Fridge questions

Hi all, sorry I only post here when I've got a question to ask, but I don't know much about diy, so I don't have much to contribute.. :o(

Latest one is that my fridge seems to have a burning ambition to be a freezer, ie. the motor runs continuously and my carrots stored in the bottom drawer are looking mighty frozen. I've done the obvious and turned the dial down (not that it had been turned up to start with, but no joy).

IMHO this points to a duff thermostat so I'll be getting a quote for a replacement, but does anyone know how much it's likely to be? It's a pretty bog standard Zanussi Freezone (model ZFT56RL).

How easy is it to replace a thermostat, anyway? I'm hoping it's just an unplug and replug job.

A new fridge is looking like around 150 GBP from Comet and they also want to charge me 15 quid to take my old one away.. Are there cheaper alternatives? (No, not throwing it in a field, I mean would the council maybe take it for less?). TIA..!

Reply to
Abso
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new stats are relatively cheap from CPC. there a few generic types according to the type of defrost system used by your fridge, whether or not you have an icebox etc. virtually all types are less than a tenner plus vat. The electrica connections are normally push fit and your will need to clip the capilliary to the same place as the old one.

To stop the big freeze whilst you get a new stat, use a plug in timeswitch set to run the fridge for say half an hour every hour and a half to 2 hours extending the off time over night when the door will not be being opened.

Quite an easy job

Good Luck

Bob

Reply to
Bob Minchin

Not a lot of people here do, but still have a go!

Knackered stat.

It'll be a generic stat, readily available at most good appliance stores.

Pretty much. Usually 3-5 wires depending how it's wired. Just note which wires are on which terminals, remove and reverse for refit. Quite a few new generic fridge stats come with instructions for inter-compatability.

Go to a proper appliance shop, we knock spots off comet. And sell proper appliances as opposed to proline etc... ..

SJW A.C.S. Ltd.

Reply to
Lurch

In East Kent, we buy them from a big barn...cheaper than Comet, better range and free delivery! So, I agree...!

Reply to
Bob Eager
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About £15 IIRC.

Yep. Took me longer to go and get than to replace.

Reply to
Huge

After adding VAT and handling to the CPC charge it's as cheap to go to the local appliance spares shop in Slough, so I'll do that tomorrow.

That's a cracking idea. Done!

Reply to
Abso

Cool, thanks to all for their advice on this subject. The fitted stat appears to be by Kema Keur but my friendly local appliance spares shop only has a Ranco unit in stock, so I'll chance my arm on that.

Unfortunately, like most people, I have an image of Comet & Currys being much more competitive on white goods than the man on the high st. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's why I look to C&C first (plus they have decent websites).

Reply to
Abso

Cheers Huge.

Reply to
Abso

KEMA Keur isn't a manufacturer. It's the approval mark from the Dutch testing & approvals organisation, equivalent to the BEAB. KEMA - de NV tot Keuring van Elektrotechnischer Materialen. So there. :-)

Reply to
Peter Twydell

I find CPC sells so much useful stuff and generally good prices that I rarely get away with an order under £30 which is then post free!

Yup I was rather pleased with myself when I had a stat failure in a rented hose in France and it came to me in a flash and saved having frozen white wine and beer!

My French was not up to telling the landlord 'your fridge is buggered' and in any case their concept of getting a repair done is normally getting round to it when you have forgotten what needed doing!

Bob

Reply to
Bob Minchin

Heh, I should tell the guy at the appliance spares shop. He agreed with me that the Ranco stat I bought today would be an acceptable substitute for one made by KEMA Keur!

Anyway, I've another question now I've bought this new stat. The side of the box has the following info:

Cold out: -26 deg C Constant in: +3.5 deg C Warm out: -11 deg C

What's that all about? Obviously it's the specs for the thermal range of the stat, but what is cold out, or warm out or constant in? It's a Ranco K59 if that means anything to anyone. I've not yet tried fitting it, so it's still fingers crossed time.

Reply to
Abso

I think that's what's called a misguided preconception. I can assure you, like for like, they're not. They usually sell absolute crap for next to nothing whereas your local independent will go for a better quality as a base model, usually, so that's why the cheapest in the shop isn't always the cheapest available. Also because of some of Comet & Currys buying power they can buy 1 million pieces of crap for next to nothing with a whacking profit, whereas the local independent will only make a small profit on any item. ..

SJW A.C.S. Ltd.

Reply to
Lurch

snip

I think this is a stat for a self defrosting fridge. These have to ensure that the cooling panel in the fridge rises above freezing point to thaw out the ice build up. The temperature control of the cabinet is achieved but switching the compressor on at a constant temperature that is above freezing - in this case +3.5 degrees. The variable control governs the temperature of the panel at which the compressor switches off eg between -11 and -26 degrees.

Instead of the knob varying the temperature at the bulb tip, it varies the hysteresis band.

In short, the self defrosting fridge only differs from a normal fridge in the type of thermostat used.

Hope this helps

Bob

Reply to
Bob Minchin

But what value does the small independent have compared with on-line purchase where manufacturers are doing direct to customer delivery and run their own service organisations?

