I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
Would I be able to replace this myself?

Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.


--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

Timothy Murphy wrote:
I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
Would I be able to replace this myself?

What's the problem?

Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.

posted & mailed

Ian Stirling wrote:

Timothy Murphy wrote:
I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
Would I be able to replace this myself?

What's the problem?

The fridge temperature adjustment seems faulty -
the fridge is either too cold, or not cold at all.
The local Zanussi agent said it sounded like a thermostat fault.

Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

Timothy Murphy wrote:
I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
Would I be able to replace this myself?

Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.

Thermostats are easy to replace - if you can see it you can put a new one
in.

Si

Timothy Murphy wrote:
I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
Would I be able to replace this myself?

Yes, assuming you're not a complete dunce when it comes to electrics
(and that the problem is really the thermostat). You can get generic
thermostats designed fit just about everything, except perhaps some of
the latest microprocessor controlled fridges (but yours doesn't sound
like one of those). You may be able to get one in a local repair shop,
but round here they gave me the brush off when I asked, so I got one on
eBay. Just put "fridge thermostat" in the Search box. Some of the
sellers offer a help line.

If the thermostat fails completely while you're waiting, short out its
contacts and run the freezer off a timeswitch with, say, 5 minutes on,
15 minutes off (you'll have to experiment with the aid of a
thermometer).

The thermostat will come with a long tube which you have to thread into
the freezer along the same route as the old one. This can be a bit
tricky, as I found my old one was wrapped around something inside, but
I got it installed in the end.

Chris

On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 17:28:11 +0000, Timothy Murphy
wrote:

|posted & mailed
|
|Ian Stirling wrote:
|
| Timothy Murphy wrote:
| I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
| and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
| Would I be able to replace this myself?
|
| What's the problem?
|
|The fridge temperature adjustment seems faulty -
|the fridge is either too cold, or not cold at all.
|The local Zanussi agent said it sounded like a thermostat fault.

That proved that the compressor is working OK.
Looks as though the local Zanussi agent was right, replace the thermostat.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.net
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/

"Dave Fawthrop" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 17:28:11 +0000, Timothy Murphy
wrote:

|posted & mailed
|
|Ian Stirling wrote:
|
| Timothy Murphy wrote:
| I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
| and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
| Would I be able to replace this myself?
|
| What's the problem?
|
|The fridge temperature adjustment seems faulty -
|the fridge is either too cold, or not cold at all.
|The local Zanussi agent said it sounded like a thermostat fault.

That proved that the compressor is working OK.
Looks as though the local Zanussi agent was right, replace the thermostat.
--
Is it frost free ? Single or dual pot ?

Peter

I think its best not to fiddle with things like fridges
just replace it

Boiler man wrote:
I think its best not to fiddle with things like fridges
just replace it

Shares in argos?

On 20 Jan 2006 14:02:34 -0800, "Boiler man"
wrote:

I think its best not to fiddle with things like fridges
just replace it

Well that tells us more about how little you think.

There's not much you can usefully fix on a fridge - but the thermostat
is one thing. It's cheap, it's easy, and it's a reliable fix when done.
Why ever not ?

wrote:

The thermostat will come with a long tube which you have to thread
into the freezer along the same route as the old one.

Many is the time customers have ordered a new thermostst for their hot water
high pressure cleaner and assumed the tube was a wire.

So they cut it and joined the new one on with a cable crimp. Oh how we
laughted :-)

Dave

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "david lang"
saying something like:

Many is the time customers have ordered a new thermostst for their hot water
high pressure cleaner and assumed the tube was a wire.

So they cut it and joined the new one on with a cable crimp. Oh how we
laughted :-)

I've not come across it yet, but I wonder if anybody's done that with a
remote fire valve.
--

Dave

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
"david lang" said

Many is the time customers have ordered a new thermostst for their hot water
high pressure cleaner and assumed the tube was a wire.

So they cut it and joined the new one on with a cable crimp. Oh how we
laughted :-)

I've not come across it yet, but I wonder if anybody's done that with a
remote fire valve.

Best remote fire valve I saw was in my old company. There's a fire
panel on the wall, with a big yellow button that says "push to test"

So one day a passing stranger followed the instructions, and dumped a
sizeable halon tank into the comms room on the other side.

Fair made a big bang, I can tell you.

The following week, a perspex cover appeared over the "push to test"
button, with a lead crimp on it ;-)

Cheers

Paul.

On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 22:37:36 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On 20 Jan 2006 14:02:34 -0800, "Boiler man"
wrote:

I think its best not to fiddle with things like fridges
just replace it

Well that tells us more about how little you think.

There's not much you can usefully fix on a fridge - but the thermostat
is one thing. It's cheap, it's easy, and it's a reliable fix when done.
Why ever not ?


