Gadget grump

[dr_kromm]

I'm sure that at least 1% of you will give a damn . . . but as it has put me in a hacked-off mood, I'll rant here in public. That's what blogs are for, right?

<rant>

As our Real Life™ associates know, Bonnie and I are fans of wine (in the sense of "oenophile," not "wino"). Since we don't belong to the Moneyed Classes and can't afford a house with a wine cellar, we saved up our pennies and bought a climate-controlled wine cabinet in November 2001. This was modest – a mere 110 bottles in capacity – but well-built, and worked perfectly until May 2007, when the cooling unit abruptly expired. As anybody who has ever owned a display fridge knows, 5.5 years is neither great nor lousy mileage for the cooler in a box that sacrifices a thick insulated door for a thin glass pane. We ordered a replacement cooling unit and were back in business the same week.

This week, though, the new cooling unit is reading 20°C when it's supposed to be at 14°C. That's not good. Fortunately, the cabinet has very good seals, and the internal temperature is still in the safe zone. Unfortunately, it means that our replacement cooling unit has expired after a piddly 1.5 years. That's crummy whatever way you slice it. Naturally, we had a one-year warranty . . . so I guess another full-price replacement is in order.

Anyway, for those in the market for such things, be aware that the original Vintage Keeper-branded cooling unit is a workhorse, but that the Drobot-brand "Nuvo" units sold to replace these aren't so hot. Actually, they aren't so cool, which is the problem. I'd ask for alternatives, but the warranty on the cabinet itself requires us to use this lousy cooling unit. So take it as a friendly product alert.

</rant>

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

In summer 2007 our refrigerator, which had been working a bit less efficiently, started working a LOT less efficiently. As it, we turned the temperature control all the way up (or, really, down), and instead of freezing everything solid, it just barely kept in cool. Refrigerated food spoiled a bit more slowly than if it was out in the southern California climate. Fortunately, when I e-mailed our property managers (they require submission of maintenance requests by e-mail rather than phone, except in emergencies), and asked if they could do maintenance before it failed entirely and had to be replaced, the maintenance guy took a short look at it—and a couple of days later we had a new refrigerator. That's pretty decent service. I haven't always been happy with them, because they get tangled up in administrative issues, but they seem to resolve major habitability issues right away. But I suspect this was technologically very similar to the problem you describe, only with food instead of wine. . . .

Just-so Warranties

[trada1.livejournal.com]

I assume you are aware that if you take these folks to small claims court, you're likely to win a free replacement unit. A year and a half is *not* a reasonable lifetiime for a cooling unit and a judge wold probably recognize that. Now whether or not you have the time to bother with that, I don't know.

You might want to read this and watch the actual shows (it'll make you practice your French): <http://www.radio-canada.ca/actualite/v2/lafacture/niveau2_17085.shtml>

[morningapproach.livejournal.com]

ouch, that is painful :( Hopefully you don't have to sink too much money into it to fix it up!

[spectre-eric.livejournal.com]

Would it be feasible to add some insulation around the front adn sides of the device, perhaps a water heater insulation wrap? That would reduce the workload of the device.


(In a min/max way, you could set it in a place where it is more likely to fail in 10-11 months, but that might void the warranty...)