For example, I recently bought a new Miele dishwasher. The order was taken by an online site by credit card, after I had found the cheapest price.

The machine arrived a few days later with delivery note from Miele. The retailer certainly didn't touch the product. A good thing too, because the more hands that touch something, the more the chance of damage.

It comes with a 5 year warrranty. In the unlikely event that I will need to use service, I call Miele's service number in Abingdon and book a call, agreeing morning or afternoon. On the day before, after 1800, I can call them and receive an automated estimate of when the engineer will call. On the small number of occasions over the last 20 years that I have had to use Miele's service they have always sent good engineers who fix the issue quickly and efficiently.

Given all of that, why do I need a local independent retailer? I don't see the value. A small retailer won't have the space to display all the models, so it isn't as if I can go there and see before I buy.

I realise that the small retailers become members of buying organisations which get them reasonable pricing but there are still the overheads of the bricks and mortar.

Some years ago, I lived in a small village in north Wales. There was a small shop of traditional design with door at the centre and a display window each side. One half of the shop was an electrical retailer and the other was a greengrocers. The same person ran both pieces. When customers went in and went into the electrical part, the old boy who ran it would take off his brown coat, go and wash his hands and put on a white coat to come and serve them. Then he would do the reverse. It was quite sweet really, and the pace of life was such that waiting for a bit didn't matter. I went past there not that long ago. The greengrocers is still there, I think run by an Asian family and of course the electrical business has long gone.

I'm certainly no fan of the supermarket places that DSG operate, and avoid going to them if I can, but I can't remember when I last went to a small electrical retailer.

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

Maybe you or I could but not everyone knows enough about a particular product, be it appliance, car or house, to go online and make their own decisions about it. Not all people can get online. In our shop it is in a quiet town, what you'd call 1 horse really, a lot of the population are elderly or of agricultural persuasion and the nearest Comet or Currys is about 15-20 miles away. Given all that not many of the residents would be able to go online and certainly most of them haven't a clue when it comes to what machine to buy. We still are a lot cheaper than Comet and Currys and are always there for service, usually within 2 days from calling to book an engineer. Although I agree wholeheartedly with what you say it isn't really catching on in Shropshire this internetty thingy wotsit! ..

SJW A.C.S. Ltd.

Reply to
Lurch

Cool, it finally makes sense. Thanks.

Reply to
Abso

That's interesting. In that kind of environment, I can imagine that over time you can become a trusted pair of hands and people will respond to that and buy from you, possibly even at a price premium.

There is a generation factor as you say. My parents are silver surfers in every sense of the phrase and use email, web forums and even e-banking (although it was a struggle convincing them that SSL encryption is probably safer than the postman :-)

They recently wanted to buy a new TV and I helped them to look at various ones before they settled on a Sony. There was a range of prices, delivery conditions and warranties. In the end, they bought on line from John Lewis - not the cheapest price, but they liked the included extended warranty. They were even more pleased when the thing arrived in a green John Lewis van from the local depot - somehow this gave a sense of wellbeing. Of course the reality was that it had arrived there the day before with a bulk load from Sony's warehouse. Perception is important.

Do you belong to one of the retail buying groups to do that?

Also interesting. I wonder if there is a regional effect. A couple of years ago I bought various oak joinery, doors, staircase etc. from a firm in Shrewsbury. Their sales person/surveyor had been a joiner himself and periodically he would try to take one of the joiners from the workshop to a customer to see the fruit of their labours and generally how pleased the customers were. The guys would go, and liked the customer appreciation, but were equally content to do a good job and go home at 5.

I work in the networking industry, live in the Thames Valley and spend a significant amount of my time travelling in the rest of Europe. About the only time when I don't have internet connectivity is when physically in an aircraft and even that is changing. Airport lounges, hotels, motorway service areas,... have high speed wireless LAN or other connections, most customers that I visit have facilities for visitors to have internet access. Given that, if I can do something on line more quickly and easily, then naturally I will do so and spend time on other things.

However, thanks for pointing out that there are a lot of different factors in a purchase, and it does remain true that people buy from people.......

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

And then take out a mortgage.

Reply to
IMM

Some people do come in and value our advice and just go with what we say, others come in for a £10 kettle, and want free delivery and a cash discount!

No, we are still very much independent. We have started dealing a lot with manufacturers directly to get better terms. We buy in bulk at special rates where we can, we have a lot of storage space for doing this. A lot of our appliances are graded, but because of our longstanding past with the suppliers we tend to get the good ones, you have to look quite hard to find the blemishes! We quite often look around for end of line and various special offers from various warehouses and get a good amount of decent goods that way. All in all we look at what the customer will probably want, and try to be there with what they want.

Obviously I've caught up with it, 'd make a pretty useless Director of an IT\data\telecoms company if I hadn't! And being from Sheffield I'm not quite as simple as quite a few of the local yokels so that helps. I don't know how I'd manage without an ADSL line and GPRS now. I don't think it's so much of a way of life yet out in the wilds, but one day... ..

SJW A.C.S. Ltd.

Reply to
Lurch

For what?

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

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