Do I have to replace fridge-freezer?

[Timothy Murphy]

I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5), and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem. Would I be able to replace this myself?

Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.

[Ian Stirling]

What's the problem?

[Timothy Murphy]

The fridge temperature adjustment seems faulty - the fridge is either too cold, or not cold at all. The local Zanussi agent said it sounded like a thermostat fault.

[Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot]

Thermostats are easy to replace - if you can see it you can put a new one in.

Si

[chris_doran]

Yes, assuming you're not a complete dunce when it comes to electrics (and that the problem is really the thermostat). You can get generic thermostats designed fit just about everything, except perhaps some of the latest microprocessor controlled fridges (but yours doesn't sound like one of those). You may be able to get one in a local repair shop, but round here they gave me the brush off when I asked, so I got one on eBay. Just put "fridge thermostat" in the Search box. Some of the sellers offer a help line.

If the thermostat fails completely while you're waiting, short out its contacts and run the freezer off a timeswitch with, say, 5 minutes on,

15 minutes off (you'll have to experiment with the aid of a thermometer).

The thermostat will come with a long tube which you have to thread into the freezer along the same route as the old one. This can be a bit tricky, as I found my old one was wrapped around something inside, but I got it installed in the end.

Chris

[Dave Fawthrop]

| | |Ian Stirling wrote: | |> Timothy Murphy wrote: |>> I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5), |>> and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem. |>> Would I be able to replace this myself? |>=20 |> What's the problem? | |The fridge temperature adjustment seems faulty - |the fridge is either too cold, or not cold at all. |The local Zanussi agent said it sounded like a thermostat fault.

That proved that the compressor is working OK.=20 Looks as though the local Zanussi agent was right, replace the = thermostat.

--=20 Dave Fawthrop

17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! Yorkshire Dialect go to

[powerstation]

| | |Ian Stirling wrote: | |> Timothy Murphy wrote: |>> I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5), |>> and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem. |>> Would I be able to replace this myself? |>

|> What's the problem? | |The fridge temperature adjustment seems faulty - |the fridge is either too cold, or not cold at all. |The local Zanussi agent said it sounded like a thermostat fault.

That proved that the compressor is working OK. Looks as though the local Zanussi agent was right, replace the thermostat.

[Boiler man]

I think its best not to fiddle with things like fridges just replace it

[Ian Stirling]

Shares in argos?

[Andy Dingley]

Well that tells us more about how little you think.

There's not much you can usefully fix on a fridge - but the thermostat is one thing. It's cheap, it's easy, and it's a reliable fix when done. Why ever not ?

[david lang]

Many is the time customers have ordered a new thermostst for their hot water high pressure cleaner and assumed the tube was a wire.

So they cut it and joined the new one on with a cable crimp. Oh how we laughted :-)

Dave

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "david lang" saying something like:

I've not come across it yet, but I wonder if anybody's done that with a remote fire valve.

[zymurgy]

Best remote fire valve I saw was in my old company. There's a fire panel on the wall, with a big yellow button that says "push to test"

So one day a passing stranger followed the instructions, and dumped a sizeable halon tank into the comms room on the other side.

Fair made a big bang, I can tell you.

The following week, a perspex cover appeared over the "push to test" button, with a lead crimp on it ;-)

Cheers

Paul.

[marble]

They are inefficient, especialy Zanusi's. Even new fridges of the same size can have energy use stats that vary by ~100%. A crapy old Zanusi will be much worse.

[Andy Dingley]

That's a reasonable argument, but then you should replace the fridge even if it were still working. It's not an argument against throwing out a fridge _because_ the thermostat has failed.

I have an energy meter on my fridge. It's switched on continuously, so it is one of my more expensive appliances. If it ever lost insulation and started to be inefficient, I'd certainly look at swapping it.

[Dave Fawthrop]

|On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 08:02:49 GMT, marble |wrote: | |>They are inefficient, especialy Zanusi's. Even new fridges of the same |>size can have energy use stats that vary by ~100%. A crapy old Zanusi |>will be much worse. | |That's a reasonable argument, but then you should replace the fridge |even if it were still working. It's not an argument against throwing |out a fridge _because_ the thermostat has failed. | |I have an energy meter on my fridge. It's switched on continuously, so |it is one of my more expensive appliances. If it ever lost insulation |and started to be inefficient, I'd certainly look at swapping it.

Well for me that would depend on the probable pay back time, in reduction of annual electricity bills between new and old fridge freezer compared with the capital cost of a new one. I just ditched one which was 40 = years old and still worked OK.

--=20 Dave Fawthrop

17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! Yorkshire Dialect go to

[Ian Stirling]

Looking at the argos website, I find an astonishing lack of variability in the energy use. More money just buys you a prettier box, and more stuff. It does not give better insulation. I approximately halved the energy use of my freezer with several slabs of 10cm polystyrene. This paid itself off in the first year.

It may be that better more efficient ones are available, but not in argos.

[Mike Dodd]

The efficiency is an interesting argument.

If the fridge is inefficient, then it will be losing power through heat. That heat then helps the overall house temperature to some small degree (ok, for heating electricity is a poor / expensive choice). So, arguably, the more energy to lose due to an inefficient appliance, the less demand there is on the heating.

Maybe a small, contrived point - but valid to some degree non-the less.

A second consideration would be the question as to how much energy goes into the manufacture of the replacement fridge, together with transportation, salesroom energy useage and so on.

A third consideration would be environmental - you have an old fridge to tip into the nearest landfill, safe disposal of the refridgerant, and the damage to the environment in the manufacture and transportation of the new fridge.

Personally, I'd go for the new fridge, but if the OP wants to fix the old one then every credit to him.

[Andy Dingley]

I don't heat my kitchen. I certainly don't heat my kitchen during peak refrigeration season.

[Andy Hall]

But why would anybody ever buy anything in Argos?