REFRIGERATOR & FRIDGE-FREEZER HELP!
IT'S STOPPED WORKING...!
IT'S NOT AS COLD AS IT SHOULD BE...
THE FRIDGE COMPARTMENT IS ALL WET INSIDE...
THERE IS ICE ALL DOWN THE BACK OF MY FROST FREE FREEZER!
HOW DO I DEFROST A FREEZER...?
HOW A FRIDGE WORKS...
When a gas is compressed, it heats up. A bicycle pump is a simple example. After pumping up your bike tyre, the pump is noticeably warm. The reverse also applies - when the pressure of a gas is reduced, its temperature falls. (Have you ever let of a CO2 fire extinguisher - remember the frost around the nozzle?) In a refrigerator, a gas is compressed in that black tub-like object round the back ( which contains the compressor), and it then passes through a long pipe bent into a compact shape to act as a radiator which cools it down to room temperature again. So at that stage, there is compressed gas at room temperature. If that gas is then allowed to pass through a small hole into another chamber where the pressure is lower, it will expand, and its temperature will fall below room temperature. This second chamber is inside the insulated freezer or fridge compartment, which gets cold as a result. From there, the gas is sucked back into the compressor, where the story begins all over again.
WHAT CAN GO WRONG?
Well, the one feature of all mechanical devices is they will ultimately fail. A fridge freezer has remarkably few moving parts ( and these are all usually hidden inside that black tub round the back) so there is little in the way of repairs that you can carry out on a d-i-y basis. A refrigerating machine needs electricity to power the compressor, a charge of the correct gas to compress, and a sealed insulated container to "keep the cold in" - actually, to keep heat out...cold is merely an absence of heat, and has no independent existence. As the compressor has a finite life, the less it has to work, the longer it will live. If there is an excessive build-up of ice on its tubes, this ice will act as an insulator and make it less efficient at removing heat from the cold compartment. So it has to run longer to achieve the temperature setting you have chosen. Do it (and yourself, and the planet) a favour and defrost it when necessary.
IT'S STOPPED WORKING...!
If you mean no noise, no lights, no sign of life, check that someone hasn't switched it off, and you don't have a power failure, and that it has not just decided to defrost itself. If all the signs are that no power is getting to it, check the mains plug and the fuse inside it. Check to see if other appliances work when plugged in the same socket.
If, on the other hand you mean that it doesn't seem as cold as it should be, but there are lights and humming noises still coming from it, and it is not much colder in there than in the room itself, check that the door is closing properly and there are no bags trapped in the door seal. If there is a lot of ice in the freezer compartment, or yours is a "frost-free" machine, then it may simply need defrosting.
All freezers will need to be defrosted from time to time. Some do this "automatically", although one should view the word "automatic" with some scepticism." BUT MINE'S A "FROST-FREE" FREEZER!" you shout. Well, it's a cute marketing idea, getting you to buy a new product, but again, view the description with some healthy scepticism. If it really works, there will be frost...it is just that it is out of sight. In this type of machine, the cold pipes are behind a plastic cover, and cold air is blown round the compartment(s) by a small electric fan. Usually there are big ducts visible in the rear wall of the freezer compartment, and smaller ones in the fridge compartment. The cold air comes in through some ducts, and goes out through others. If it is prevented from circulating, then performance will be reduced. If you notice that the temperature in the fridge compartment is rising, check that you haven't blocked the ducts with a poly bag of lettuces, or anything else. If the duct entrances are clear, one or more of the ducts could be blocked with frost...you'll need to defrost it, either using any automatic system provided, or "manually" as described elsewhere on this page. Somewhere, probably out of sight and beyond reach, there will also be that little drain pipe leading to the evaporation tray round the back. If this gets blocked up, the water cannot drain away and you will end up with what looks like a frozen waterfall down the back of the freezer compartment. You will need to defrost it, as described elsewhere on this page. Be patient, use nothing but warm air, and BE SURE to get that little drain unblocked, or your efforts will come to nought.
HOW TO DEFROST A FREEZER...
If you have the instruction book available, read it and follow the instructions. If not, don't worry. You simply take your frozen food out of the freezer and put it somewhere else. Another freezer...the fridge if it's big enough...a cardboard box...the bath...outside if it's below zero...and wrap it up in - or cover it with - towels, newspaper, blankets, anything to stop heat getting to it and thawing it out. Don't wrap individual items, just bung them all together and wrap or cover the whole lot. It will stay happily frozen for many hours. Now turn off the electrical supply to the machine and open the door. Get diverted for several hours and it will happily defrost itself, dumping a few litres of water on the floor in the process. If you simply HAVE to meddle, you could get a fan to blow air onto the ice, and thaw it more quickly. Don't use excessive heat, but a fan heater on a low setting, aimed at the bottom of the freezer compartment in the case of an upright freezer, will speed things up. Take proper care to keep the fan heater away from splashing or standing water...use your common-sense. DO NOT chip at the ice with a breadknife, meat cleaver or anything else. You could end up puncturing the pipe carrying the refrigerant, which will then escape, and you will probably need a new machine; or you could damage the casing or door seal, both of which will allow warm air to get into your freezer.
DO, however, pay attention to the little pipe that comes out of the cold compartment carrying the water away...it may well be blocked with nasty grey gunge, or simply a plug of ice, which could stay frozen long after everything else has melted. If your machine is a fridge-freezer, look in the fridge for the little drain I mentioned and pour a little warm water down it. If it does not come out through a little pipe round the back, there is a blockage, and you will need to clear it. Where exactly round the back? Well it varies. Sometimes it is a small rim around the top of the compressor unit, sometimes it is a separate little plastic tray, but it shouldn't be hard to spot. You may need to remove an access panel to get to it. Do replace it afterwards. Remember, unplug the machine from the power supply before starting your maintenance.
WHY IS THERE ICE INSIDE A FREEZER COMPARTMENT?
Warm air can carry more moisture than cold air. As the temperature falls, moisture which can no longer be carried in the air is deposited on nearby surfaces in the form of "frost". The frost in your freezer comes from air which you let in when you open the door, or through the gaps round a badly fitting freezer door.
Sometimes this builds up to such an extent that the door will not close properly any more, which quickly makes the problem worse as frost builds up even more, and turns into compacted ice. Even before you get to this stage, the frost around the pipes in the freezer compartment will act as a barrier - an insulator - which prevents the refrigerant in the pipes from cooling the compartments contents. The little compressor will be running all the time, trying to cool the freezer down to the pre-set temperature. This wastes electricity, and your food will not be as cold as you would like it to be.
WHY IS THERE MOISTURE INSIDE MY FRIDGE COMPARTMENT?
Even in the "fridge" compartment, a few degrees above freezing point, water will condense onto the cooling pipes (sometimes hidden inside a metal panel), and this should drain away through a little pipe at the back. It usually goes through the insulating casing and down to a little tray round the back of the machine, where it can evaporate away into the atmosphere. In some machines there is a little tray built onto the top of the compressor, which gets warm for reasons explained above; in other machines, the tray is separate and the warm pipe leaving the compressor runs through it before getting to the radiator section. Either way, the water simply evaporates. Provided that pipe is not blocked!
Disclaimer: All information on this web site is given freely and in good faith. I hope it helps you solve your problem, but you remain responsible for your own actions! Please let me know if you find other solutions to the problems outlined so I can add them to the site; on the other hand, please don't blame me for not knowing what is wrong with your machine! Thanks, friends.