Fridge And Freezer Forum

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Hello to one and all,

I have an Admiral GC2224GEKW F/F that is having 'issues'.

We recently noticed that lately the temperature inside the fridge was a bit erratic. I searched the forum here and read about the 'Fluff' problem. Lower rear/front panels removed and a considerable amount of fluff removed from the underneath. Fridge seemed to be better,

BUT....

...the house plug ring main started tripping. Electrician called and he tracked the problem to the F/F. I think he said that the F/F was 'very low' and by that I think he was talking about earth leakage. I once again searched and found that the capacitor can be at fault, also a friend has the same model and his capacitor blew eventually after constantly tripping the house electrics. I called an appliance engineer that I know, though he admits that fridges and freezers are not his thing, and he could not fault it. He is looking into the problem for us.
Interestingly the electrics seem to trip at very regular intervals. You can almost set your watch by it.

AND NOW

Today I have got home after being away to find that the fridge is warm and not cooling. This time there is no cold air at all coming in through the 'flap' at the top. The freezer compressor seems to be working overtime but nothing is getting through. I have taken the cover off the 'flap' mechanism and it is all attached, spring in place, and the flap can move.

I saw that 'Wizard' recommends letting the whole unit defrost for 48 hrs to allow the freezer to clear of ice behind the panel. Does anyone have any other advice or would you advocate the same?
All these problems occurring at roughly the same time must point to a certain issue, and I cannot see how a defrost problem would cause the house electrics to trip. But what do I know!
Nearly forgot to mention that because of the 'tripping' problem we have been unplugging the F/F each night and plugging it back in in the morning. It is off for about 7-8 hrs with no doors being opened. The temperature in the morning has been still cold. We have 3 thermometers in there.

Can anyone help with this tale of woe? I have already checked and there appears to be no registered repairer in my area, using the search tool to the left there. 'Wizard's' area is north of us but not too far away.

I am located in Ifold, West Sussex, RH14 0TY, south of Guildford.

Many, many thanks for any assistance.

Cheers

Paul B

[r600a]

Hi

Quite possible that the defrost heaters have gone down.you will need a engineer.

Bryan

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Bryan,

firstly, thank you for your time on a Sunday. I wasn't expecting any response until tomorrow.

I have read the problems on here and the defrost heater is a recurring problem but I hadn't spotted a link between the electrics tripping and heater failure.
I will try and get hold of an engineer tomorrow.

Cheers

Paul B

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I emptied F/F and noticed that the lower panek in the freezer was frosted up on the outside and you could see that the pipes/fins inside were heavily frosted up. I removed panel to expose and speed up the defrosting.
[img]http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/9440/img4003.th.jpg[/img]

Does this still point to the defrost heater? Sure looks like it! And it's had a bit of defrost time already.

Can anyone recommend a suitable engineer in the West Sussex/Surrey area?

Cheers

Paul B

[r600a]

Hi

Yep defrost heaters or something controling the heaters are gone.looks like its the single bar element accross the bottom,I'm sure we have one in stock.Measure the lenght across the heater but you will need to turn the whole unit off for 24 hrs with the freezer door open.

Bryan

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Thanks Bryan,

A quick measurement has it at 26.5-27cm. Bend to bend.
[img]http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/1123/img4011u.th.jpg[/img]

It does make sense because I guess that the defrost heater will have a timer, and that timer operates the heater at set intervals, and when that time comes it powers up the heater and trips our electrics. The heater time pattern would explain the time pattern of the trips.
I didn't disturb the metal fins of the matrix so I guess that was a manufacturing thing.

Paul B

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Bryan, thank you for the offer of the part but the engineer who had been looking into the problem came back with the same solution. The new defrost heater is now fitted and appears to be working.

Big question moment!! The freezer has been off for some time. I restored the power and the freezer and fridge started cooling down nice and quickly. About 4 hrs later the new defrost heater kicked in and what surprised me was how hot it got down at the bottem of the internal back panel by the slotted vent. Of course, I know that somehow the frost has to be melted and only heat will do that but I was surprised how hot it got.
I presume that it is more obvious because the freezer is empty and not full of lumps of frozen food which will help maintain the cold temp in the main freezer compartment.

Is that the normal expected operation of the heater and that only in these circumstances is it so obvious?

Many thanks for any wise words.

Paul B

[MKR]

Red hot is normal.

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Thanks, MKR.
It was a shock that it got so hot but thinking about it the defrost process will be as quick as it can be.