Hotpoint FF7190 fridge warm

I've got a Hotpoint ff7910 fridge freezer. It is quite a big fridge freezer with a freezer at the bottom and fridge at the top.

For the past few weeks the freezer has been getting too cold. Ice cream has been rock solid!

The above was annoying but not the end of the world's but it has now developed into the fridge not cooling at all and becoming quite warm.

I have just had a quick look.

Obviously the cooling part is working as the freezer is working double time. I presume the fridge is constantly saying that it is too warm so it asking the freezer to make more child air.

The fan is running constantly behind the back panel in the freezer. So it has the ability to push the air around.

The fact that the fridge appears to be requesting cool air suggests to me that the thermistor is working.

So that only leaves the flap mechanism in the top. I took it out to have a look and it didn't appear to be moving. (I did expect it to be either open or closed and it was closed) After playing around with it and pushing the flap in and out, it started to move in and out in a cycle by itself. (I don't think it was doing this before but can't be 100% sure as part of the cycle involves it being closed for a few seconds then it opens and closes again)

For now I've left the whole light and flap mechanism off so the inlet is able to blow cold air straight in. So I can get the fridge cool again. I guess if I leave it like this it will freeze eventually.

Does the opening and closing cycle sound correct? If it had stopped as I think it had, would operating it normally fix it, if not it could have been moving the cables.

Can you buy this part easily, it is it possible to repair the part?

Thanks

 

sotal, good evening.

Suggest you try the makers web site for spares, you will need model No Etc.

Another site to look at is www.espares.co.uk

Some times these sites are not easy to navigate, as an off the wall suggestion [i got a carpet cleaner spare today from this site, but could not locate the spare I needed on either of the other 2 above] amazon???

Ken.

 

I left it running overnight without the flap mechanism in place on the fridge. In the morning it was very cold so it proved that it can work.

I monitored the flap which was still moving, so I put the flap mechanism back in place. When we came back the fridge was warm again. I took the flap off and it wasn't moving but at that moment child air wasn't blowing in either. I left it for a while and when I came back cold air was blowing through the top I watched the flap but it still wasn't moving.

So I'm not sure if the flap mechanism is broken or if it is the control module. Or the wiring in between

 

Have you tried switching the entire device off for about 10 / 30 Mins then switching the fridge on again?

Could be the control device has become "Confused"??

Worth a shot??

Ken.

 

Yes, I turned it off for about an hour the first time I took it apart. When it came back on it had both lights flashing and it was beeping, I found on the internet that I then needed to turn the right dial all the way anti clockwise and wait a few seconds to reset it. It then sprang back into life.

 

I left the fridge freezer running for 1 week without the electronic damper in place (completely removed) and it maintained the correct temperature consistently (checked with a proper fridge and freezer thermometer) for the whole week.

The replacement flap arrived today - fitted and the temperature of the fridge increased and the freezer decreased The compressor / fan runs constantly as I presume the fridge is saying it is too warm and wants more cold air. This in turn makes the freezer even colder.

I can only think that the control board is faulty - I am tempted to leave it without the electronic damper though as it worked perfectly. From my logic the only danger of not having it fitted is that the fridge could become too cold. If the freezer started to become to warm it would cool both.

 

Seems not too dissimilar to issues I have had with mine, although I had Ice build up around the fan.

 

I'm still having issues with this.

I've just been away for a week, so before we left we used up all the food and then I turned it off and left it off for the week. Exactly the same problem on getting back and turning it on.

I have found that loosening the screw that holds the spring metal that closes the flap makes the flap able to operate again but this only works for a while before it starts getting stuck. You can hear the motor buzzing when it can't operate. So the signal seems to be coming down to the unit to tell it to operate but I wonder if the voltage is a bit weak, so it can't actually operate?

It is currently back to running without the flap in place which most of the time is ok but the fridge can get too cold when the freezer is working hard.

 

I decided to delve further.

I used a mains voltage tester to test the power going to the motor of the electronic damper unit. It isn't the most accurate thing ever but reported 6v to start with. I later tested it and it showed 24v. I was expecting around 100v.

I checked the continuity of the cables by removing the control board in the to of the fridge. All cables had good continuity to the damper unit.

With the board out I examined it. One of the capacitors had a very slight bulge in the top and had a tiny bit of liquid at the base. So I'm going to replace that and see if it does anything. It is a 400v 4.7uF capacitor. I just need to wait for some to arrive.

It is the right hand black capacitor in this picture. (Not the one in the bottom right corner)

 

Well that didn't end well!

I bought an exact match of the capacitor. I carefully desoldered the old capacitor and confirmed that it acted differently with the multimeter compared to the new one. So it certainly looked faulty.

I carefully soldered the new one in place. I then double checked that there aren't any shorts that weren't supposed to be there (the original solder joined a few components, so I matched that)

I put it all back together and turned it on, there was no power light on after about 20 seconds or so something went pop, then repeated to pop a few more times, so I unplugged it. I've taken the board out and can't see what went pop. Putting it back in now, nothing happens when I turn it on. No popping etc. So seems completely dead. I checked the 13amp fuse but that was still good.

I think it is time for a new one

 

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