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Maes

Refrigerator lights

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Remember the old "Why Scotsmen (or Jews) don't use refrigerators" joke?

Well...it seems there's some truth to it: I recently had to change two fridge lightbulbs and my fridge kept running all the time, especially with the Summer really kicking in. I mean ALL the time.

So, I really started wondering if the light DID go out when I closed the door...the door switch appeared OK and was ultra-sensitive to the slightest touch, however the light didn't appear to go out by closing the door almost completely but for a fraction of an angle.

This seemed suspicious, as fridge lights usually go out well before the door closes, and there's plenty of room for observation. So, inspired by something I saw on youtube, I placed my camera in the fridge and recorded what was happening inside...and without fail (pun intended), the light DIDN'T go out.

What's weirder though, is that by inspecting the switch, I found out that there was physically no way it could come in contact with the door, not by a large margin. Since my fridge is second-hand, this could be due to a door replacement, but how often have you heard of that? If the door is indeed original, the the light must have never been switched off in the fridge's lifetime, or was never designed to do so.

So I just called it quits and plugged a burnt out bulb in, d'oh!

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At the same time, this seems like a very obvious design flaw, yet also very hard to discover. Funny stuff.

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As a sidenote, I've seen refrigerators which had an "always on" flick switch inside, that kept the light constantly lit even with the door closed. Now what could ever be the purpose of that?

Regarding my fridge again, it could be that the previous owner(s) lost some extension piece that popped on the switch itself...but again that's something unheard of.

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MrWiggles said:
On the other hand, you cannot rip paper on the sabbath so I wonder what they do after taking a shit.


I guess that taking a shit constitutes work too, so the answer is...

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Maes said:

As a sidenote, I've seen refrigerators which had an "always on" flick switch inside, that kept the light constantly lit even with the door closed. Now what could ever be the purpose of that?

Maybe a courtesy light for Argentine Ants - those little pests can squeeze past door seals.

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Damn, now I'm going to investigate my fridge. That's pretty weird.

Shomer Shabbas!

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I don't even have to think twice about my fridge. The new one my parents got has a see-thru door, and theres ALWAYS a light on. It's done purposely so that you can see whats inside of course. When the door opens, a second and brighter light turns on, but that shuts off when the door is closed, just leaving the first one.

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Kirby said:

I don't even have to think twice about my fridge. The new one my parents got has a see-thru door, and theres ALWAYS a light on. It's done purposely so that you can see whats inside of course. When the door opens, a second and brighter light turns on, but that shuts off when the door is closed, just leaving the first one.

That has to be bad for the milk.

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Aha! Fridge lightbulbs - a topic I have always wanted to discuss but was to afraid to create a thread for myself...

I'm very suspicious about my porch fridge. It's running all the time lately even though it's summer - this is the British summer we're talking about here and it's an A-rated energy appliance. So I think I will investigate said bulb thingie.

The Philips fridge in the kitchen has a pathetic light that flickers badly unless you manually spring the switch with your fingers. I know ours isn't the only one to suffer either - they filmed a documentary on Richard Hammond in his kitchen and he had the same fridge... and opened it to reveal the exact same flickering. Quality control my arse.

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Technician said:

I keep my light on in my oven whenever I'm using it to give that little bit of extra heat.


Easy Bake Oven plus a heating coil?

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I checked my fridge today. The light clearly goes off before the door is even fully closed, so I'm cool with that. Too bad the freezer drips a gallon of water a day into the fridge.

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Shouldnt be hard to fix.
Drill tiny hole in top of switch contact, screw in tiny screw into hole.
If light still doesnt go out. Unscrew to make it longer.

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Catoptromancy said:

Shouldnt be hard to fix.
Drill tiny hole in top of switch contact, screw in tiny screw into hole.
If light still doesnt go out. Unscrew to make it longer.


The idea would work, but the gap between the door and switch is at least 3 cm in depth, so a rather protruding screw would be needed, with a carefully and solidly drilled hole.

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Another possible fix-
Glue a thin Lego block to the door and clip blocks onto it until they reach the switch.

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In the general interest of keeping my life simple, I will probably not bother fixing it, since I will have moved out in a matter of months and the fridge is not even mine (it's a courtesy of my landlord). At most I will notify him and/or the next renter.

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Yeah, and Maes, with all those carrots, I gather Bugs Bunny's cousin is your room mate.

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Maes said:

Here's a typical fridge configuration of mine:

Before LIDL shopping
After major LIDL shopping

Congratulations I cannot see one vegetable. Just a bunch of soft drinks, beer, a fuck-ton of cheese and those lovely little chocolate coated coffee beans Lidl do.

You are officially on the video gamer's diet.

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pritch said:

Congratulations I cannot see one vegetable.

Weird. I can clearly see an apple, an orange and a pineapple in those boxes on bottom in the first one and a box of carrots on left front of the middle shelf in the second photo.

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Jodwin said:

Weird. I can clearly see an apple, an orange and a pineapple in those boxes on bottom in the first one and a box of carrots on left front of the middle shelf in the second photo.


I also consider fruit juice to be "vegetables" ;-)

And yeah, I have this rule for eating: I let all the complex cooking/salad making etc. for the Officers' Mess, while at home I only keep manly stuff like beer, LIDL chocolate covered coffee beans and Happy Bears. I also occasionally stock apples snatched from said Officers' Mess ;)

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Officer? weren't you only a Cadet a few months back?
At this rate you'll be a general by christmas

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