Sis-in-law has a built in fridge freezer in her flats kitchen. It seems to freeze ok but then will randomly defrost before working ok again for a bit. As its built in then access is going to be difficult - are these things usually fairly easy to remove from the kitchen unit? For all I know it might just be clogged up somewhere and need a good clean.
Failing that a swift trip to is in order but what's the score with them removing fitted units, is it the owners responsibility to remove and then fit the new unit?
Hah - yeah I just have to get to it! Pretty sure from the description that when it decides to defrost it does it properly. It worked fine for a year after she moved in.
I'm with John on this one. It sounds like a frost free freezer that warms the heat exchanger inside the appliance for a couple of minutes every "Set Time Period". You may be noticing the defrost more if the unit is not being filled up with food as it used to be.
An empty fridge / freezer doesn't work all that efficiently you know, and most makers will advise to put bottles of water in the appliance if it going to be left with little or no produce items in it.
So I don't think anything is actually wrong with the fridge at all, it just need stuff in it to make it work properly again.
Got more info. It's an Ariston fridge/freezer - after switching on the freezer will freeze, after that it slowly warms up until the code A2 appears on the display. Looking in the manual this is basically just a warning saying the temperature inside the freezer is too warm and you should check your food. Pretty useless.
I'm guessing thermostat but I don't know where to start - complicated as it's a fitted unit. I have a serial number, can I buy a thermostat myself and fit?
If the appliance is not being filled to a certain amount (bulk cooling / freezing it's called) then the fridge has nothing to retain cold when it goes into a defrost cycle. Try putting old POP bottles filled with water in the two compartments. This will help in bulking up what the fridge can cool and also retain cool air inside the fridge and freezer during the defrost.
It should actually tell you this, especially in summer weather settings, in the users manual you have. Take a read through the handbook until you are sure that this symptom is not mentioned. In warmer weather the fridge needs to go through a defrost cycle as normal, but if the compartments are nearly empty of produce the defrost cycle is only going to heat up the air inside and cause the symptoms you are having.
Please. Read through the handbook and se what it says, before you buying things you don't need and hacking out things that working perfectly and that you will probably break in your attempt to fix nothing.
Well we've nothing to lose so we'll certainly try this, but it does seem wrong that it never regains freezing temperature after the initial switch on/defrost cycle.
Will feedback in next couple of days.
Having read various reviews of Ariston kit via google I doubt a repair will be attempted.
It's definitely not working correctly. There's no auto-defrost so that rules that out. It has a "super cool" colder part of the freezer at the top of the freezer compartment and this gets cold enough to freeze water in bottles but the other drawers in the freezer never get cold enough to freeze at all even with the entire freezer full of bottles of water. There is a temperature control for the freezer and it doesn't make any difference whether it's set to -18 or -26 (the only available settings), there's also a super-freeze option which also makes no difference.
So - suggestions? It doesn't look too difficult to remove from the fitted unit but I don't know what to look for. It's only 3 years old so a pity if it can't be saved.
The first thing to check is the ventilation at the back of the unit. If the heat exchanger is not allowed to pass its heat away into the atmosphere, the fridge will actually have to push it back into the compartments. A good easy air flow under and up the back of the fridge is a must.
If the unit is next to a cooker, or other heating devices / appliances, make sure that cabinet wall is not retaining heat from these.
Check inside the compartments for drain holes, usually at the back, under the cooling panels, and make sure they are clear and clean of all debris. If they look dirty or have any paper and things sticking to them, clean them off and pour warm, not hot, water in the drain tray to see if runs away properly. If the water stays in the tray, then use a thin piece of wire to push down the drain hole and clear the blockage.
Do these first, then get back to us, if all doesn't go to plan. If the fridge is only three years old, is it still under warranty? Best check to make sure.
It's a fitted unit, there was a seal all round the sides at the front of the fridge which I have removed, there is ventilation under the body of the fridge by design of the fridge itself and there is a 3-4 inch to allow warm air to escape upwards and out through the top of the fitted unit, both sides at the back are enclosed, it's the only full size unit on that wall so difficult to see how to change this.
Nope, different wall.
Single drain hole in the fridge checked and is clear, water drained through to the back of the fridge ok.
Not under warranty, or at least no details of one (was included in flat as part of the sale), no idea of place of purchase.
I've removed the fridge from the furniture unit, cleaned the dust off the heat exchanger and removed and cleaned the fan . The motor, heat exchanger and fan were very hot, as was one side of the fridge at the bottom side. Hopefully moving the seal should help this. I ran it out of the furniture for a couple of hours and fridge performance improved (the back wall of the fridge now freezes water droplets) but no change to the freezer, top compartment freezes just about ok but the others are definitely too warm. The fridge is noticeably colder than these freezer drawers when you stick your hand in and the coolant rails are not freezing water droplets.
It might be worth it, if you can, to leave the fridge out of the unit for a few days (3 or 4 or longer) to see if it goes back to normal.
If it has heated to much, the exchanger and compressor will need time to re-gas themselves. Staying hot for long periods can cause the gas to stay gaseous and not return to a liquid to be repressurised through the system. The compressor can only compress liquid, so if there is none to squeeze, the thing fails. Over heating through lack of proper ventilation can cause this problem
Having a fan circulation system can cause more of a problem when it actually pressurises the air into a block in a tight area. So causing the air to actually stay in one place instead of circulate away up the back of the unit or out through the door when opened.
Leave as much bulk in the fridge as you can ( the water bottles etc. ) so the fridge has something to keep cold. Then let it run outside the furniture for as long as you can.
Changing, replacing or trying a repair at this time is not advised, in my honest opinion, because they will only be canceled out if the problem is actually the environment the fridge is trying to work within. Doing the things described above will at least let you know for absolute certainty that the fridge is working properly or not. This will not be an overnight fix, so the fridge needs to be in a totally different situation to find out the things we need to, before we attempt any sort conclusion for it.
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