Fridge/freezer on the blink

[Crankarm]

My fridge/freezer has been in a massive strop ever since just before christmas. The freezer isn't freezing to anywhere near cold enough and is either lukecold -6C or on it's way down to -18C or on it's way back up from -18C. It takes about 3 days to get back down to -18C before it starts rising in temp again.

I did defrost it just before Christmas as the ice was getting a bit thick, manual defrost I'm afraid. Once I had done this dried it all off and restarted it after leaving it to settle for 10 hrs, it took 3-4 days before the fridge even became cold again and some 3 weeks later the freezer is just starting to be nearer -18C than 0C. But it still has mini strops as when I check the temp gauge inside the freezer compartment it is back up to -8C or even -4C. However the temp then seems to drop again slowly. I try to open the door as little as possible. The freezer is now about half full I'd say so not empty or over full. The fridge seems to be working fine staying at between 2 and 4C.

Now it has built up a little ice on the element of the top fast freezer compartment in the freezer section it is at lest staying colder for longer and I can at least use it for stuff like bread but not meat or perishable stuff which needs fast and deep freezing.

The other complication is that my kitchen has been really cold recently, reflecting the weather, often less than 10C most days and even down to 4C when it was really cold just before christmas as I can't afford to heat the place 24hrs a day to keep it warm.

The fridge freezer is tall Zannussi ZFK 56/48 (50/50) about 11 years old still in excellent cosmetic condition. What I would like to try to find out - Is it genuinely on the blink and time to replace it ££££££ or is it because the surrounding cold air in my kitchen is confusing the thermostat/compressor as a fridge or freezer works on a heat exchange basis so if the air surrounding it is too cold then the usual heat exchange cannot take place and the appliance buggers up. Could it have lost some coolant over time so it's freezing ability is not now as good as it previously was? Has anyone else had this problem before and how did you solve it?

The instruction manual does say the appliance should be operated in temps of 10-18C.

 

[slowmotion]

I don't think that your kitchen being too cold is an issue. Quite the opposite. The "radiator" at the back of the fridge is dumping heat into the room, so the colder the room, the better. Too warm a kitchen would be a problem, (or for example if you did not allow enough air circulation over the back of the fridge).

I think you should reach for your credit card and bite the bullet. You have had eleven years' use from a Zanussi appliance! Count your blessings, and choose a product not made in Italy as a replacement. We had two Zanussi fridge freezers over the last ten years, the first replaced under warranty. Both sounded like road drill compressors. Junk.

 

[ASC1951]

You have had eleven years' use from a Zanussi appliance!

My fridge freezer has worked faultlessly for 30 years. It's a ... stumps down to cellar... Phillips.

Too much kit is thrown away for the want of a tuppenny part. Check if it's mendable first, surely.

 

[siadwell]

Definately remember reading somewhere that a room can be too cold for a fridge/freezer, hence they may not function properly in utility rooms or garages.

Found this online on a forum: "The assumption that a fridge/freezer won't work in an area that is too cold is on systems that only have one thermostat/compressor, usually controlled by the fridge section; therefore when the temperature drops below the set point the fridge won't run and subsequently will not provide cooling for the freezer section."

Makes sense. I know it's not uncommon for freezers to be kept in the garage, and more modern and sophisticated f/fs have dual thermostats, but your older model may be struggling because of this.

 

[siadwell]

Also found this on Which? website:

Climate class of fridge freezers

Every fridge freezer has a 'climate class', which tells you the range of room temperatures with which it can cope. The two you're most likely to come across in the UK are N class and SN class. Both work effectively in room temperatures up to 32°C.
N models shouldn't be used in rooms that become colder than 16°C. SN models shouldn't be used at room temperatures below 10°C.
Other classes that you might come across are ST and T. ST models work best at between 18°C and 38°C, and T models between 18°C and 43°C.

