I think i broke my fridge via the freezer....

[Lord Pikey]

1. I am an idiot

2. Why am i an idiot i hear you cry? Well i was defrosting my freezer with the most handy thing to hand after the washing up... a 12" cooks knife.

3. What happened? Well i pierced the slightly raised channels with the tip and the liquid inside started coming out under pressure.

4. What did i do? Well being a resourceful i grabbed a box of matches and some two part epoxy. Quickly made up a bung (out of match) and glued it in place. Did you know that epoxy sets really rapidly at -10!

5, Did it work? It seemed to until today. The freezer is still ice cold and all hunky dory. The fridge below however is a balmy 14c.

So, my question to the PH massive is. Is my fridge thermostat on the brink or something and this is a massive coincidence or have i broke it? If so, how come the freezer is still fine?

Thanks

An Impatient that should have spent longer looking for the screwdriver.


FFS, is p i k e y really a swear word?

[southendpier]

depends if you have separate 'frost' units for fridge and freezer.

[Lord Pikey]

southendpier said:

depends if you have separate 'frost' units for fridge and freezer.

how would i know that?

There is still frost on the back of the freezer

[zac510]

Punch a new hole all the way through so the cold air from the freezer can get into the fridge.

[Lord Pikey]

zac510 said:

Punch a new hole all the way through so the cold air from the freezer can get into the fridge.

[cramman]

My fridge died, but the freezer still worked, for a few days. I was told I had a gas leak.

The compressor pumps to the freezer first, then the fridge. I was told that's why the freezer worked.

May be wrong here, but are the gases not explosive?

[caziques]

A loss of refrigerant can cause all sorts of strange effects.

It needs regassing with the correct amount, which involves taking it all out - and weighing it back in.

Not sure about the epoxy repair!

Look around for labels on the back which should give you the type and amount of refrigerant, then get hold of someone with scales and the correct refrigerant. (Probably 134a, often used in car aircon as well)

[GTIR]

FFS!

Turn off the unit and call the fire brigade now!
You must leave your caravan and wait for them to turn up.

[soad]

Sounds like you need a new fridge. I might have used a knife for deicing purpose once or twice myself, but all ended well.

[Simpo Two]

I did exactly the same thing in about 1989 with a Zanussi fridge/freezer. Stab, pffft, fkit.

I got a bloke in who applied what looked like grey sealing wax over the puncture, then regassed it.

It was still working fine last year when I sold it for £40.



But yours will need regassing for sure.

NB: If it helps, there is one even more stupid thing you can do - hacksaw through the rising main. Apparently, coff.

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 18th April 23:27

[Chris Peacock]

on some domestic fridge freezers the refrigerant "boils off" or absorbs energy from the freezer first then the chiller last,

Your unit sounds like it has enough refrigerant to cool the freezer but not enough to cool the chiller.

The gas in a newer type of fridge freezer will either be r600a or r290. (Both of these are propane/butane based so are highly flammable.)

hope this helps.

[eastlmark]

more likely, nothing is working but the build up of ice in the freezer is giving the impression of it working as it slowly defrosts.
If it were a 2 compressor fridge freezer then all would be fine as its 2 indi units. the way to check is how many black "motors" it has at the lower rear, if only one then by now I assume your corneto's are far from frozen.

got to also remember the miniscule amount of "gas" in a fridge system, by the time you did the repair it would have been long gone and replaced by air.