Fridge-Freezer Problems

[Brian Gaff]

They only thing I'd suggest is to look for cracks in the inside of the fridge that might have let water into the insulation and saturated it, if that is the case then its pretty terminal in my experience. Brian

[Andrew Gabriel]

Spot on - the light was hot. The switch worked just fine, but the door hinge had dropped and failed to operate it.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I don't think this is true of modern ones, although it was certainly the case with the early ones.

More modern refrigerants are not as wide temperature ranging as the banned CFC's were, which does also impose more limited operating temperature ranges on freezers than used to be the case, but this is not because of single thermostat/compressor fridge/freezer designs.

[ARW]

And maybe a day to get back down to temperature after doing so.

[alan_m]

Instructional video at

Youtube Video clip from the channel 4 Secret Life Of Machines - The Refrigerator. Link is to just before the bit with the precision adjustment of the door.

[AnthonyL]

An update and more questions. Fridge/Freezer has been working fine for a week now. Initially I had the thermostat set at 6 (max) but that was too cold, down to 5, still very cold and now at 4 so fridge is at 8c, freezer -20c and seems to have fairly normal on/off cycles.

So I'm not clear on what went wrong and what fixed it.

When I moved the unit out there was a terrible mess underneath - crud

• maggots which smelt revolting when some of the evaporator tray contents spilt over. The previous owners had a dog so I suspect some food got under there. It was enough to impede air flow but I would have thought there was enough space elsewhere.

The other thought is that I didn't turn the thermostat to cooler in the heatwave we had so it was still on 3 when getting on for 5 might have been more appropriate. I can see that this might have caused a partial defrost but I don't see why it should clog the system us as per my OP (at the top).

I'm just looking at how to prevent the problem re-arising. Or maybe the thing just needs a twice yearly manual defrost?

[tabbypurr]

Keep thermometers in it & you'll know if it needs adjusting. 8C is to high, fridges should be below 5 or you risk food poisoning.

NT