 

[swee'pea99]

A tip I was once told by a white goods fixer man...before you do anything else, give the whole unit a good wobble. Sometimes, especially if you defrost and then restart, you get bubbles of gas trapped in the tubing that carries the liquid round a maze (to dissipate the heat) - that stops the liquid flowing properly, that brings the whole system juddering to a halt. A good wobble can shift the bubbles and get everything flowing again. I'm not saying it'll work, but it's worth a try.

(In an aside, he was a really nice bloke - Asian feller - and he told me he has to try and make sure women in particular are out of the room when he 'manhandles' their FF in this way...some of them get really touchy about it!)

 

[Crankarm]

Thanks indeed for the replies all of you.

Getting drastic with the plastic is something I want to avoid at all costs if poss. Funds are very low at the mo. Plus an expensive purchase to find out in a month or two's time that the old one is working fine as long as it doesn't get too cold.

Temp of freezer is currently -10C. Fridge 2C. Outside fridge freezer 10C.

Siadwell - a too low ambient temperature might well be the case as was suggested by a friend of mine. It has a single compressor and only one variable setting 0-6 which controls the fridge AND freezer temperature.

If I do absolutely have to replace it, I would like one that has two independent controls for the fridge and freezer, and one that has a frost free and auto-defrost freezer.

Swee'pea - as regards the wobble I must have moved it around enough when defrosting as I took the opportunity to move some kitchen units to make space for the replacement under worktop freezer I got just before christmas (another Zanussi (wanted Bosch but too ££££)) as the tall fridge freezer was just not freezing, one week before Christmas and a freezer full of food. The frozen food I couldn't get in the new one as it is full I put in plastic storage boxes in the garden as it was like -6C outside then so must have been well cold in my kitchen. But now the old one is working of a sorts and it's become more mild outside. I now have numerous thermometers (£1.49 from Wilcos) in each appliance and the kitchen.

Also the water tray at the back on top of the compressor is bone dry inside. It should have some water in it which drips from the fridge which then evaporates AFAIK.

Apart from it's recent annoying inability to freeze stuff properly it has performed faultlessly. It's brother the washing machine is still working fine after 11.5 years although it gets used only once a month. Only kidding actually twice a month.

I guess it's a message to eat all the pies and cakes currently in it that I got as warm comfort food for cycling through the winter season. I'm sure some have been with me several years. Consigned to the back of the freezer to die. I daren't check dates.

I have attached some pics.

Thanks again.

 

[swee'pea99]

IIRC the tray on top of the compressor should be dry - water drips into it and evaporates pretty much straightaway. That aside, at the risk of being a bore, if push comes to shove and you do end up needing to buy, dare I suggest checking out ebay? Big items like fridge freezers tend to be a good bet, because they don't post well, which drastically limits the competition when it comes to bidding. You might, for example, consider watching this. You could get it for fifty squids - or less (you might not, of course). Especially with the wonky picture (you'd be amazed how much something so simple dissuades bidders). A decent second hand Bosch will be better than a brand new cheaper make, and at a far lower price. (I bought a vast one for £82 about five or six years ago...faultless and silent ever since.)

 

[Spinney]

You could try heating the kitchen for a few days, just to make sure it stays above 10 deg, and then see if the freezer works properly. If it still doesn't, then that isn't the explanation for its poor performance.

 

[Crankarm]

You could try heating the kitchen for a few days, just to make sure it stays above 10 deg, and then see if the freezer works properly. If it still doesn't, then that isn't the explanation for its poor performance.

Tried that Spinney. It improved it's ability to freeze marginally but it still not waht it should be. I was coooking the other evening - oven on and the temp in the kitchen reached a sweltering 18C. Kept delaying the moment to check you know what. So eventually 10pm I did. The bugger was having another strop this time -9C . I think toward the end of the day when things have warmed up a bit it perks up but not anywhere near enough. As I say it's replacement little brother, freezer only, hit -18/20C within 40 mins and has stayed there ever since. It has even recorded -22C, ice steam coming out of it when I open the door !