They are inefficient, especialy Zanusi's. Even new fridges of the same
size can have energy use stats that vary by ~100%. A crapy old Zanusi
will be much worse.

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 08:02:49 GMT, marble
wrote:

They are inefficient, especialy Zanusi's. Even new fridges of the same
size can have energy use stats that vary by ~100%. A crapy old Zanusi
will be much worse.

That's a reasonable argument, but then you should replace the fridge
even if it were still working. It's not an argument against throwing
out a fridge _because_ the thermostat has failed.

I have an energy meter on my fridge. It's switched on continuously, so
it is one of my more expensive appliances. If it ever lost insulation
and started to be inefficient, I'd certainly look at swapping it.

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 15:05:15 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote:

|On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 08:02:49 GMT, marble
|wrote:
|
|They are inefficient, especialy Zanusi's. Even new fridges of the same
|size can have energy use stats that vary by ~100%. A crapy old Zanusi
|will be much worse.
|
|That's a reasonable argument, but then you should replace the fridge
|even if it were still working. It's not an argument against throwing
|out a fridge _because_ the thermostat has failed.
|
|I have an energy meter on my fridge. It's switched on continuously, so
|it is one of my more expensive appliances. If it ever lost insulation
|and started to be inefficient, I'd certainly look at swapping it.

Well for me that would depend on the probable pay back time, in reduction
of annual electricity bills between new and old fridge freezer compared
with the capital cost of a new one. I just ditched one which was 40 years
old and still worked OK.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.net
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/

marble wrote:
snip
They are inefficient, especialy Zanusi's. Even new fridges of the same
size can have energy use stats that vary by ~100%. A crapy old Zanusi
will be much worse.

Looking at the argos website, I find an astonishing lack of variability
in the energy use.
More money just buys you a prettier box, and more stuff.
It does not give better insulation.
I approximately halved the energy use of my freezer with several slabs
of 10cm polystyrene.
This paid itself off in the first year.

It may be that better more efficient ones are available, but not in
argos.

marble wrote:


They are inefficient, especialy Zanusi's. Even new fridges of the same
size can have energy use stats that vary by ~100%. A crapy old Zanusi
will be much worse.

The efficiency is an interesting argument.

If the fridge is inefficient, then it will be losing power through heat.
That heat then helps the overall house temperature to some small degree
(ok, for heating electricity is a poor / expensive choice). So,
arguably, the more energy to lose due to an inefficient appliance, the
less demand there is on the heating.

Maybe a small, contrived point - but valid to some degree non-the less.

A second consideration would be the question as to how much energy goes
into the manufacture of the replacement fridge, together with
transportation, salesroom energy useage and so on.

A third consideration would be environmental - you have an old fridge to
tip into the nearest landfill, safe disposal of the refridgerant, and
the damage to the environment in the manufacture and transportation of
the new fridge.

Personally, I'd go for the new fridge, but if the OP wants to fix the
old one then every credit to him.

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 16:00:28 +0000, Mike Dodd
wrote:

If the fridge is inefficient, then it will be losing power through heat.
That heat then helps the overall house temperature to some small degree

I don't heat my kitchen. I certainly don't heat my kitchen during peak
refrigeration season.

On 21 Jan 2006 15:39:17 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

marble wrote:
snip
They are inefficient, especialy Zanusi's. Even new fridges of the same
size can have energy use stats that vary by ~100%. A crapy old Zanusi
will be much worse.

Looking at the argos website, I find an astonishing lack of variability
in the energy use.
More money just buys you a prettier box, and more stuff.
It does not give better insulation.
I approximately halved the energy use of my freezer with several slabs
of 10cm polystyrene.
This paid itself off in the first year.

It may be that better more efficient ones are available, but not in
argos.


But why would anybody ever buy anything in Argos?


--

..andy

On 20 Jan 2006 14:02:34 -0800, "Boiler man"
wrote:

I think its best not to fiddle with things like fridges
just replace it

How sad we have this throw-away society.

Would you replace your car just because you have a puncture in a tyre?

--
Frank Erskine

Andy Hall wrote:
On 21 Jan 2006 15:39:17 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

marble wrote:
snip
They are inefficient, especialy Zanusi's. Even new fridges of the same
size can have energy use stats that vary by ~100%. A crapy old Zanusi
will be much worse.

Looking at the argos website, I find an astonishing lack of variability
in the energy use.
More money just buys you a prettier box, and more stuff.
It does not give better insulation.
I approximately halved the energy use of my freezer with several slabs
of 10cm polystyrene.
This paid itself off in the first year.

It may be that better more efficient ones are available, but not in
argos.

