3 ms·

I don't get it. This is just a solenoid. Solenoids have high "start-up" (saturation) currents. Using the inertia of the plate mass at the end of each stroke is

I don't get it. This is just a solenoid. Solenoids have high "start-up" (saturation) currents. Using the inertia of the plate mass at the end of each stroke is clever though. I'd have thought a rotary electric motor connected to a rotary compressor would be quieter and easier to design the bearings for, and would operate in a more steady-state regime, so be more reliable. You also don't need the valve where the fluid from the two sides meets up, avoiding that efficiency loss. I think the latest fridges (which are also air conditioners) use rotary compression. Modern fridges and industrial electric motors have had "soft start" circuits in them for at least a decade. The start-up current thing is a non-issue.

flavius29663 5y ago
Existing fridge compressors are ridiculously reliable. They are a close circuit, self lubricating motors. My grandma's fridge from the 70s was still running strong when we threw it out a few years ago. I didn't quite understood how that new design is more reliable or serviceable? The closed compressors are literally zero maintenance. Also, the vibrations of that thing will tear itself apart quite fast, just look at their own promotional video: the pipes themselves cannot possibly last long with such vibrations: https://youtu.be/2TFiL5BM3ss?t=471 https://youtu.be/2TFiL5BM3ss?t=471