Swee'pea - Ebay don't get me started....... I have used it plenty in the past. The only items to give continual problems that I have bid on and won are electrical/electronic items and a set of car healdights which had stone chip holes - big ones, in the lenses. If I bid and won a fridge and it turned out to be knackered then basically I am stuck with it. Not something you can send back easily or get a refund on. Thanks for the tip anyway. I think I would only take a 2nd hand fridge freezer if I knew the people and it's provenance. It's too much hassle otherwise. The Bosch replacement I was looking at costs £570 comes with 2 years parts and labour warranty and a similar Hotpoint £399 which comes with 5 years parts and 1 year labour. I guess Bosch think it's name is worth another £200. If I didn't get at least 6 years out of an appliance such as this I would sue as many have. One or two years then it packs up is frankly pathetic IMHO. Mind 11-12yrs is not too bad I s'pose.

 

[ChrisKH]

Probably no help, but the generation of 'frost-free' freezers like the one we have athome, do have strops like the one you are talking about and we have to de-frost using hot/boiling water put in pans inside the freezer. After about five or six pans of boiling water have been placed inside it and the door shut, the mechanical bits up top thaw out and a shed load of water and ice comes out. My freezer dropped to single figures and stayed there and it was only after we carried out this process and dried it out that it worked properly and the freezer compartment temperature went back to double figures (-19).

It does sound like yours is just knackered though.

 

[Globalti]

Why don't you stop wasting money (and polluting the atmosphere with CO2) by storing food pointlessly for months and months at low temperatures, ditch the freezer, get a fridge and spend the money you save on heating your house?

 

[Crankarm]

Why don't you stop wasting money (and polluting the atmosphere with CO2) by storing food pointlessly for months and months at low temperatures, ditch the freezer, get a fridge and spend the money you save on heating your house?

What no freezer? .......... Are you nutz?!

Have you read the thread? My fridge apears to be working fine.

The point about freezing food is it is a good way to cut down on waste as you can divide foods into portions to cook later and also buy items that are really cheap at the supermarket, eat immediately if you are buying for now or freeze for a later date. One can save a fortune shopping like this. The freezer I have is A rated any way. It is not some polluting old diesel school coach, bus or truck. It has lasted 11 1/2 years so far which is ok in my books. I would rather not have to buy another but am where I am so to speak.

Anyway I need a freezer to store my collection of chocolate chip and blueberry muffins which with Ambrosia custard transport me to paradise after a hard day or week's riding .

And how much does is the price of gas I ask you ????? One needs a second mortgage to afford to heat a house through out the winter. The average annual gas bill is now a £1k . I would heat my house if I could afford it. Instead I have insulated my house to the hilt. It is only when it is really cold outside that inside becomes parky which might be the eason my freezer is throwing the strops it current is.

Are you going to get rid of your fridge and freezer and just live on the produce you can grow in your garden and the fresh milk you get from the goat ? A nice romantic view you have unless you are prepared to do the whole self sufficiency thing but you will still need a means of preserving food. If you can't cool or freeze it you have to cure, salt, smoke or can it.

 

[Globalti]

Er.... we don't have a freezer! We just buy our food every week.

 

[Crankarm]

Probably no help, but the generation of 'frost-free' freezers like the one we have athome, do have strops like the one you are talking about and we have to de-frost using hot/boiling water put in pans inside the freezer. After about five or six pans of boiling water have been placed inside it and the door shut, the mechanical bits up top thaw out and a shed load of water and ice comes out. My freezer dropped to single figures and stayed there and it was only after we carried out this process and dried it out that it worked properly and the freezer compartment temperature went back to double figures (-19).

It does sound like yours is just knackered though.

Thanks ChrisKH your experience and post is helpful. So manufacturers' claims that freezers are frost free and auto defrost are not true, as in reality they have to be defrosted. Brilliant! So one is no bettter off than buying one that isn't. The cost of autodefrost and frost free freezers are considerably more than manual defrost variants.

But I'm relieved I'm not the only person to have experienced a stroppy fridge freezer .