Faulty Fridge-freezer

Yes, but no.

Unlesss its a damn fine fridge, replace it.

Might have lost insulatin, but again..BER.

That's possible -- it could be not running continuously because the compressor is overheating and cutting out. It is also cooled by the refrigerent.

Also check the internal fan is running and it hasn't iced up the internal heat exchanger. Defrost cycle not working might cause this, in which case the cutting out would be because the internal heat exchanger is getting too cold (without achieving cooling of the freezer compartment).

The other common failure is freezer insulation becoming waterlogged, which would show up as areas of water or ice forming on the cabinet exterior (underneath or at the back most commonly, possibly forming a puddle on the floor).

Only if the leak is obvious, and it usually isn't.

Remote chance the thermostat has drifted widely.

OK, none of the above. No unusual ice/water/noises/lack of noises and the fan's working. I guess it must have sprung a leak when I moved house a few months ago and has been losing refrigerant slowly ever since.

Thanks Andrew.

I'd say more than a remote chance. If you know what you're doing and won't electrocute yourself, try shorting out its switch contacts and see if the fridge can then reach the required temperatures. With a test meter you could also work out whether the stopping and starting of the compressor coincide with the opening and closing of the thermostat switch rather than the motor overheat detector.

Generic replacement thermostats are available cheaply on eBay; maybe locally if you can find anyone prepared to sell you one.

Chris

Ok, thanks for that. In fact the duty cycle is pretty high (i.e. compressor mostly running). I may do some more investigation along those lines.

If a leak has been caused by some exposed pipework getting bashed in a move, that's quite possibly fixable. When it's down to corrosion due to old age, it can be somewhere inaccessible which requires destroying the appliance to locate.

Another thought -- if it has a fan-cooled condensor (external hot element), these can get choked up with dust, particularly when the air inlet is at floor level. Check the condensor isn't clogged with dust.

My frost-free fridge-freezer was doing the same and it turned out that the heat exchanger the air was circulated through had become encased in a solid block of ice. As it was hidden behind a panel at the back of the freezer, you couldn't see it until one of the drawers became difficult to close because the panel was being forced forward. With the panel off and a can of defrosting spray, it took a couple of days to remove all the ice.

Colin Bignell

...which tells us its not the thermostat. Compressor and fan running, yet failing to cool adequately.

Frost frees are significantly more complex than traditional ones. Failure of the defrosting cycle is a commonish cause of failure to cool, as failure to defrost properly leaves the heat exchanger to get clogged with ice. This can be fixed by leaving it open and unplugged for a couple of days. Often this is all that's needed, but sometimes it will re-ice after a while. I'm not saying that is the cause, but its easy to try and may clear the problem.

NT

Do you have plenty of ventilation around the fridge? Sometimes a close fitting cupboard around a fridge will stop it working.