Zanussi Frost-Free Fridge Freezer problem

[jmurray01]

About a month ago I purchased a less than 10 year old Zanussi frost-free fridge freezer (50:50 ratio) and it appeared to work fine, until one day the temperature warning beeper went off to alert me the fridge was above the maximum temperature.

Strangely though, the freezer was still working fine and continued to do so until I used up what was left in it and then turned the whole thing off for 24 hours.

Upon turning it back on, everything worked as normal, until a couple of weeks later when the exact same thing happened again!

My question is, what is the underlying issue for the fridge warming up but the freezer remaining cool?

There is frost developing in the vent in the freezer compartment so I know that that is the issue, but WHY is it happening?

 

[epixstar128]

Is it side bye side? Where are the condensing coil located?

 

[jmurray01]

It is an upright fridge freezer and I BELIEVE the coil is at the back behind a cover, but I've not (and don't want to risk breaking anything by attempting to do so) removed anything to have a look.

 

[epixstar128]

THe coil on the outside of the unit. Is it a gravity coil ( large coil on the whoke back of unit) or a fan forced coil under the unit.

 

[jmurray01]

I'm not sure as there is a big "board" covering the rear... Would that suggest it is the latter?

 

[epixstar128]

Post a model number and get accurate freezer and fridge temps.

 

[jmurray01]

The model is ZX77 5W and the normal operating temperature is between 0*C and 3*C (when it works!).

 

[jmurray01]

The above mentioned temperatures are for the fridge - I will get readings for the freezer later on and post them.

 

[hoovermad]

From memory check the freezer door seal. It will probably be not sealing well leading to the ducting at back freezing up and stopping the fridge cooling. This range along with the Electrolux were known for this problem as they take air from the freezer and blow it up into the fridge. By turning it off it allows the ice to dissappear and the unit to run correctly until ducting freezes up again.

 

[jmurray01]

That sounds about right Bjorn, only problem is the seal on the freezer appears to be fine. Is there any other reason it would become frozen?

I took the freezer temperature by the way, and it ranged from between -18*C and -20*C.

 

[ozzie908]

I would guess the heater to defrost the

freezer is not working and after a while the frost builds up and stalls the fan that cools the fridge.

Its not too difficult to fix as it may not even be the heater but a small overheat sensor that prevents the heater working again once its been tripped.

It may be worth you taking the cover off the freezer element so you can see whats going on I believe most fridge freezers defrost 2-3 times in 24 hours.

Austin

 

[combo52]

Broken Defrost System In A No-Frost Refrigerator

Replay #10 is probably the answer to your problem, however usually in a well designed ref the fan does not get blocked by the frost build-up from a broken defrost system. What usually happens is the air flow stops because the evaporator is completely blocked by frost after a week or more with no defrost cycle taking place and since the Fresh Food section relies completely on cold air flowing from the freezer section to cool it the FF section suffers first. The freezer section stays pretty close to normal because the evaporator is behind a thin panel in the back or bottom of the freezer section.

This problem is usually an easy fix.