off all day long. The next day our refrigerator was dead. It turns out the compressor had burnt out from the continuous cycling. We first attempted to replace the compressor, but with arguments among manufactures and sellers about who’s responsibility it was, it wasn’t until August 3 of that year that we received a new refrigerator. I don’t ever want to have to go through that again. Our electrician, whom we trust implicitly (we had a restaurant for 14 years and he was spot on all the time), said it it was probably a good idea when that happens to unplug the refrigerator, but we can’t keep it unplugged all day. This current problem has been going on for a day and a half and looks to continue for another day at least. I try to get to the refrigerator to unplug it as soon as the power kicks off and before it kicks back on again (then leave it off for at least 15 minutes and plug it back in again if the power hasn’t cycled again for a while) but I’m not always in the room and the power is quick to come back on. I was thinking about either a surge suppressor or a UPS and I’m still researching.

I see that this post was started a long time ago, but I feel the need to comment. In February 26 of 2018, we had a big snowstorm (I live in Vermont) and our power surged on and off all day long. The next day our refrigerator was dead. It turns out the compressor had burnt out from the continuous cycling. We first attempted to replace the compressor, but with arguments among manufactures and sellers about who’s responsibility it was, it wasn’t until August 3 of that year that we received a new refrigerator. I don’t ever want to have to go through that again. Our electrician, whom we trust implicitly (we had a restaurant for 14 years and he was spot on all the time), said it it was probably a good idea when that happens to unplug the refrigerator, but we can’t keep it unplugged all day. This current problem has been going on for a day and a half and looks to continue for another day at least. I try to get to the refrigerator to unplug it as soon as the power kicks off and before it kicks back on again (then leave it off for at least 15 minutes and plug it back in again if the power hasn’t cycled again for a while) but I’m not always in the room and the power is quick to come back on. I was thinking about either a surge suppressor or a UPS and I’m still researching.

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