Any fridge experts about (repairs)?

[Alex@POD]

I have a fridge/freezer that hasn't been cooling properly for a while, the fridge was OKish but by no means cold enough, the freezer would freeze water but anything else would stay soft (frozen pizzas for example).

We have bought a cheap fridge and freezer while we sort out the big one, but as I never remember to call the fridge shop when it's open, I thought I'd put it to the might of PH:

The fridge makes a "gargling" noise, much like a water system that needs bleeding. Apart from that it has always worked fine. Is it something that can be fixed?

[fatboy b]

Might help putting the make/model up. You'll then be advised it's a cheap piece of crap and replace it, or how to fix it because it's a decent one.

[Alex@POD]

fatboy b said:

Might help putting the make/model up. You'll then be advised it's a cheap piece of crap and replace it, or how to fix it because it's a decent one.

I was hoping to avoid that bit... It's a Beko something or other.

[sjj84]

I've got the same problem with a Hotpoint. Spoke to a repair man, who suggested turning it off with the doors open for 24 hours. Apparently a block of ice forms behind some cover and stops the air flow, seems a common problem from doing a search. Mine is currently turned off, will see how it goes tomorrow, otherwise it's new fridge/freezer time.

[Aviz]

sjj84 said:

I've got the same problem with a Hotpoint. Spoke to a repair man, who suggested turning it off with the doors open for 24 hours. Apparently a block of ice forms behind some cover and stops the air flow, seems a common problem from doing a search. Mine is currently turned off, will see how it goes tomorrow, otherwise it's new fridge/freezer time.

Similar on mine, i removed the cover from the back of the freezer, and melted the block with a hairdrier. Been fine for the last 12 months.

[Alex@POD]

That's good news! It has been turned off for a couple of days now, so I'll try it again tonight and see what happens.

[sjj84]

Aviz said:

Similar on mine, i removed the cover from the back of the freezer, and melted the block with a hairdrier. Been fine for the last 12 months.

Was yours a hotpoint aswell? Which cover did you remove? Would be handy to speed up the process with a hair dryer, although in this weather I'm hoping it won't take to long on it's own.

[odyssey2200]

sjj84 said:

I've got the same problem with a Hotpoint. Spoke to a repair man, who suggested turning it off with the doors open for 24 hours. Apparently a block of ice forms behind some cover and stops the air flow, seems a common problem from doing a search. Mine is currently turned off, will see how it goes tomorrow, otherwise it's new fridge/freezer time.

^^^ This

[Aviz]

sjj84 said:

Was yours a hotpoint aswell? Which cover did you remove? Would be handy to speed up the process with a hair dryer, although in this weather I'm hoping it won't take to long on it's own.

Beko CDA 539 FS

Here's a pic of the ice build up in the freezer bit on mine, but it all afects the fridge as well.. the cover was removed from inside the rear with a couple of screws.


Melted with a hairdryer and it;s been fine ever since. I do check it every now and then to make sure the ice hasn;t built up.

[Alex@POD]

Aviz said:

Beko CDA 539 FS

Here's a pic of the ice build up in the freezer bit on mine, but it all afects the fridge as well.. the cover was removed from inside the rear with a couple of screws.


Melted with a hairdryer and it;s been fine ever since. I do check it every now and then to make sure the ice hasn;t built up.

I'll have a crack at that over the weekend, mine's a CDA 543 FW, so it can't be that different!

[richelli]

I do refrigeration but not domestics.

Try an over night defrost as said above, and if that doesnt work, sounds like its short or refrigerant. Water freezes obviously at below 0 degrees c. Other products need a lower temperature, eg, ice cream will start to go soft above -18. Fish etc will go off if the freezer is not cold enough (-18).

The fridge part being warm as well sounds like a gas issue if after your defrost its still not working. If it was the thermostat it probably wouldnt run at all and as you said you can hear gargling (the noise of the refrigerant gas going round the system), I would say the stat is fine. If it has a fan inside or on the back make sure there both running.

If its gas just skip it and buy a new one. You could get it re gased but its leaked from somewhere so unless thats fixed its only going to leak again.

good luck!

[eastlmark]

these things are supposed to be frost free, hence no need to deforst. As you can all see, this is exactly what goes wrong with these and often the fridge is fed with cool air simply blown up from the freezer so its often the fridge that shows the fault first. Yes you can simply turn it off for 24 hours and manually defrost it every couple of months but thats not how its was sold to you.
Hotpoint/indeste have several modifications to be fitted, most dont work-same with Samsung. Whirlpool are just unfathomable to underestand what has gone wrong, Bosch/siemens will go into a "get you home" type emergency mode that just about covers up the fault so you might not notice.
truth is, every frost free will suffer, best ones have a mechanical defrost timer that will rarely fail. the worse ones have foamed in sensors that cannot be changed or pcb's that come blank and need programming by the likes of me before they will work.

[Defcon5]

I have a Hotpoint, I have to strip it down every 3 months to remove a big block of ice that has iced the fan in

Piece of crap

[sjj84]

Right so it's been over 24 hours now, and I've turned it back on a while ago. It is worryingly quiet though, it certainly used to be much louder. On the assumtion that it is dead, what brands are recommended for a replacement? Not talking mega money, around the £400 mark, don't have room for a double american style so it's just a standard upright fridge freezer. Preferably one that lasts more than four years would be ideal.

[Defcon5]

When I turn mine back on after defrosting it sometimes it doesnt actually start cooling for a few hours, suddenly it just springs to life.

[Aviz]

sjj84 said:

Right so it's been over 24 hours now, and I've turned it back on a while ago. It is worryingly quiet though, it certainly used to be much louder. On the assumtion that it is dead, what brands are recommended for a replacement? Not talking mega money, around the £400 mark, don't have room for a double american style so it's just a standard upright fridge freezer. Preferably one that lasts more than four years would be ideal.

I thought mine was dead too. Give it a while before you go writing it off.

[sjj84]

Mines been back on for about 30 hours now, the freezer has got down to -12 and won't go any lower. I was under the impression it needs to be around -18 for food?

[Chrisgr31]

By the way ou may need to either defrost them with a hairdryer or leave them off for longer than 24 hours, especially if you dont leave the door open. If the freezer has frozen solid they take a long time to defost. Once they have defrosted it is worth checking that the little drainage holes at the back are clear.

[Aviz]

Looks like both mine, and your's are affected by the urgent recall that has just been released due to serious house fires, which were featured on this morning's BBC news.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/advice-r...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12155124

Looks to be a problem with the defrost mechanism .. hmmmm !!!

There's a form to submit on BEKO's Site

https://refsafety.beko.co.uk/

Edited by Aviz on Tuesday 5th July 07:54

Edited by Aviz on Tuesday 5th July 07:55

[Alex@POD]

Aviz said:

Looks like both mine, and your's are affected by the urgent recall that has just been released due to serious house fires, which were featured on this morning's BBC news.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/advice-r...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12155124

Looks to be a problem with the defrost mechanism .. hmmmm !!!

There's a form to submit on BEKO's Site

https://refsafety.beko.co.uk/

Edited by Aviz on Tuesday 5th July 07:54

Edited by Aviz on Tuesday 5th July 07:55

Bloody hell, that's good timing! Thanks for that, I'll fill the form in tonight and see what they say...