Anyone know about fridge-freezers?

[andrewducker]

Mine has ceased to function - everything in the freezer is defrosted, and it's just not cold in there.  Must have happened in the last 24 hours.

Now - is it worth me paying someone to look at it?  Or at Fridge-freezers the kinds of things that break badly and then need to be thrown out?

Comments

[bracknellexile.livejournal.com]

Well if something's gone in the heat exchanger you're probably buggered but it may just be a busted thermostat.

Depends how cheaply you can get someone to look at it I guess.

Erm, you have checked the fuse in the plug, right?

[andrewducker]

The lights are still on :->

I'll phone someone tomorrow and see what a callout will cost.

Bah!

[bracknellexile.livejournal.com]

Let me guess, it's 2 days outside the warranty too?

[andrewducker]

Had it two and a half years - it came with a year's warranty, unless my brain has completely broken.

[eleyan.livejournal.com]

Ours went a few months ago. Man from electricals shop fitted a new motherboard and it's now fine. But we bought a new mini freezer to tide us over as the part took a week to arrive.

[andrewducker]

Thanks!

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Even if you decide to replace it, offer it on Freecycle in case someone out there can do something with it. Although it is possible anywhere you buy from will take it away - I think there are some new regulations requiring shops to recycle.

[paddie-gal.livejournal.com]

You could also ask for a new one on Freecycle - my sister got a fridge-freezer, a chest freezer AND a dishwasher all from the same person on one night - they were remodelling their kitchen, which came with all new stuff. Only problem is that you normally have to be able to collect it yourself.

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Unless you love it very much or it is expensive just replace it. Callout will probably cost you £70 before the technician even looks at it. You can buy fridge/freezers for less than £200. Unfortunately we live in a throw-away society as far as white goods are concerned.

[miramon.livejournal.com]

Turn it off, then on again. Leave it a few hours and see if it's cooled down. If yes, then it's probably something in the electronics. We had a chap swap out the board, it cost about £120 (including call-out and labour) as opposed to £4-600 for a new fridge freezer of equivalent size.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

How old is it?

If it's more than 10 years old, trash it, it's done.

[andrewducker]

2 1/2 years old. Which gives me a little hope...

[red-phil.livejournal.com]

Bypass the control on the compressor to see if it still works.

If the compressor is cooling the fridge when control is bypassed, then it is something in the control circuitry and probably worth getting an engineer out.
If the compressor has gone, then scrap it.

[andrewducker]

Silly question - but how do I do that?

[princealbert.livejournal.com]

Maybe if you posted make and model like any electrical good then we can find the service manual and advise?

(Did poisonduk not tell you we paid for a months subs at a site to get the service manual then ordered the two parts to get her Samsung "American style" fridge freezer up and running again. Our friend Sara can probably sort it out)

[red-phil.livejournal.com]

On my old freezer I did the following.

Pull the freezer out from the wall and look for the motor that runs the compressor. It should be fairly obvious. Possibly behind a grill, or not.

Check the motor is 240V AC this should be marked on the motor, or you could test with a multi-meter , some rubber gloves and some care.

If it is 240V AC, disconnect the power wires from the controller and screw down 2 wires from a mains plug directly to the motor.

make sure everyone is clear of the machine then plug the new mains lead into the wall and switch it on.

This should run the compressor without any input from the control circuitry.

There is the possibility that a more modern fridge will have a better sealed compressor unit with clip in plugs etc.
My freezer had the motor wired to the control circuits via 2 screw type terminals. If the unit is sealed, I'd probably still have a go, but I'm not You.

[andrewducker]

Sounds somewhat scary. Probably because I've never done it before :->

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

It sounds scary cos of the possibility of getting zapped by an up-to-then-undischarged capacitor! Best to 'drain' them by shorting them to earth. Presuming, of course, that you can identify capacitors... Steven got chucked across the kitchen by an amplifier circuity board (but he really does know better!!!)

[darkoshi]

What is a fridge-freezer? Is it a regular "refrigerator with one door for the fridge and another for the freezer"? In mine, the cold is generated in the freezer part and then blown into the fridge part, so if the freezer was warm, the fridge would be too. Is your fridge part still cold, or are both parts warm? Is the compressor motor and fan still running or is it silent? Sometimes in freezers, a part gets frozen shut with ice... and unplugging the fridge so that it melts makes it start working again.

I had a problem with my fridge once (not sure what caused it to begin with), and accidentally made it worse... I wanted to make things colder, so I turned the knob to make the freezer colder, but that made the vent from the freezer to the fridge close, and then the fridge got even warmer.
I had a repair person come out, and all he had to do was turn that knob, and it worked right again. :sheepish grin:

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

I fixed our boat fridge by examining the (tiny) circuit board and finding that the green "On" LED was in series with the switch. Established with multimeter that LED had blown. Bridged it - presto, motor fires up. So, solved with one blob of solder on the back of the board....

Candidate for "Stupidest Circuit Board Design Ever".

So maybe a quick squint at the control board, if you can get to it, might be worthwhile... Make sure not to touch anyththing with anything except with the meter probes....