Been away for a few days and just noticed on our return that the fridge has
started acting almost like a freezer. The back panel has maybe an 1/8th to a
1/4 inch of frost on it and things such as two bottles of lemonade that were
very lightly in contact with the panel have frozen solid.

It's a Hitachi Larder Fridge (Model R11 LCS) and, when we bought it about 10
years ago, we set the temperature dial to "6" and it's never been moved from
that setting at all, ever.

Any idea what's wrong and if it's diy-fixable?

Dave.

Dave wrote:
Been away for a few days and just noticed on our return that the fridge has
started acting almost like a freezer. The back panel has maybe an 1/8th to a
1/4 inch of frost on it and things such as two bottles of lemonade that were
very lightly in contact with the panel have frozen solid.

It's a Hitachi Larder Fridge (Model R11 LCS) and, when we bought it about 10
years ago, we set the temperature dial to "6" and it's never been moved from
that setting at all, ever.

Any idea what's wrong and if it's diy-fixable?

Dave.

Turn it to "3"?

If the cooling elements run in the back then you can get localised
freezing.

"Dave" wrote:
Been away for a few days and just noticed on our return that the fridge
has started acting almost like a freezer. The back panel has maybe an
1/8th to a 1/4 inch of frost on it and things such as two bottles of
lemonade that were very lightly in contact with the panel have frozen
solid.

It's a Hitachi Larder Fridge (Model R11 LCS) and, when we bought it about
10 years ago, we set the temperature dial to "6" and it's never been moved
from that setting at all, ever.

Any idea what's wrong and if it's diy-fixable?

Dave.

If it's the thermostat, and you know how to remove it and fit a new one,
then yes. But if the dial is the usual zero to 6 then setting it on 6 is
normally too cold and results in freezing. Usually a setting of 3 or 4 is
OK. If it has been set at 6 for 10 years, and 6 is the maximum value, then
it's strange that this problem hasn't occurred before now.

The message
from "Dave" contains these words:

It's a Hitachi Larder Fridge (Model R11 LCS) and, when we bought it
about 10
years ago, we set the temperature dial to "6" and it's never been
moved from
that setting at all, ever.

Lucky it doesn't go up to 11, really.

As a first step, try turning it down!

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

"Guy King" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Dave" contains these words:

It's a Hitachi Larder Fridge (Model R11 LCS) and, when we bought it
about 10
years ago, we set the temperature dial to "6" and it's never been
moved from
that setting at all, ever.

Lucky it doesn't go up to 11, really.

As a first step, try turning it down!

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Many thanks to adder1969, skipweasel and Phil - especially Phil as he *may*
have hit the nail on the head, so to speak.

I don't like hot drinks, never have, and I like my orange juice, my cans of
coke etc., to be as cold as possible, remembering that the fridge isn't just
mine (got a beer fridge in the garage) and has to have other things such as
milk, eggs, butter, salad etc., etc., in there as well.

The temperature dial goes from 0 to 7 and has *always* been set at 6 for the
last *10* years and we've never had this problem before so something has
gone wrong or changed to make this suddenly happen. I'll try turning it down
to, say, 3. If the ice on the back panel begins to melt I guess we can say
that the thermostat is working because it's responding to turning down.

However, I know now that 3 just isn't cold enough for us so what will it
point to if it works at 3 but frosts up at 6 - remembering that 7 is the
max?

Dave.

In article ,
"Dave" writes:
Been away for a few days and just noticed on our return that the fridge has
started acting almost like a freezer. The back panel has maybe an 1/8th to a
1/4 inch of frost on it and things such as two bottles of lemonade that were
very lightly in contact with the panel have frozen solid.

The ice implies a good source of moisture available, which
there normally isn't inside a fridge. Are you sure the door
was completely shut whilst you were away? Also check for
door seal not working -- it should be able to grip a till
receipt all the way round when the door is closed. If the
ice has a dusty snow surface, that implies it formed quickly
as would be expected if the door wasn't fully shut.

Poor air circulation in a fridge can cause some parts to
freeze whilst others are actually too warm. Make sure
food is tightly wrapped so loose wrappings don't block
air circulation, and don't overfill the fridge such that
air movement inside is blocked.

In either case above, from the safety point of view, you
should assume that the required cold temperature has not
been maintained throughout the whole fridge (even though
some things froze).

It's a Hitachi Larder Fridge (Model R11 LCS) and, when we bought it about 10
years ago, we set the temperature dial to "6" and it's never been moved from
that setting at all, ever.

Check the things above before looking for other faults.

--
Andrew Gabriel