Would you have a 5 year old Hisense fridge repaired?

[simpsonencore]

Hi all,

My mum's fridge is currently having a couple of issues. It's a Hisense HR6TFF534SD, purchased new in late 2020.

The fridge compartment's door seal has split in a few places, especially on the bottom seal strip, where it has just about split all the way across. Mum suspects this is why all her fruit and vegetables freeze solid when stored in the crisper (top-mounted freezer; crisper is at the lowest point of the whole fridge, closest to the busted seal)

None of the LED interior lights work properly anymore. Freezer light was DOA, but even I didn't notice that until more recently, because the last top-mount fridge/freezer never had one at all. The fridge light has just started flickering and strobing, which mum says is driving her absolutely crazy! Some of the plastic door shelves have cracked, which I've glued back together for her.

The fridge came with a 3 year warranty, which has expired by almost 2 years at this point. I feel like the issues are relatively minor and could be repaired; the freezer still works great apart from no light, fridge compartment is still keeping food below 5°C but would probably be a bit more stable with a new door seal. But then again, Hisense is more of a "budget" brand to begin with and would these minor issues signify something more troublesome down the track? I'd like to hear your opinions, pros and cons, etc. on this subject.

Pic of Hisense HR6TFF534SD for reference

 

[phillymatt53]

The first time I ever heard of the "Hisense" brand, I got a strong feeling that it was another made in china junk brand.
In fact, a substantial number of those pop-up NEW weird brand names make me suspicious as to their quality.

While those long-running famous established brands made in the USA and Europe have their troubles, they have outsourced manufacturing and parts which also adds to their problems.

Do some research, read reviews, particularly the negative ones, and choose carefully another fridge.
And toss that trouble-prone-from-the-start hunk of garbage out.

 

[circlew]

My neighbor Marilynn bought a HiSense dehumidifier about 3 or 4 years ago. She told me last week that it had quit. She said a person would have no sense if they were to buy another one. They're junk from China or some other Asian country. I hope they make better ones for their own use, than they send over here.

 

[phillymatt53]

We used to walk across bridges made of American Steel.
Gradually, over time that steel became wooden boards.
And now, we're tiptoeing over thin fiberboard..... and praying we survive.

 

[simpsonencore]

My neighbor Marilynn bought a HiSense dehumidifier about 3 or 4 years ago. She told me last week that it had quit. She said a person would have no sense if they were to buy another one. They're junk from China or some other Asian country. I hope they make better ones for their own use, than they send over here.

NoSense... hahahaha I love that, go Marilynn

 

[lavamat_jon]

I’ve always found Hisense to be decent for the money. Not appliance related, but we have a sub £300 Hisense TV in our bedroom which has a better picture and has been more reliable than our main LG in the living room which was 3 times the price.

 

[goatfarmer]

When I was in the RV industry, a lot of travel trailers received Hisense appliances. Personally, I would not repair.

 

[DADoES]

I had a Hisense TV in my bedroom. It was OK for picture quality but the GoogleTV/Android OS was sluggish so I put a Roku stick on it. The cat knocked it over a couple months ago. Replaced with a TCL that has onboard Roku, and I like the Sleep Timer and Display Off options, nice for streaming go-to-sleep music.

 

[combo52]

Should you repair a five year-old basic refrigerator?

The torn gasket at the bottom of the refrigerator door is not likely the cause of it freezing produce in the drawers. More likely there is a temperature control problem, but I can’t get this model number you provided to come up so I can’t really suggest what may have failed

The flashing failing lights can be a real nuisance in some cases. It’s better just to put tape over them and do without the lights as that has no bearing on the function of the refrigerator.

The torn gasket at the bottom of the door is usually the result of that area, getting sticky, and then it tears and pulls at the gasket as you open the door. It shouldn’t be hard and hopefully not expensive to replace that gasket, be sure to clean everything very thoroughly so the new gasket doesn’t start to get damaged.

But I would guess this refrigerator would probably keep cooling fine for a decade or two so it may be worth fixing, especially if you can do it yourself

John L