Fridge/Freezer P.O.S.!

[Poacher]

I had a Gorenje for 8 years now, nothing has ceased to function or snapped off, I rate it, I wanted a Smeg but they are taking the mickey with prices.

At last! A rhyme for orange! And they even make one in that colour!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Even with the aid of a hot water bottle and a fan heater, it was an overnight job to defrost it properly!

Oh for the life of me!
You defrost a freezer by switching it off, putting the frozen foods in the kitchen sink, the fridge, or, with our climate, leave it outdoors to keep it frozen
Then, boil the kettle, fill a plastic tub with the boiling water, put in empty freezer, close freezer door for 5 min.
The ice will start to melt, open door, start scraping ice off, for stubborn icicles "wash" them with the hot water using a cloth. Scoop ice bits out as they detach.
Dry the freezer off, switch back on, put food back in. Food should still be well frozen, even on a big chest freezer the whole procedure does not take more than half an hour.
I never owned a frost free freezer - yet!

 

[raleighnut]

Our 35 year old Hitachi fridge/freezer is frost free and has never ever needed any repairs ever.












It'll probably pack up now.

 

[Brandane]

Oh for the life of me!
You defrost a freezer by switching it off, putting the frozen foods in the kitchen sink, the fridge, or, with our climate, leave it outdoors to keep it frozen
Then, boil the kettle, fill a plastic tub with the boiling water, put in empty freezer, close freezer door for 5 min.
The ice will start to melt, open door, start scraping ice off, for stubborn icicles "wash" them with the hot water using a cloth. Scoop ice bits out as they detach.
Dry the freezer off, switch back on, put food back in. Food should still be well frozen, even on a big chest freezer the whole procedure does not take more than half an hour.
I never owned a frost free freezer - yet!

*cough*

The frost wasn't in the visible storage area; it was ICE behind some plastic trim which hid the fan (and jammed it, hence the problem I think)

 

[slowmotion]

"The frost wasn't in the visible storage area; it was ICE behind some plastic trim which hid the fan (and jammed it, hence the problem I think)"

It's a pretty common problem with frost free/auto defrost fridge/freezers. The cooling coils are in the freezer compartment and cold air is ducted down from there to the fridge compartment by an internal fan. The cooling coil has a defrost heater that runs intermittently controlled by a temperature sensor and a timer. If either of those goes wonky, the coils ice up, blocking the fan and air duct. The freezer compartment stays cold and the fridge compartment gets warm. It's an classic problem.

 

[Brandane]

"The frost wasn't in the visible storage area; it was ICE behind some plastic trim which hid the fan (and jammed it, hence the problem I think)"

It's a pretty common problem with frost free/auto defrost fridge/freezers. The cooling coils are in the freezer compartment and cold air is ducted down from there to the fridge compartment by an internal fan. The cooling coil has a defrost heater that runs intermittently controlled by a temperature sensor and a timer. If either of those goes wonky, the coils ice up, blocking the fan and air duct. The freezer compartment stays cold and the fridge compartment gets warm. It's an classic problem.

....... But in my case, the fridge stays cold, and the freezer stops working! (The fridge is the top compartment if that is relevant BTW).

 

[slowmotion]

....... But in my case, the fridge stays cold, and the freezer stops working! (The fridge is the top compartment if that is relevant BTW).

Are you in Australia????
{heads back to his text books...}

 

[mybike]

[QUOTE 3783066, member: 9609"]yeh but - if you're highly organised like me and Brandane and leave the situation until it starts to resemble a mini glacier - then it is a mammoth undertaking involving fans and heaters and picks and chisels ....[/QUOTE]

And Huskies & St Bernards?

Oh sorry, that's a different thread.

 

[tyred]

[QUOTE 3783066, member: 9609"]yeh but - if you're highly organised like me and Brandane and leave the situation until it starts to resemble a mini glacier - then it is a mammoth undertaking involving fans and heaters and picks and chisels ....[/QUOTE]

I find an oxy-acetylene torch is faster.

 

[SD1]

Finally had enough of my Zanussi "appliance of shiteness" fridge freezer. Bought from Comet in March 2008, it first started giving me trouble 11 months later when it stopped self defrosting. This was "fixed" by Comet under warranty, but at some stage later the problem returned.
It seems from my experiences since, that it was never actually properly repaired, but the problem only comes to light after a few months from being manually defrosted when something ices up behind the scenes. Comet went bust after the first botched repair, so I phoned Zanussi. By that time, the POS was out of warranty in any case, so they were less than interested.
So after several years of having to ditch freezer loads of food and defrost the POS, I have finally bitten the bullet. A new Bosch (WITHOUT automatic defrosting of the freezer compartment) will be delivered next week from John Lewis.
There will follow a ceremonial burning of the Zanussi...

There isn't such a thing as warranty. Now a days an appliance should last as long as is normal for that type of appliance to last. Otherwise the company have to repair it Zanussi should have repaired it. Note not sure if that rule applied then. Nor do I know if its a law or a court ruling.

 

[classic33]

There isn't such a thing as warranty. Now a days an appliance should last as long as is normal for that type of appliance to last. Otherwise the company have to repair it Zanussi should have repaired it. Note not sure if that rule applied then. Nor do I know if its a law or a court ruling.

Six years is considered, as a rule, for how long it should be expected to last and still be fixed. Also applies to repairs.
As a general rule, ask yourself given what you'd paid compared to similar products, how long would you expect it to last?

 

[TreeHuggery]

Warranties and life expectancy are two different things. The warranty for most white goods will be two or three years. However, case law would indicate that a reasonable life expectancy would be six - eight years but that some repair might be needed to keep it going that long.[/QUOTE

Yep;-) Sale of Goods Act - remember reading about this some time ago http://www.theguardian.com/money/2006/mar/25/consumernews.howtocomplain