Using power profile for diagnostics

Hey, thanks for all of the info you are finding about your fridges!

On the topic of fault detection, we think this is something we will be able to do over time. We do see certain types of faults in the data, but we think that in order to do a decent job of this we are going to need to develop models of particular types of faults (failing compressor, refrigerant which has leaked etc). So, once we have a lot more data, we will be able to mine it for enough examples of certain types of failures and then figure out how to reliably detect them.

We donā€™t think the profiles coming out of the current application are good enough for this yet. For the examples here where compressors sometime stay on for longer than expected, this could be because the compressor really stayed on longer than expected (either because something was wrong with it, or perhaps it was just in some different mode temporarily), or could be because Sense missed the off transition! We of course try to minimize this sort of thing but arenā€™t doing a good enough job of this yet to use the lack of an off transition as a reliable indicator of a failure of the device itself.

On the topic of models changing over time, the models do adapt over time to new data coming in. We need to do this in case the operating mode of a device changes somewhat ā€“ changing of ambient temperature over time for example. Just having more data and adapting the models to the new data usually results in improved models over time. But, it does sometimes go wrong and something which was modeled correctly goes away or the performance becomes worse. This is yet another thing we are actively working on!

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After speaking the Technical Support people at Sub-Zero, at least I now know what electrical components I should be seeing from my 632/0 refrigerator/freezer unit and a little about how it should behave.

The model I have should use 684 kWh per annum when new and when taking the usage for the last three months and extrapolating for a rough number, it looks like Iā€™m at 640 kWh. And that looks like itā€™s for a single component.

Freezer only

  • Compressor
  • Defrost Heater
  • Evaporator fan
  • Water valve
  • Fill tube heater
  • Drain tube heater
  • Door light

Refrigerator only

  • Compressor
  • Evaporator fan
  • Door light

Whole unit

  • Condenser fan motor
  • System Control board

When either door is opened the evaporator fan for that side shuts off. When either compressor is running, the condenser fan motor will also be running.

Did your new Samsung get discovered yet? I read an article describing Samsungā€™s new compressor using ā€œDigital Inverter Compressorā€ technology and thought about your post.

Might be very tricky to identify as a fridge since it is more variable rather than a full on/off refrigerator compressor.

Not yet, and Iā€™d be surprised unless someone from engineering saw this post and went looking for it. We really donā€™t have a lot of things in our house (our always on is like 35w) - my primary reason for purchasing was solar v usage - so I can visually id just about everything. This fridgeā€™s pattern was almost unnoticeable, though, you can only really see it humming along at night. During the day it kinda just fades into background.