Lost $150 on a counterfeit compressor start relay

Picked up a supposed OEM start relay off Amazon for $12 instead of the usual $30 part. Thing failed after 2 weeks on a Whirlpool fridge and took out the compressor too. Customer was not happy had to eat the cost of a whole new compressor and labor. Total loss was around $150 for my time and materials. Learned my lesson about buying electrical parts from sketchy third party sellers on Amazon. Anyone else get burned by cheap knockoff parts from online marketplaces?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver_mitchell7d ago

Wow, it actually took out the compressor too? That's brutal... I've had cheap parts fail before but never had one take the whole appliance with it. Those start relays can be finicky, a bad one will keep the compressor running in a locked rotor condition and just cook the windings. Sorry you had to learn that one the hard way, OEM parts are expensive for a reason I guess...

gavins437d ago

Honestly, is it really that brutal though? I've swapped those start relays out for ten bucks and had the fridge run for years after. Yeah, if you catch it too late it can toast the compressor, but that's usually a worst-case scenario. Most of the time a bad relay just means the compressor clicks on and off weird, not a total meltdown. I feel like people get way too scared about this stuff and end up paying for a whole new appliance when a $5 part would have fixed it. Ngl, I think a lot of the "you have to use OEM" talk is just fear mongering from repair guys who want you to buy their parts.