Freezer cold, but fridge warm? Help!

[phil1979]

We've got one of those built-in cabinet fridge freezers, an AEG job. The freezer compartment works great - very cold, recently defrosted, doesn't ice up badly at all etc. But the fridge part just isn't cold enough, regardless of temp setting. As such, things go off quicker than they should. It must be 8 years old now.

Any clues as to what would be the problem, or if it's worth getting it repaired, considering it's fitted as part of an integrated kitched? I guess it would take a fair bit of work just to get to the back of it.

Any tips would be very welcome.

Edited by phil1979 on Tuesday 15th June 09:23

[Silverbullet767]

Maybe the refridgerant gas has slowly escaped over the years, just like a car, a re-gas might do the trick.

[phil1979]

Silverbullet767 said:

Maybe the refridgerant gas has slowly escaped over the years, just like a car, a re-gas might do the trick.

Thanks. Does that mean the freezer works on a different principle? Also, do I assume you need to get to the gubbins at the back to re-gas the blighter?

[hilly]

Not sure about your exact fridge freezer, but many these days use just a single compressor/evaporator for both the freezer and fridge parts.
To get cold air into the fridge, air is blown across the freezer evaporator (which cools the air) and then into the fridge area.

Sensors are used to stop the evaporator from freezing up, if one these sensor fail then the ice builds up blocking the air flow then no more cold fridge.

Do an internet search on your model number, if it is a common problem with your unit it will come up.

[jamieboy]

phil1979 said:

Any clues as to what would be the problem, or if it's worth getting it repaired, considering it's fitted as part of an integrated kitched? I guess it would take a fair bit of work just to get to the back of it.

Any tips would be very welcome.

Our 8-year-old built-in AEG fridge/freezer had exactly the same symptoms last summer and couldn't be repaired.

I forget the details of what exactly was wrong, but the reason it couldn't be fixed was that all the pipes up the back have foam blown around them which then sets, which means you can't get to them to replace or repair.

Ours was just bolted to the cupboard carcass, undo the bolts and it slid out and the new one slid in.

edit - The model was a Santo C61841I.

Edited by jamieboy on Tuesday 15th June 09:59

[Silverbullet767]

Ahh, I thought it was 2 seperates side by side, the gas theory is looking less likely now.

[Grey Ghost]

jamieboy said:

phil1979 said:

Any clues as to what would be the problem, or if it's worth getting it repaired, considering it's fitted as part of an integrated kitched? I guess it would take a fair bit of work just to get to the back of it.

Any tips would be very welcome.

Our 8-year-old built-in AEG fridge/freezer had exactly the same symptoms last summer and couldn't be repaired.

I forget the details of what exactly was wrong, but the reason it couldn't be fixed was that all the pipes up the back have foam blown around them which then sets, which means you can't get to them to replace or repair.

Ours was just bolted to the cupboard carcass, undo the bolts and it slid out and the new one slid in.

edit - The model was a Santo C61841I.

Ditto here with my 9 year old AEG last summer......except SWMBO decided that was the perfect excuse to remodel that side of the kitchen by removing some units and installing one of those large Samsung thingies. Rather nice it is to, but considerably more expensive than a straight swap for a new AEG.

[Nuclear Biscuit]

We had this with a old fridge - it appeared as though the compressor contained a solenoid to switch the coolant circuits over, which was sticking, so the freezer got colder and colder and the fridge stayed warm. Ironically this only ever seemed to happen in warm weather I guess the whole unit got hot and caused the valve to stick or similar.

The usual temporary fix was some finely calibrated violence with a hammer on the body of the compressor

[netherfield]

Many fridge freezers have the one compressor,the fridge gets cold air from the freezer cabinet,when the fridge gets to set temperature a flap closes between the two sections.

on most units this is controlled by a bimetal arrangement which after a few years of bending back and forth can break apart.

All this was explained to me by the engineer who came to a fridge freezer we had,only 1 month old,after 3 aborted attempts at repair the whole thing was replaced at the expense of Bosch.

Turned out,after a Google search the original model was a lemon and lots of people had the same problem.

He did suggest that these things are designed to last x years before total failure and then parts are no longer available-they do have to have a way to sell you a new one.