Wiki: Fridge freezer

more info, corrections etc welcome... A lot is already covered in the fridge article

NT

[[Image:Defrost_4981-3.jpg|300px|right]]

=3D=3DFrost free=3D=3D 'Frost free' refers to a mechanism used in freezers to avoid frost build up. These systems do very occasionally need defrsoting themselves. When the machine fails to maintain cold enough temp, leaving it off with the door open for 2 days is the first thing to do. Its a slow process because the part that frosts up is well insulated from everything else.

Terms like frost free are sometimes applied to fridges, or fridge sections of fridge freezers. Thus what can sound like a real frost free machine is sometimes not.

=3D=3D=3DFrost free reliability=3D=3D=3D Frost free freezers are inherently a lot less reliable than conventional machines. Personally I'd rather do a few planned defrosts than have an unplanned failure with a total loss of contents and often machine. Thus the extra purchase and repair costs of frost frees seem unwarranted.

If you buy frost free, a thermometer in the freezer is a good way to see problems as they start happening, and can avoid total loss of food in a fair percentage of failures.

=3D=3DBrands=3D=3D Generally speaking, reliability is very good across a wide range of brands, excluding frost frees. Cut price =A399 value appliances have short design lives, how long they last in practice isn't yet known.

2/3 the price for half the design life increases total costs per year over time.

=3D=3DDoor seals=3D=3D Door seal failure is common. Some door seals can be unscrewed and replaced at reasonable cost if they fail, but with some machines the only available repair is a whole new door, which is often uneconomic. Thus a machine with replaceable seals should on average last longer and cost less to maintain.

=3D=3DExtended warranties=3D=3D Companies always make a profit on these, or they wouldn't sell them. In other words the value of such policies is always less than their price. In practice its a lot less.

=3D=3DOld machines=3D=3D TCO of a brand new fridge freezer is less than that of a free 1970s machine, due to much improved energy efficiency.

This is even more true of a faulty appliance that runs all the time. Such machines can eat electricity the cost of a new machine in 3 years of faulty operation.

Use of R12 was replaced in the 1990s with R134a and similar gases. Early R134a machines generally used a type of insulation on the bottom of the machine that failed by saturating with water and ice over time. Failed machines are usually scrapped, though its not impossible to cut out the insulation and replace with expanding foam.

=3D=3DDefrosting=3D=3D Most freezer piping is soft aluminium. This does not tolerate the use of steel tools in defrosting.

=3D=3DSee also=3D=3D [[Fridge]] - lots more relevant info

[[Category:Appliances]]
Reply to
NT
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What's "TCO" please?

Reply to
Frank Erskine

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Reply to
GeoffC

The Cost Of?

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

You should have a bit in about the fridge freezers using modern refridgerants and cut price design have a ratings plate that say in very small letters that they will not work as freezers at all when temperatures fall below about 8-10C. That is if you try to use one in a garage it will stop working completely and thaw out the freezer compartment when ambient falls significantly below 10C.

Such fridge-freezer combos will only work in kitchens at ambient domestic temperatures either because they only have a single thermostat or because the transfer fluid stops evaporating. In some cases you have to really know what you are looking for to find this "minor" detail.

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know I have posted a link to the relevant HCFC working ranges and codes in the past probably on s.e.design but I cannot find it (thanks to Google groups indexing being "improved" ie. wrecked).

If anyone can find my previous post a few years back I'd be grateful.

Reply to
Martin Brown

Usually 'Total Cost of Ownership'

Reply to
Andy Burns

Theory Of Constraints Table of Contents Total Organic Carbon Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic

Reply to
Andy Burns

Frost-free when applied to a fridge (also called a larder fridge) means it has no icebox.

Fridges also come with fanned or passive cooling. Fanned cooling has some of the same issues as a frost-free freezer, but probably aren't quite as unreliable. Passive cooling simply relies on a large cooled surface (usually the back), which doesn't stay continuously below freezing, so there are periods when any ice on it thaws and runs off, usually running out of the rear and into a tray mounted on the hot compressor, to be evaporated off.

That statement without any backup shouldn't be in an FAQ.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

"Frost free freezers are inherently a lot less reliable than conventional machines."

Why? There may be more components but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will fail, nor that the potential increased risk of failure outweighs other benefits. Are there some reliable figures rather than saying "a lot"?

"Personally I'd rather do a few planned defrosts than have an unplanned failure with a total loss of contents and often machine."

Isn't this group a better place for the sharing of opinions, with the Wiki being more factual?

Reply to
mike

If you want, you can ask ukdiyers for their experiences, its the same story over and over. Some of the parts in frost frees are just inherently not long lived. Many people have gone back to conventional machines after trying frost frees.

NT

I used to repair refrigeration. Frost free were a nightmare. The fan and defrost timers used to fail on a regular basis.

Reply to
Mr Pounder

Our last frost free ran for 21 years. the current one is two years old.

Reply to
charles

Was it a yank import? White Westinghouse made quality.

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Reply to
Mr Pounder

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