Any Refrigeration engineers about ?

[Del 203]

I have a Beko fridge freezer CDA 659 FS the Freezer chills down to approx -20 the fridge also chills both then warm up to ambient temperature and wont chill down again unless i power down for a while & the same thing happens...

I'm thinking its either the Defrost timer, PCB or Thermostat...

Could anyone point in the right direction pls

Thanks you

[Laurel Green]

Is the FF inside the house? The only reason I ask, is that there are known problems when they are sited in outhouses/garages - there is a thread on it somewhere in HG&DIY.

[Del 203]

It is in the garage but has been working perfectly there for several years ...

[Laurel Green]

It has been exceptionally cold recently, however; I believe it should be OK if there are separate motors for fridge and freezer. This is the thread that I mentioned in the above post.

Hope you get it sorted soonest.

[Del 203]

Thanks.. i can understand if it was the other week but its +7 here atm and as i said it has been working over previous winters so i think something is amiss...


Some places advertise this model as working down to -15 ambient and others +5

[eastlmark]

Del 203 said:

I have a Beko fridge freezer CDA 659 FS the Freezer chills down to approx -20 the fridge also chills both then warm up to ambient temperature and wont chill down again unless i power down for a while & the same thing happens...

I'm thinking its either the Defrost timer, PCB or Thermostat...

Could anyone point in the right direction pls

Thanks you

simple single compressor fridge freezer that one with no pcb just a thermostat and defrost timer, we are still expereincing problems with the cold on frigefreezers out in garages, I would get it inside before trying anything else.

[Del 203]

eastlmark said:

Del 203 said:

I have a Beko fridge freezer CDA 659 FS the Freezer chills down to approx -20 the fridge also chills both then warm up to ambient temperature and wont chill down again unless i power down for a while & the same thing happens...

I'm thinking its either the Defrost timer, PCB or Thermostat...

Could anyone point in the right direction pls

Thanks you

simple single compressor fridge freezer that one with no pcb just a thermostat and defrost timer, we are still expereincing problems with the cold on frigefreezers out in garages, I would get it inside before trying anything else.

Thanks Mark, i'll move it in tomorrow but i still feel that something is not right as it was working during the freeze we had..

When it started to warm up the compressor tries to start for a few seconds but fails, i'm sure its going into the defrost cycle and sticking there...

If it is a problem would you go for Defrost Switch or Thermostat ?

Are they easy to change ?

Thanks

[eastlmark]

If the compressor is attempting to start then it will be a faulty compressor or the starting device clippped to the side of it as it will not be powered up if it were a faulty (or too cold) thermostat. Strange that it does eventually run though......
If that is the case then it probably wont be outside temp related and, to be honest, on a Beko then it is a write off.

Edited by eastlmark on Sunday 9th January 00:50

[Del 203]

eastlmark said:

If the compressor is attempting to start then it will be a faulty compressor or the starting device clippped to the side of it as it will not be powered up if it were a faulty (or too cold) thermostat. Strange that it does eventually run though......
If that is the case then it probably wont be outside temp related and, to be honest, on a Beko then it is a write off.

Edited by eastlmark on Sunday 9th January 00:50

The compressor runs fine when initially powering the unit up taking the freezer down to - 20c

[Deva Link]

Del 203 said:

I'm thinking its either the Defrost timer, PCB or Thermostat...

Well, there not much more to it! Unless the compressor fails.

My daughter bought a house and the sellers left a Beko f/f - that does exactly the same as you describe. Hunting on the web the general consensus is Beko = crap.

The most obvious thing to fail, and cheapest to replace, is the thermostat It's odd that yours works fine in the garage though - they way they operate, it shouldn't! As a test, try leaving the frisge door open a bit - does the frezzer stay frozen?

[Deva Link]

Del 203 said:

Thanks.. i can understand if it was the other week but its +7 here atm and as i said it has been working over previous winters so i think something is amiss...


Some places advertise this model as working down to -15 ambient and others +5

There is a -15 in the spec but that refers to how many hours it will stay frozen after power fail.

It's climate class SN, which is 10C minimum. Like I said above, it's surprising that it's worked OK in the garage in past winters.

[Del 203]

I'll bring it in at the weekend and try but its doing the same in +13 deg today

[JM]

Is the compressor hot?

Caution it may be very hot, if it is then I'd suspect the starter on the side of the compressor.

