Whirpool Fridge / Freezer, not cold enough

[clubsport]

I have a Whirpool ART 700/UK American style fridge freezer, which is a frost free appliance.

It has been running fine for years, I had to replace the fan motor a few years ago and a couple of months ago I had to replace the compressor relay. It has run fine until this week, the point being it is getting on now, so what will go wrong next?

Now the problem is that appliance works, in that the compressor gets hot, the fan spins and the defrost cycle shuts down once maybe twice a day and warms things up (great!)

The only issue is that it doesn't get that cold the fridge is slightly cooler than room temperature and I am currently using the freezer as a fridge as it cools but doesn't freeze the contents. There is no ice anywhere.

The fan works, the cooling grid is clear and dust free, the issue has only become apparent with the recent record outside temperatures of the last week.

Having done some online research, I understand it could well be an issue with the defrost circuit?

Thermostat?

Or lack of refrigerant gas in the system?

Any thought from relevant experience greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

 

[ericmark]

When I had problems, I used an energy meter, read the power used when motor running, then leave for around a day and divide kWh by the hours run, if the kW / 1000 is about the same as the watts used when running then clearly it has not stopped running, so likely gas loss, if the kW / 1000 is 2/3rds of the watts then the motor is switching off, so likely thermostat.

I had a cheap freezer where the thermostat had failed, and I wanted it repaired, I found all local refrigeration guys run as a mobile service, and minimum charge £60, also new motor was around the £100 so getting it repaired will likely cost more than it's worth, so unless your happy sending for parts from internet and fitting them yourself, no real point working out what is wrong, just get a new one.

It seems the EU rules on efficiency are a problem, as the freezer size gets close to fridge size near impossible for the units to comply, so in the main you get a fridge twice the size of the freezer, the way around the problem is matching units, you get a fridge and a freezer which stand next to each other and look like the old US style fridge/freezers, but are in fact two independent units. Which means you get a descent size freezer.

 

[clubsport]

Sadly threw the towel in and ordered a new Siemens from John Lewis with a 5 year guarantee.

Shame I have to pay for the old one to be taken away, it looks immaculate, though running a little less cool.