FRIDGE/FREEZER NOT FREEZING!

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Zanussi fridge/freezer, self defrosting, although ten years old is not used on a regular basis, i.e days even a week may pass between doors being opened. Food is kept in two drawer freezer and mostly soft drinks etc., in fridge section. It is housed in our garage. A few days ago the top drawer of freezer was stuck from an accumulation of ice at the back of the drawer, food items in the drawers had defrosted, the ambient light in the fridge section had come on, and the thermostate was at 4.

I got the drawer out, eventually, and cleared the ice and had to discard the defrosted food. I turned the thermostat up to 5 and put back into the drawer as a test a defrosted loaf of bread. Five hours later the bread had not frozen, and the bottles in the fridge section although cool/cold were not as cold as they normally are.

I am loath to make a quick decision about discarding the appliance...it still looks brand new, has had hardly any use, and although is a second freezer it cuts down on the need for shopping trips, and will be missed.

Any advice, suggestions, or questions/answers will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, sagleo
 
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You do not say if it is a Frost Free Freezer with a fan, and pipes concealed inside the back. these are prone to ice blockages in the back where they are supposed to defrost themselves. If you open them up and leave them for a day or so (the defrost pipes are inside the panelling and slow to warm up) this will eventually melt and run out so you can dry it off thoroughly before plugging it back in.

You will also find an evaporation dish at the back where the defrost water drips out of a pipe, check that this pipe is not blocked by mould, food particles etc and that water flows freely through it during defrosting.

Sometimes the frost-free circuitry fails, and you have to manually defrost them at intervals
 
Hi JohnD, thank you for your response.
The fridge/freezer is self-defrosting, as to whether it has a fan this I do not know! :confused:
There is no fan evident inside the appliance. In the fridge section on the back wall sometimes a little frosting has always appeared now and then but always melts away.

In the fridge section there is a V shaped drip collector on the back of the fridge wall with water discharge hole, this does not appear to be blocked.

The manual states "the water produced by defrosting flows away for both the freezer and fridge compartments through special drainage grooves into a container positioned at the back of the appliance, above the compressor where it then evaporates"

If the fan and/or these pipes you refer to are at the rear of the applicance, I will pull out the appliance so that I can see the back. Any suggestions, other than what you have already offered, as to what I should look for at the rear of the applicance? The grill/condenser perhaps could be dusty...I could hoover that and wipe it down, is that recommended?

The manual shows that the defrost tray is situated abov the compressor. Should I remov this tray and clean it?
Many thanks for any further advice. Sagleo
 
It's the pipes that lead to the tray that may need cleaning.
Empty the tray if its full, you may not be able to remove it.

I have a fridge freezer with a fan in, the fan is in the freezer part & blows the cold air from the freezer up to the fridge.
The pipe it blows the air into is where it usually gets blocked with ice so I have to remove the plastic cover in the freezer to get to it to de ice quickly.

AFAIK If you have a fan it is likely to be at the back, inside of the Freezer.
 
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Hi Mattylad, (a fellow Lancashire lad I see :) ... although I am now further south/east).

Thanks for your input. Have had another look at freezer section...took our the drawers and behind the top drawer there is a grill which has ice on it, but not completely covered, through the grill I see an accumulation of ice.

I also see there are 4 screws, two either side in the grilled plastic section. Should I remove these, and would that free up the grill section to pull it out to clean it?

I have not pulled out the appliance yet to look at the rear.
Any further advice or comments, greatly appreciate.
Thanks, sagleo
 
it may well be blocked back there. leave it open and switched off for a day or two to defrost.

the pipes I meant are inside the cabinet behind a panel at the back, not on the back of the appliance

if you try to take it apart while it is iced up you might damage it
 
Hi JohnD
Thanks for the response. Will do that. I have turned it off and will pull it out and leave it until tomorrow so that it will all defrost. Will clean up at the rear as I am sure it must be a bit dusty.

Will post again tomorrow with whatever findings I may have.

Thanks to you John and also to Mattylad for taking the time to offer advice and suggestions. I appreciate it. Sagleo
 
Hi JohnD,

The fridge/freezer is now fully defrosted. All the ice build up I saw behind the grill in the freezer section has gone. The drip tray at the back of the freezer overflowed with water and I have unclipped that and emptied it. Given the back of the appliance,the condenser, a good hoovering to eliminate the dust and some cobwebs!

What I thought to do is to plug it back in and turn it on. As per the manual I will use a setting of 3 and will leave the appliance for approximately 4 hours to see if the correct temperature is reached and at that point test the freezer by putting something in there to see if it freezes solid.

Any comments, suggestions, further hints. advice, would appreciate hearing from you...if not, I will post here again tomorrow to let you know the outcome.

My wife and I keep our fingers crossed this will work. A couple of old pensioners as we are there would be no replacement for this appliance if it doesn't work and our local Council would want £25 to pick it up to discard it!

Thank again, JohnD for your time and contributing your thoughts and suggestions. Greatly appreciated. sagleo
 
4 hrs is not enough overnight is ok. put fast freeze on no longer than 12 hrs though compresser should run all the time while on fast frezze
 
Hi rocks1

Thanks for your suggestions. I will plan to do that...leave it to freeze overnight, see what the situation is in the morning and then put a loaf of bread into freezer as a test for freezing. Will follow up with a posting tomorrow.

Thanks for your time. sagleo
 
I'd leave it open and off until you are sure it is dry inside, before you turn it on and test it.

also if any water overflowed onto electrical parts be sure they are fully dry
 
Hi JohnD,

Will do, John. I finished wiping it all down inside and out earlier on and I have left the doors open. Will double check the back area to make sure it is all dry. I am making sure I am being cautious and am listening most attentively to all that I am learning here on these postings.

Will plug it in and turn it on at some point this evening. My wife and I will double check that all is dry. Oh we do hope this will work, we really do. Will let you know.
Thanks JohnD for your time and contributions. sagleo
 
I once washed out a drip tray (it was mouldy inside) and splashed water on the electrical starter relay for the compressor, which failed with a flash bang! the motor itself is sealed into the airtight compressor case, but the external connections and starter can get wet.

Have never made that mistake again.

p.s. you could put some plastic boxes, like tupperware or ice-cream cartons, inside the freezer, filled with clean water. They will take a while to freeze, but I have heard that if you keep the freezer full like that, the temperature is more steady and they use less electricity.

Most freezers can only freeze a few kgs of fresh food a day so if you put a lot of boxes in they wil take a while to freeze. the boxes must be sealed tight or water vapour will escape and cause frosting.
 
Hi JohnD,
Thanks for this.

Have an update on this already have just found that more water has gone into the evaporation tray, so obviously the freezer is still draining!

Should I wait until no more water enters the tray before restarting...which was not going to be until tomorrow anyway?

I will be making doubly sure that everything is wiped and well dried to do with all the parts at the rear of appliance.

Thanks again. sagleo
 
I think so.

the frost-free parts are ducts and pipes tucked away behind the internal paneling, so take quite a while to defrost and dry. this is where the blockage is most likely to occcur, so it would be a pity to freeze it while there is still water and ice ready to block it again.
 

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