Upright Freezers...

[Gordon Henderson]

Oh great font of all that is wise ...

We have a half-heigh upright freezer - a Hotpoint something. Under worktop/Front door opening rather than top-loading. Probably getting on for

20 years old now... However it does it's stuff, and generally works well.

But after having to do an emergency defrost last night on it (the whole thing completely frosted up probably because the door didn't close properly last time we used it) we're thinking of a new one - maybe one that uses less electrickery, frost-free and all that.

Any suggestions on makes to avoid or any ones to get? A quick look in our local euronics shoppie suggest that £200 is about the going rate, but it would be nice to know what make might turn out to be completely useless...

Cheers,

Gordon

[Bob Minchin]

Well if you want reliable then stay away from frost free. So many extra things to go wrong, auto defrost cycle timers, a heater sometimes and a fan etc. Also they can still get into a bad mood if the door is left open where by the auto defrost cycle is not long enough to do a defrost. Avoid digital readout of temperature as usually this means an electronic thermostat rather than the older capillary bulb type. The latter are simple and cheap to replace whereas the former is a new control board with a price tag leading to replacing the whole machine. Simple is good when it comes to refrigeration.

Bob

[Jeff Gaines]

I had one of these, about the same age as well. I left it behind when I moved and got a Comet Proline. Big mistake, hang on to yours as long as it works, it will be better than most modern stuff.

[John]

A good point about the auto defrost. The timers can fail - however they are cheap to replace if you are inclined. The problem is that (as Bob mentioned) if excess frosting is caused by leaving the door open for example - then the time given for defrosting is not sufficient to clear it fully and then you can get an incremental build up of ice which eventually blocks the fan and the chiller. The first you will know about it is when you start to realise the thing is not as cold as it should be.

[Andrew Gabriel]

If you want reliability, avoid frost-free. Frankly, I'd stick with what you've got unless there's some other reason you want to change it. A new door seal won't cost much, if it needs it (Hotpoint parts are easy to get and cheap.)

Just one thing worth checking with freezers of this age. A freezer of this age is probably the first generation after CFC expanded foam insulation (which works brilliantly and forever) had been abandoned in favour of various other things, but mostly not waterproof (save for a foil covering, which only works for a limited period before too much mosture leaks past the edges, tears, etc). Look at the back and underneath (without tipping it) and make sure the thermal insulation isn't becoming water/ice logged. This usually shows up initially as condensation forming on the outer surface of the insulation where the cold is leaking through (apologies to physicists;-). In really bad cases, there will even be a lump of ice on the outside of the insulation. If insulation is failing, then than will knock the efficiency down, and it will eventually stop working and cost lots to run. (A little condensation around the door frame in humid weather is expected, and you can switch on the door heater to get rid of it.)

[Huge]

That happened to one of my freezers, so I siliconed a sheet of Kingspan over the affected face (which happened to be the top), paying particular attention to the edges, to stop more moisture getting in and freezing. That was a couple of years ago and it's fine. Mind you, it's also in a garage, so it doesn't matter what it looks like.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I've tackled two freezers which failed this way, both on the bottom. Thawed out and scraped off the old insulation (which takes ages when it's embedded in a block of ice that's got so big it's lifting the freezer off the floor, and causing the freezer floor to bulge up). Then I replaced it using airosol foam. This lasted about another 10 years, but then also got water logged (I don't think it forms a suitably closed cell foam against moisture, although 10 years isn't bad). However, the compressor eventually failed, I think because it reached the point where it was on all the time.

The second one was an instant failure. I tipped it too far, and compressor oil got into the tubing and wrecked the compressor when I turned back on, even though I had left it standing upright for 48 hours before switching on. I spoke with an engineer at Hotpoint who told me what I should have done, but it was too late by then.

[Huge]

And what should you have done?

[Andrew Gabriel]

Firstly, never tip a fridge/freezer.

If it does happen, leave it for some time so as much oil as possible drains back into the compressor sump. After moving, it should be left for 24 hours before use, but if it got seriously tipped, then longer. Then switch on for a short time like 20 seconds to circulate some refrigerant, but switch off again to allow more oil to drain out. Repeat this a number of times, and you might recover the system, but there's still no guarantee. I didn't know to do this, and just switched it on. Returned 5 minutes later to find it off and the plug fuse blown. Replaced fuse and it seemed to come on again, but the compressor overload kept tripping off. Plugged it in to a power meter, and although it seemed to be running fine for the short period before the overload tripped off, it was drawing 3.5kW continuously instead of the expected 150W, which is why the overload was tripping out. I wasn't standing there when it failed first time, so I don't know what happened, but my guess is the compressor stalled and the winding overheated resulting in a shorted turn. Compressor probably stalled either due to sucking in oil (although it somehow recovered if so), or due to the oil waxing up in the expansion jet.

[Gordon Henderson]

Thanks for the feedback on this - some intersting stuff to consider, especially the bits concering auto-defrost and digital controls - you're right, who really needs all that extra stuff to go wrong!

So for now, I think we'll just hang on to it. It's working fine, the door seals are OK and nothing untoward on the outside, other than 20 years of use and having moved house 3-4 times.

I do see a bit of condensation on the top - if I put things on-top of it (it's under the corner of an open staircase rather than under a worktop)

Interestingly enough the removals people told us to let it stand for at least 24 hours before turning it on the last time it was moved...

Cheers,

Gordon

[Invisible Man]

I read the rather amusing instructions before I moved our old fridge freezer over to my daughter's. It said something like:

"Never tilt the fridge freezer"

immediately followed by

"If it is necessary to lie the fridge freezer down always lie it on its side and stand upright for 24 hours before use"

Not recommended but I have tilted a number of fridges, freezers etc over the years and so far got away with it. The one my daughter had was vertical in the van but not carried vertically at either end. Running well at 9+ years old.

[Huge]

Thank you.

[Dave Liquorice]

Sack truck type tilting is OK, how else would one move one keeping it absolutely vertical...

IIRC the destructions for ours said lay it on it's back when changing the side the door is hinged on. But don't quote me! Also followed by leave to stand upright for 24hrs before switching on.

[S Viemeister]

That's what the instructions for my Hotpoint said, that's what I did, and it's been running fine (crosses fingers) for 9 or 10 years since then.