Problems with frost free fridge freezr

[Tony 1]

I have a hoover HCF5176A frost free fridge freezer but i have started to notice that the coil in the freezer with frost up not allowing the compressor to run and food starts to defrost. If i manually defrost the coil and turn back on it works fine until it has frozen up again.

Any ideas to what is causing the coil to freeze up when it is suppose to be frost free?

 

[JohnD]

sometimes the drainage tubes clog up with ice or particles or food.

If you have manually defrosted it and it keeps doing it, then there may be a heating element (that melts the frost so the water can run out to the dish at the back) that has failed. No sign of blockages? (look at the pipes where they go into the evaporation dish, too, and clean it out)

Presumably you are not getting excessive amounts of frost-build-up due to a badly-fitted door or damaged seal?

I am not an expert but the frost-free freezers I have had, had the coils hidden behind a panel at the back, and I think a fan to circulate cold air through ducts? Not visible coils?

 

[Tony 1]

Thats right. The coil is behind a plastic panel and a fan is just above circulating the cold air. I have removed the panel to expose the coil and it is a block of ice. The drainage is clear and nothing is causing a blockage except when the coil freezes up. There is no problems with the door and the seal seems fine.

I have noticed that on the coil is a little plastic thing that is clipped onto a pipe. Am i right in thinking that it is the heating element?

 

[JohnD]

sorry I don't know.

might be a temperature sensor

Frost-free freezers are less reliable than ordinaries, last time I bought one I took out 5-year warranty (the previous one went faulty like yours and I did not then know about the manual defrost trick to keep it going)