In article ,
Edgar Iredale writes:

We bought our last freezer about 14 years ago. It was a Hotpoint from the
local electricity company shop, where we were talked through the displayed
models. In the end the choice was determined, as in this recent purchase,
by size and the need to get it quickly (the previous Electrolux had a failed
motor after 14 years). The Hotpoint still looks good and works, but a
couple of weeks ago I found there was a solid block of ice under the
machine. I defrosted it until the ice was gone and put it back into use but
I wasn't able to dry out the case fully so ice soon started to build up
again. It's likely ice has been building up over a long period. Colder
temperatures outside the case will encourage ice build up if moisture can
get in and that could be one reason for the new environmental requirements.

This is a common problem with the freezers built just after CFC
expanded foams ceased being used. The Hotpoints use a matting
insulation which isn't waterproof, and rely on just a waterproof
outer layer. This is not a perfect seal, and over the years moisture
gets in, freezes and the insulation becomes bridged with ice.

I'm going to try to mend the Hotpoint once the contents are rehoused. Silly
thing to do really but I'll enjoy trying and if I'm successful in fitting
suitable new insulation I intend to switch to the old machine from time to
time to allow a long defrost period for the new one. That might help reduce
the moisture build up in the case.

I've repaired two Hotpoint freezers which have done this -- one
was OK, the other wasn't. I removed all the insulation from the
bottom (takes a while as you have to wait for the ice to melt;
I used a hairdrier as I was in a hurry -- contents of freezer
wrapped in sleeping bags in the dining room;-) There's a heater
wire around the edge of the door -- be careful not to damage that.
Then I replaced the insulation with the airosol foam spray. Take
note of what it says on the tin about doubling in size -- I didn't
quite believe it and ended up with the foam expanding such that
unless you extend the freezer feet to maximum height, it now sits
on the foam bottom;-)

One of the units was a 6' fridge/freezer. I did this by laying
the unit on it's side, although the top was supported on a step
so it wasn't quite horizontal. When finished, I stood the freezer
upright for a couple of hours before switching on to allow the
refrigerent and oil to settle. The unit lasted another 5 years
before the same thing happened again through my replacement foam.
(I was expecting the expanded foan to be closed cell, but it
clearly wasn't.)

The other unit was a worktop height freezer. I turned this
upside down which made replacing the insulation easier. However,
it never recovered from this. This freezer was not being used at
the time, so I left it a couple of days before switching on. At
switchon, it did start getting cold. 10 minutes later, I returned
to find it had blown its fuse. Replaced the fuse and it started
working again, but did the same. Compressor was very hot. Replaced
fuse and measured power consumption -- IIRC, it was about 4kW
running. I spoke with an engineer at Hotpoint who suspected the
expansion jet would have waxed up and the compressor then over-
heated and motor windings fused. It was too late for this one,
but his suggestion if a freezer has got really shaken up was to
switch it on for a minute only with the door open and then leave
it to warm up for 5 minutes. Repeat this cycle for a an hour or
so, and then when finally switching on to leave it on, carefully
monitor the refrigerant flow to make sure it doesn't get blocked
until the freezer gets down to right temperature and compressor
cuts off normally.

I think one lesson I'm learning from all this is that after about 10 years
of use we should start to consider changing our fridge and freezers before
anything goes wrong. That would allow time to do some preliminary
investigation and selection. It would also give us the opportunity to
change both kitchen machines at the same time and get a matching pair.

It was a brilliant piece of built-in obsolescence. Actually for
fridges and freezers, it is not my experience that they are likely
to go wrong suddenly and without warning any more often when they're
old than when they're new as their mechanical parts (compressors)
seem to go on forever, providing you avoid the more complex and
less reliable frost-free ones.

--
Andrew Gabriel