But why would anybody ever buy anything in Argos?

Because that was the first catalog shop with a web store that came to
mind.

I'd be interested to know of any shop selling fridges with power use
under 70Kwh/year, or fridge/freezers under 150.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember saying
something like:

Best remote fire valve I saw was in my old company. There's a fire
panel on the wall, with a big yellow button that says "push to test"

So one day a passing stranger followed the instructions, and dumped a
sizeable halon tank into the comms room on the other side.

Bit daft though, having a 'Push to Test' sign on a live trigger.

Fair made a big bang, I can tell you.

The following week, a perspex cover appeared over the "push to test"
button, with a lead crimp on it ;-)

Break Glass for Wirecutters.
--

Dave

On 21 Jan 2006 15:39:17 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

Looking at the argos website, I find an astonishing lack of variability
in the energy use.
More money just buys you a prettier box, and more stuff.
It does not give better insulation.
I approximately halved the energy use of my freezer with several slabs
of 10cm polystyrene.
This paid itself off in the first year.

It may be that better more efficient ones are available, but not in
argos.

@root
looking at undercounter size fridges heres a bosch that uses
113kwh/year:
http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/29_280976.html

heres a beko that uses 225 and with a slightly smaller volume, but its
capital costs is half as much, so you pays your money...
http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/29_234230.html

When the grading thing first stared I remember most fridges being B's
some even C now they are nearly all A. I'm betting my old Zanusi's
grade would be "unclassified".

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 16:00:28 +0000, Mike Dodd
wrote:


A third consideration would be environmental - you have an old fridge to
tip into the nearest landfill, safe disposal of the refridgerant, and
the damage to the environment in the manufacture and transportation of
the new fridge.


Last I heard there was no method of safe disposal and currently all
old fridges are being stored in vast graveyards slowly rusting away if
not waiting in the street or in a front yard for the scrap metal man
thats never gona call.


Personally, I'd go for the new fridge, but if the OP wants to fix the
old one then every credit to him.

I agree, and there is satisfaction in keeping old things running.

marble wrote:


On 21 Jan 2006 15:39:17 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

Looking at the argos website, I find an astonishing lack of variability
in the energy use.
More money just buys you a prettier box, and more stuff.
It does not give better insulation.
I approximately halved the energy use of my freezer with several slabs
of 10cm polystyrene.
This paid itself off in the first year.

It may be that better more efficient ones are available, but not in
argos.

@root
looking at undercounter size fridges heres a bosch that uses
113kwh/year:
http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/29_280976.html


heres a beko that uses 225 and with a slightly smaller volume, but its
capital costs is half as much, so you pays your money...
http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/29_234230.html

Argos - order code 4856982, 20 quid more (the cheapest one without a
freezer compartment) does 168Kwh/year, maybe there are only significant
differences at the top of the market.

When the grading thing first stared I remember most fridges being B's
some even C now they are nearly all A. I'm betting my old Zanusi's
grade would be "unclassified".

Unclassified may not be bad.

I measured a ~20 year old cheap fridge, and it was about the same as a
current 'a' rated one.

On 22 Jan 2006 11:20:45 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:


I measured a ~20 year old cheap fridge, and it was about the same as a
current 'a' rated one.

Interesting!
What were the models you did your measuring on and what were the
results?

marble wrote:
On 22 Jan 2006 11:20:45 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:


I measured a ~20 year old cheap fridge, and it was about the same as a
current 'a' rated one.

Interesting!
What were the models you did your measuring on and what were the
results?

Sorry, I don't remember the model.
It was one that was picked up from the tip - as a temporary place to
store stuff, compared to published figures.

On 22 Jan 2006 11:20:45 GMT Ian Stirling wrote :
I measured a ~20 year old cheap fridge, and it was about the same
as a current 'a' rated one.

Were you measuring the consumption while running or over a prolonged
period? A well-insulated A grade fridge may well use as much while
running but needs to run for a lot less time.

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk
Free SEDBUK boiler database browser http://www.sda.co.uk/qsedbuk.htm
[Latest version QSEDBUK 1.12 released 8 Dec 2005]

Tony Bryer wrote:
On 22 Jan 2006 11:20:45 GMT Ian Stirling wrote :
I measured a ~20 year old cheap fridge, and it was about the same
as a current 'a' rated one.

Were you measuring the consumption while running or over a prolonged
period? A well-insulated A grade fridge may well use as much while
running but needs to run for a lot less time.

About a week.

On 22 Jan 2006 14:44:56 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

marble wrote:
On 22 Jan 2006 11:20:45 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:


I measured a ~20 year old cheap fridge, and it was about the same as a
current 'a' rated one.

Interesting!
What were the models you did your measuring on and what were the
results?

