LEC fridge/freezer problem

[Space cat]

Hi everybody, I hope one of you can help. I have a LEC IT6079R fridge/freezer built into a static caravan (so I don't get many opportunities to work on it). Late last year, the fridge section started freezing everything. It just ran on and on, only stopping if the temperature control was turned right down. At first, I suspected that the temperature sensor was obscured by fridge contents but this theory has been ruled out.

Earlier this year, I switched on for the first time after about six months and the thing appeared to be working again, in as much as the fan definitely stopped pushing out cold air when it got cold enough. This state of affairs lasted until the next day when we found that the milk had frozen overnight. At that point I resorted to using a timer to switch the whole thing on and off at the socket, adjusting the cycle to get the fridge temperature right.

A few days later, I discovered that all three lights on the front panel were flashing, only stopping if I turned the temperature knob right down. According to the manual, this means that the temperature sensor is faulty. The problem is that this sensor is set into the foam and is not available as a spare. The only advice LEC could give was to look for bad connections.

Well I was already ahead of them on that score because of the intermittent nature of the fault so I'd eased the thing far enough out of its cupboard to get to the PCBs behind the knobs. These plug in but all connections looked clean and reseating them made no difference.

Does anybody have any experience with this model. If I knew which pins of the connector went to the temperature sensor, I could at least make some resistance checks and compare them with the freezer sensor (which works). If the sensor itself is OK, I can get a replacement PCB - or two if necessary. Although not cheap at about £130 for the pair, it would be cheaper than buying a whole new unit - and, since the thing is 120 miles away, a whole lot easier too!

Any helpful advice will be gratefully received.

 

[Robyna]

Hope you sorted your problem. I have the same LEC model as you and noticed that the motor never turned off. The fridge was cold and the freezer kept food frozen but could have been colder. LEC were not helpful. They insisted I re-insure the fridge/freezer for one year which would include repair and a year's insurance. To cut a long story short, LEC couldn't/wouldn't repair it so I cancelled my insurance and eventually found a local firm to replace the compressor.

The worst of it is, LEC no longer make this model which is integrated and matches my kitchen. They no longer make the same size either nor can I find one anywhere else. If this fridge/freezer needs replacing, I will have to remodel my kitchen to take a free-standing one which I am not too happy about. The fridge/freezer is only two years old and I cannot understand why they do not make a replacement one. I have also heard of others who have had similar problems and have had to buy a free-standing fridge instead. It seems ridiculous to me.

 

[Jill4715]

I have the same problem. Fridge does not work but freezer fine. It is only 2 1/2 years old with little use. Intergrated in my static van now it's discontinued by LEC!... Not happy as may also need to go with stand alone item!

 

[Robyna]

I have the same problem. Fridge does not work but freezer fine. It is only 2 1/2 years old with little use. Intergrated in my static van now it's discontinued by LEC!... Not happy as may also need to go with stand alone item!

I managed to find a local repairman who fitted a new compressor and re-gassed the unit and it seems to be working ok now (keeping fingers crossed) although it wasn't cheap to have it done but cheaper than buying a stand-alone fridge/freezer and having the units cut down.

I have since found out this seems to be a common problem and the repairman is hearing of quite a few people trying to get their LEC repaired for similar reason. Many repairmen won't touch the problem.

I've been in contact with LEC who don't seem too concerned about the problem and they gave me measurements of fridge/freezers that were of a slightly different size and I don't think the doors would have fitted.

 

[Jill4715]

Thank you for the response. Both caravan manufacturer or site just keep fobbing me off. Over a week without a fridge.
Lucky I have managed to find a SMEG that will do the job without cutting my units!... Won't be dealing with a certain van manufacturer again shocking customer service.

 

[Robyna]

Thank you for the response. Both caravan manufacturer or site just keep fobbing me off. Over a week without a fridge.
Lucky I have managed to find a SMEG that will do the job without cutting my units!... Won't be dealing with a certain van manufacturer again shocking customer service.

Unbelievably, since writing my previous reply my fridge/freezer won't turn off so looks like the problem is back.

Do the doors from the integrated unit fit the SMEG? If so, could you let me have the model number as I may well be buying one as well.

 

[KlydeBarrow]

Hi, don't want to hijack someone else's post but I have been looking for a replacement for a lec it6079 for about 10 months now. I've gone through the find an original phase and have now accepted it will have to be a looky-likey. Any news on a Smeg that fits will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jill4715]

Yes SMEG is same size, and intergrated. Very annoyed with caravan manufacturer as its been more like 15 days without a response except go back to park and park direct me to the msnufacturer. Ended up paying £500 plus for SMEG one

 

[Space cat]

For the benefit of anybody who might wander in here by accident --

It took me a while but I finally got the chance to pull the thing out of its cupboard and look behind the controls. There are two PCBs in there. The inner one plugs straight into an edge connector in the back of the recess and the outer one, with the actual controls on it, connects to the inner one by way of a ribbon cable.

There's not a lot on the inner one:

1) The connections for the light bulb switch.

2) Three things that look like triacs, along with their associated passive components. One is big and probably controls the compressor. The other two are much smaller and I would guess that one is for the fridge fan. The other might be a spare.

3) A selection of resistors, capacitors and diodes that seem to provide power to the other board.

4) An unidentified device that could be a small bridge rectifier.

It's almost certain that most of the circuit, including the low voltage stuff on the front PCB, is hanging on the live side of the incoming mains supply so I didn't do any live testing.

The edge connector is in four parts. Starting from the left, the first two sections are for the triacs and interior light. The fourth one, which is smaller than the others, goes through that thing that looks like a rectifier then straight on to the ribbon cable. I haven't the slightest idea what it's for.

The third one was more interesting with three pairs of tracks all going directly to the ribbon cable, and so to the actual control PCB. I measured the resistance across the pairs and got some useful results:

From the left, the first pair were open circuit. They might be spare. The middle pair showed about nine kilohms but it was falling slowly. So I opened the freezer door and watched it fall a little faster. Meter polarity was irrelevant so I'm guessing that the temperature sensors are simple NTC thermistors. The right hand pair were the really interesting ones because they initially read very low but jumped to three kilohms when I used a hair drier on the fridge sensor.

So that pretty well confirms my suspicions that the fridge sensor is faulty. It works well enough when it's warm - it might well be identical to the freezer sensor - but it's inclined to go virtually short-circuit as it cools down, totally fooling the controller.

The thing is running on a time switch now with its temperature crudely controlled by the mark-space ratio of the switch settings but it would be nice to have it working properly again. There's no way to get the faulty sensor out but, if I can find a suitable thermistor, I might be able to fix it inside the fridge and cobble it into the circuit.