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Frost Free Freezer Behaviour |
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| message from andrewpreece on 21 May 2004 |
Slightly OT perhaps, but my newish ( 6 months ) BEKO frost-free
fridge/freezer is displaying weird behaviour. Twice in the last 10 days the
freezer compartment, which should be at -18C or so has heated up to
about -2C ( top basket ).
In fact, the very top tray, for ice cubes has risen in temperature
to the point where the ice cubes melted. I think the temperature at the
bottom of the freezer was more like -5C. Nothing would motivate the freezer
to
refrigerate properly, but after a day it went back to normal.
I'm thinking of calling the service engineer out, but does anyone
know if this behaviour is in someway related to normal operation for
frost-free freezers? I find it hard to believe, since ice-cream went all
soft and developed ice-crystals when it refroze, also things like burgers go
floppy.
I can't believe this is right, anyone with any knowledge otherwise out
there?
cheers,
Andy.
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| Ric replied to andrewpreece on 21 May 2004 |
That is dangerous - you could die of food poisoning - think you should stop
using it and call someone out.
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| BigWallop replied to andrewpreece on 21 May 2004 |
A frost free unit actually cycles through a warming period to allow any build up of
ice on the freezer plate to fall off. So this behaviour is normal for these units.
You may be noticing it more in warmer weather and at higher temperatures within the
room the unit stands in. It might be a good idea to pull the unit slightly further
away from the wall it's against to allow more air to circulate around it. Not to far,
just another inch or so (20 to 25mm for all you young ones).
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| Tim Mitchell replied to andrewpreece on 21 May 2004 |
What??? Defrosting the contents? That is not normal. The main frost-free
mechanism is a fan which circulates the air and stops the ice crystals
forming.
You need to get someone to look at it. Also I would take care with
eating the things which have been defrosted lest you get food poisoning.
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| romic replied to Tim Mitchell on 21 May 2004 |
It has a heater inside as well to actually melt the ice (or at least my
Whirlpool has, and also a Hotpoint one that I've seen.
Roger
(my reader sometimes loses mail/newsgroup messages
- if you think you should have had a reply/comment,
please e-mail me again. Ta!)
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| Ric replied to romic on 21 May 2004 |
Yes, it will have a heater in it and a fan that form part of the defrost
cycle, but this cycle shouldn't last long enough/get hot enough to defrost
any of the freezer contents.
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| Pete C replied to Ric on 21 May 2004 |
Hi,
It's likely there will be a thermostat on the cold coil which detects
when the coil has defrosted, so the heater can be switched off etc.
This could be faulty or have slipped out of position or there may be a
wiring fault in it's circuit.
cheers,
Pete.
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| Mike Clarke replied to andrewpreece on 21 May 2004 |
Sounds familiar. We bought a Bosch fridge freezer several years ago and
it showed similar symptoms. It was fixed under warranty but took quite
some time to get it sorted. After several visits, numerous tests and a
replacement logic board it was finally tracked down to a faulty
thermostat.
After replacement of the thermostat ours has given years of service at a
constant -18 C with no further trouble and never ever needing to be
defrosted.
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| Andy Hall replied to andrewpreece on 21 May 2004 |
The frost free mechanism generally does involve stopping the
refrigeration and warming relevant components with a heater, but this
should not be for long enough to cause any significant temperature
rise in the freezer and certainly not to allow defrosting.
I would suggest two things:
1) Call out the service engineer beause the freezer is faulty
(probably temperature sensor or thermostat). If they deny a
problem, ask for a replacement freezer.
2) Sling out the contents of the freezer that have thawed and claim on
the insurance.
.andy
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Archived message: Frost Free Freezer Behaviour (UK D-I-Y House Repairs)
