Rip-Off Britain. Anyone tried to buy a fridge thermostat recently ?

[Andrew]

As per subject. My 2008 Liebherr fridge freezer needs a new thermostat but the model I need doesn't seem to be available in the country, even though it is made by Invensys (but at their factory in Italy). So much for buying a german fridge for quality. Plenty of German sites seem to sell it though.

Coolectric UK refuse to sell it to me directly because 'Health and safety rules don't allow it '. What bollocks.

Anyway, what I need is a Ranco K59/L2622. There are no electronics in this fridge, just 'good' old-fashioned electro mechanical controls. It does have an internal resistor that the winter cool button connects to and this keeps the light on dimly to stop the freezer section thawing out when the room is below 18 degrees - which it is in my case because I don't heat the kitchen (south facing in sussex, I rely on heat leakage from the rest of the house to keep it warmish). For now I have connected pins 4 and 6 and run it from a multi-segment timer.

I have had a look around the council tips but they won't allow anything to be taken. Lots of other manufacturers fitted this model of t'stat over the years.

[Phil]

No reason not to buy it in Germany:

market & all that.

Phil.

[Huge]

ebay item number 220869977961

£4.70 + P&P. I've bought one from him.

[Richard]

But from Germany via eBay then...

[Jules Richardson]

But they still weren't capable of making it last more than four years without breaking?

[Andrew]

Indeed. I bought this model because it was A+ and had no fancy electronics. I was hoping that the energy saving would pay for it after about 10 years. If I had to rely on someone coming to the house and charging mega-bucks to fit a 20 euro part, then it becomes very uneconomical, I might as well have kept the old clunker.

The point is that typing K59/L2622 gives loads of German sites, but sod all in Britain.

To be fair, the fridge may be German but the tstat is made in Italy. You can always tell because it says 'made in EU' on the thermostat body, whereas if it was German it would say 'Made in Germany'.

[Mr Pounder]

Most electrical spares shops will sell you a K59 for about 20 quid.

>

[Andrew]

I have seen that listing.

There are several models of the K59 thermostat and the one on that ebay listing doesn't look like the L2622 variant. There are datasheets on the Invensys web site that show the variant that I need.

[charles]

I've seen "Newcastle Brown" on a supermarket shelf labelled "Brewed in the EU".

[Andrew]

No they won't. What they will sell you is a VT9 which is a generic K59 replacement. I need the /L2622 variant which has an internal resistor that allows the bulb to stay on during cold weather and that keeps the freezer section from thawing out. 'Modern' fridge freezers have an internal heating panel that uses about 7 watts of power to achieve the same end. This is (AFAIK) only an issue with Fridge Freezers that have a single compressor.

[Bob Minchin]

Buy the generic one and fit a resistor since you know all about it? or Ring CPC as they have a large selection of white goods spares that don't appear in the catalogue or online. Buy the correct part from Germany?

[grm1961]

hello, have a look at my website

i have a large selection of miele liebherr fridge thermostats listed

[Davey]

It would be interesting if you pressed them to quote the Health and Safety Regulation that forbids them doing this. If they can't, then you could try Trading Standards (no idea if it would do any good, but no harm in trying). H&S is used for far too many excuses, we should challenge it where we find it.

Just a thought.

[Peter Parry]

As he needed the thermostat in Jun 2012 I suspect that one way or another he has found a solution by now.

[Davey]

You're probably correct. Another message that crept out of the crypt?

[meow2222]

Maybe due to a corrupt date. Message cropped. Oh crapped, it all rhymes.

NT

[alan]

CPC sell 8 generic kits of thermostats - one of these probably will be fit for purpose.

Description + cross reference table

Search CPC for "white goods spares"

You could also compare the spec of yout thermostat on the Ranco site with that of the equivalent on the Danfross site.

[Mr Pounder]

He could also have telephoned a company called HRP. They used to be trade only but now deal with end users.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Note that most of CPC's white goods spares are not in the catalogue nor on the web. It's worth phoning them if you can't see what you want.

[Peter Crosland]

The company can sell, or not, to whoever they wish. Trading Standards will have no interest in the matter.