[Deva Link]

Del 203 said:

I'll bring it in at the weekend and try but its doing the same in +13 deg today

It should work then. Beko's website does say they're designed to work down to -15C, but then the spec rates them as SN. Confusing.

I don't know, to be honest, it seems to very difficult to fault find these things other than just by randomly changing parts. It could even be low on gas. It could be that the defrost heater isn't working, or the drain tube is blocked, and the whole thing is getting frozen up, but that usually takes a good few days.

It's difficult to get confidence back in an iffy freezer - you don't want to risking valuable food in there!

[Del 203]

Deva Link said:

Del 203 said:

I'll bring it in at the weekend and try but its doing the same in +13 deg today

It should work then. Beko's website does say they're designed to work down to -15C, but then the spec rates them as SN. Confusing.

I don't know, to be honest, it seems to very difficult to fault find these things other than just by randomly changing parts. It could even be low on gas. It could be that the defrost heater isn't working, or the drain tube is blocked, and the whole thing is getting frozen up, but that usually takes a good few days.

It's difficult to get confidence back in an iffy freezer - you don't want to risking valuable food in there!

Its driving me nuts !!! If i can get away with £40-£100 changing parts i will but if not i'll bin it and get another ...

Inside back plate is now off, no ice, defrost pipes are getting warm (after its got down to temp), drain pipes are clear, not frozen up...


I just cant work out why it will chill down to -18 then go into (i presume) de-frost mode/motor wont run for more than 2 secs,

[stefd]

Del 203 said:

Deva Link said:

Del 203 said:

I'll bring it in at the weekend and try but its doing the same in +13 deg today

It should work then. Beko's website does say they're designed to work down to -15C, but then the spec rates them as SN. Confusing.

I don't know, to be honest, it seems to very difficult to fault find these things other than just by randomly changing parts. It could even be low on gas. It could be that the defrost heater isn't working, or the drain tube is blocked, and the whole thing is getting frozen up, but that usually takes a good few days.

It's difficult to get confidence back in an iffy freezer - you don't want to risking valuable food in there!

Its driving me nuts !!! If i can get away with £40-£100 changing parts i will but if not i'll bin it and get another ...

Inside back plate is now off, no ice, defrost pipes are getting warm (after its got down to temp), drain pipes are clear, not frozen up...


I just cant work out why it will chill down to -18 then go into (i presume) de-frost mode/motor wont run for more than 2 secs,

I'm going to guess that there is a problem with the thermostat which doesn't switch the compressor off when it reaches temperature and forces the circuit to trip on high pressure. Swithing the unit on/off is likely to reset the pressure switch.

[Deva Link]

Del 203 said:

I just cant work out why it will chill down to -18 then go into (i presume) de-frost mode/motor wont run for more than 2 secs,

Do you mean it's actually in defrost mode, or just that it's thawing out?

FF freezers usually do a defrost every 24hrs and it could be that it's sticking in defrost mode - logically the compressor wouldn't run then.

I "fixed" one of our previous units that had a problem with the timed defrost (a temperature switch that was part of the evaporator had failed) by wiring an external switch directly to the heater element and defrosting it manually whenever we noticed it had frozen up - but I wouldn't recommend that!

[jack_ratt]

Sounds like the thermal fuse, had this with my Samsung American fridge.

[Del 203]

stefd said:

I'm going to guess that there is a problem with the thermostat which doesn't switch the compressor off when it reaches temperature and forces the circuit to trip on high pressure. Swithing the unit on/off is likely to reset the pressure switch.

Might give that a go 1st then ....

Deva Link said:

Del 203 said:

I just cant work out why it will chill down to -18 then go into (i presume) de-frost mode/motor wont run for more than 2 secs,

Do you mean it's actually in defrost mode, or just that it's thawing out?

FF freezers usually do a defrost every 24hrs and it could be that it's sticking in defrost mode - logically the compressor wouldn't run then.

I "fixed" one of our previous units that had a problem with the timed defrost (a temperature switch that was part of the evaporator had failed) by wiring an external switch directly to the heater element and defrosting it manually whenever we noticed it had frozen up - but I wouldn't recommend that!

I'm not 100% sure it actually in de-frost mode but the ice cubes aren't ice cubes for very long

[Del 203]

jack_ratt said:

Sounds like the thermal fuse, had this with my Samsung American fridge.

Is that the bit on the side of the compressor that i can't get off ???