Fridge And Freezer Forum

Help needed

I have a Hotpoint FFM90A Frost free fridge freezer.
It was working fine, Until I moved it, Due to the hieght it was placed sideways in the van for approx 20 minutes.
It was then stood for about an hour before we turned it on.

It now does work, its not blowing any air through the vents both at the top and the bottom section plus it is warm inside and it keeps bleebing, it been on for over 24 hrs,

I removed the false back cover inside the freezer, and the silver coils (sorry don't know the techincal term) were cold and slightly iced, but I noticed the fan wasn't working. Could it be the fans failed and how do I check it ? Or is there still oil in the pipes?

Please Help?

The fan won't cut in until the evaporator eaches a certain temperature,the evap would be evenly and heavily covered in frost if the fan had failed totally.
Sounds like you have a system restriction maybe due to some oil not having settled back causing partial blockage or could be oil in condenser causing poor cooling of rerigerant .
Normally leave off for a minimum of 4 -5 hours,it can also depend on which side it was laid.
Try leaving off for 24 hours in a warm room and see if that will pursuade the oil to return,if it's no better after that then you could be in expensive trouble.
UNPLUG FIRST !!
Also check no blockage of dust etc underneath,there will also be a fan pulling air through that so worth a look.

If it Helps

when the fridge was moved, and put into the van the compressor was at the top facing down, and so were the pipes,

It's probably blocked then, especially if you ran it less than at the very least under eight hours after it was moved.

It may be able to fix it but, equally, it may well be choked internally in which case, it's a scrapper.

K.

aks_72 wrote:If it Helps

when the fridge was moved, and put into the van the compressor was at the top facing down, and so were the pipes,

If you lay one down on it's alwasy keep the compressor end/bottom lower than the top of the fridge otherwise the oil which is very light will find it's way into all the pipes it's not supposed to be in, never to return.
Chances of recovery are slim to zero,sounds like it's scrap.

Hi Again

If the fridge does not work when i switch it back on as it is still off.
Had it off now for approx 48 hrs now, is there anything a engineer can do ? As sum one suggested i have it vacuum syphoned and new gas replaced.
Can this be done?

If the internal capillaries are blocked then it is a 50/50 on whether it can be cleared or not. But yes, it can be vac'd down to see if it will clear but, if it doesn't work then you'll still have the bill for trying I'd expect.

If you look at the rating plate and it has R134a or R600a gas in it, I wouldn't even bother trying in all honesty as it is most probable that it's choked solid from what you've told us.

It's not a DIY job as it's gas work, you cannot do this yourself without specialist equipment and training and I'd figure on around about the £100 mark to attempt it.

K.

System would have to be evacuated,flushed,compressor would need firther oil,evacuated again and then regassed,would it work?not gauranteed.
Very time consuming and as KW says £100 plus.

Thank you for your prompt replies KWatts ans Spimps,
I will switch the fridge on later, and leave it on for 24 hrs, and see if it works.
If it doesn't work i'll decide on whether its worth repairing or getting a new fridge.
thankyou.

Hi

I have switched the fridge on been running now 48 hrs.
The temp of the freezer was 18 c, it gradualy dropped to -2 after about 12 hrs.

The problem i'm getting is that the top of the fridge is still warm and the bottom does not cool more than -2.
The fridge then auto defrosts and the temp rises to 6c and it gratually drops to -2 after a few hrs.
I opened the false panel in the freezer section there are two tube like thermistors one with a red band and one with a yellow band these exit through a hole in the back of the fridge and disappear.
So i dont Know How to Check These?

I have not seen the fan cut in yet but then i've been told this wouldn't cut in till the temp reaches -6c is this correct.

So what is wrong with my fridge ??

its got a blocked system

when will u read what people have said?

Today I finally got an enginneer to look at the fridge

After about 10 minutes checking various things within the wiring plug,
He reported that the fan was not working, and the fridge was not cooling properely. The fan was not at fault but the electronic circuit board sending power to it was,
To fix it properely,
A new board was needed but he could bypass the board and get the fan to run.

Therefore what are the pro's and con's of having the fan by passed? if any.

Was he correct saying my board at fault ?
I have not had any repairs done yet?

The fan doesn't run until the evaporator drops to a preset temp which it is not acheiving so it won't run,is he aware of that?who knows?
From what you have said the system appears blocked.
Is the engineer right?he could be.We are trying our best to give a considered opinion on your description,then again he may not be right.

by pass the board so the fan will work?

yep and freeze everything in the fridge

that is of course if hes right... blocked system me thinks