Sorry, I don't remember the model.
It was one that was picked up from the tip - as a temporary place to
store stuff, compared to published figures.

So you did your own research over period of a week that showed a
fridge that someone had chucked out, and which you established was 20
years old, was as good as the best of the new ones and you dont even
remember which model it was...

Who would see a heap of dirty old fridges, rusting outside at the
council tip, and think "I'll take one of these home to store things
in"?

I bet you dont remember what you used to do the measuring.

marble wrote:
On 22 Jan 2006 14:44:56 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

marble wrote:
On 22 Jan 2006 11:20:45 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:


I measured a ~20 year old cheap fridge, and it was about the same as a
current 'a' rated one.

Interesting!
What were the models you did your measuring on and what were the
results?

Sorry, I don't remember the model.
It was one that was picked up from the tip - as a temporary place to
store stuff, compared to published figures.

So you did your own research over period of a week that showed a
fridge that someone had chucked out, and which you established was 20
years old, was as good as the best of the new ones and you dont even
remember which model it was...

Who would see a heap of dirty old fridges, rusting outside at the
council tip, and think "I'll take one of these home to store things
in"?

It was needed to store food temporarily in a flat that was only going to
be used for a short period, before a long distance move.

Buying a fridge, and having to transport it would have added enormously
to the cost. If that one hadn't worked, it was going back for a full
refund.
The other option was doing without a fridge for a couple of weeks, which
would be annoying.

I bet you dont remember what you used to do the measuring.

I tested it using a maplin power meter, out of interest, and was
surprised at the reading, so verified it later, getting more or less the
same number.

And it was actually just being dropped off, not one of a rusting heap.

wrote:

I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
Would I be able to replace this myself?

Yes, assuming you're not a complete dunce when it comes to electrics
(and that the problem is really the thermostat). You can get generic
thermostats designed fit just about everything, except perhaps some of
the latest microprocessor controlled fridges (but yours doesn't sound
like one of those). You may be able to get one in a local repair shop,
but round here they gave me the brush off when I asked, so I got one on
eBay. Just put "fridge thermostat" in the Search box. Some of the
sellers offer a help line.

Sorry to ask a really elementary question,
but where exactly is the thermostat likely to be?
Is it part of the instruments at the front,
or is it to be found with the refrigerating apparatus at the back?

I should really get a new fridge-freezer, as this one is quite old.
But I'm reluctant to do that as the freezer works fine.
Are they normally one unit;
or can an expert replace the fridge part, say?

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

Timothy Murphy wrote:
wrote:

I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
Would I be able to replace this myself?

Yes, assuming you're not a complete dunce when it comes to electrics
(and that the problem is really the thermostat). You can get generic
thermostats designed fit just about everything, except perhaps some of
the latest microprocessor controlled fridges (but yours doesn't sound
like one of those). You may be able to get one in a local repair shop,
but round here they gave me the brush off when I asked, so I got one on
eBay. Just put "fridge thermostat" in the Search box. Some of the
sellers offer a help line.

Sorry to ask a really elementary question,
but where exactly is the thermostat likely to be?
Is it part of the instruments at the front,
or is it to be found with the refrigerating apparatus at the back?

I should really get a new fridge-freezer, as this one is quite old.
But I'm reluctant to do that as the freezer works fine.
Are they normally one unit;
or can an expert replace the fridge part, say?

The temperature dial adjusts the thermostat, and is typically on the
right inside the fridge. This stat has a long thin flexible metal
capillary tube with a bulb on the end, which is threaded through Hades
and back. The tube can not be removed from the stat - at least not
without making the thing useless.


NT

Timothy Murphy wrote:
wrote:


I have an old Zanussi fridge-freezer (model 19/5),
and the fridge thermostat seems to have developed a problem.
Would I be able to replace this myself?

Yes, assuming you're not a complete dunce when it comes to electrics
(and that the problem is really the thermostat). You can get generic
thermostats designed fit just about everything, except perhaps some of
the latest microprocessor controlled fridges (but yours doesn't sound
like one of those). You may be able to get one in a local repair shop,
but round here they gave me the brush off when I asked, so I got one on
eBay. Just put "fridge thermostat" in the Search box. Some of the
sellers offer a help line.


Sorry to ask a really elementary question,
but where exactly is the thermostat likely to be?
Is it part of the instruments at the front,
or is it to be found with the refrigerating apparatus at the back?

I should really get a new fridge-freezer, as this one is quite old.
But I'm reluctant to do that as the freezer works fine.
Are they normally one unit;
or can an expert replace the fridge part, say?


Google images for zanussi thermostat will show you what you are looking
for, except that the probe won't be neatly coiled in your frig.

Douglas de Lacey.