I have, for my sins, a Hotpoint FFM90 'frost free' fridge freezer
It made a funny noise like a fan hitting something on Saturday night, but a whack to the side and it stopped, so I thought nothing of it
We only noticed on sunday evening that it wasnt cooling and all our food was ruined.
A brief search of t'internet has revealed that the likely problem is that it needs defrosting, and that ice has built up in the airflow/around the fan!
Anyone know if there is there a way to access the fan on this model that means I can investigate myself. I'm buggered if I am paying Hotpoint to come and have a look at =A390 a throw, especially as defrosting is SPECIFICALLY not required as per the manual.
It made a funny noise like a fan hitting something on Saturday night, but a whack to the side and it stopped, so I thought nothing of it
We only noticed on sunday evening that it wasnt cooling and all our food was ruined.
A brief search of t'internet has revealed that the likely problem is that it needs defrosting, and that ice has built up in the airflow/around the fan!
Anyone know if there is there a way to access the fan on this model that means I can investigate myself. I'm buggered if I am paying Hotpoint to come and have a look at £90 a throw, especially as defrosting is SPECIFICALLY not required as per the manual.
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If it is like a Beko, and Bekos are supposed to be rebadged Hotpoints, then if you take out all the shelves you will see a panel at the back with the fan grille set in it. That panel is emovable by four screws.
However, when this happened to my Beko more than once, I found that aiming a hairdryer turned to 'hot' into the fan grille for at least five minutes was enough.
SWMBO says the Hotpoint man used a hairdryer to defrost ours (under warranty). She doesn't recall where he pointed the dryer but given that if he'd pulled the fridge/freezer out to get at the back he'd have had to move a load of stuff leaning up against it, which he didn't seem to have done, I guess there is front access.
Perhaps even less by not removing the panel and just blowing warm air in where it normally blows cold air out - as long as you don't let it get hot enough to melt the plastic!
And for *my* sins I have a Hotpoint Mistral "frost free" freezer, which, when loaded with food, always suffers from a build-up of ice.
I must have done the following procedure two dozen times since I got the freezer. Whilst the instructions are only applicable to my freezer, you might be able to apply some of them to your fridge-freezer.
Everything can be done with the freezer in place, as only access to the inside of the freezer is needed.
Unplug the freezer and remove the shelves and baskets. Remove the supports for the shelves, which are screwed into the sides of the freezer.
Still inside the freezer, there is a plastic panel at the back which hides all the pipes and some electrical components. The panel also has a circular vent through which cold air is circulated via the fan behind it. The panel needs to be removed, so that you can de-frost the pipes and cooling fins behind.
The panel is held in place by two screws which locate into the ceiling of the freezer at the back. Remove them, pull the panel towards you, and remove it completely. There is ice behind it, so it may stick a bit to begin with.
Once the panel has been removed, some pipework, cooling fins, and wires can be seen. Much of this will probably be encased in a solid block of ice. Remove a polystyrene block which should be a push-fit, although it may also be partially stuck due to ice.
Remove the ice without damaging the pipework or electrics using a method of your choice. You will need to make arrangements to capture the melted ice, otherwise you'll end up with a very wet floor! People use a variety of methods to do this, including hairdryers, hot water via a hose, and steam cleaners. However be very careful not to melt the plastic, or damage the pipes or wiring.
Once all the ice has been removed, re-assemble the freezer by reversing the above procedure.
You may wish to fit a thermometer inside the freezer to give you early warning of a rising interior temperature caused by a future build-up of ice.
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