Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to below
-10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether
I'm doing the right thing and if there is something else I should
check.

Many thanks.


--
AnthonyL

On 26/07/2016 10:29, AnthonyL wrote:
Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to below
-10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

They are normally fairly crude affairs that just rely on the heat from
the motor to dry out the tray. So generally yes it should be empty, but
you may find there are times when you have had the door open for a bit
that you get a surge of water into it and it takes a little while to
evaporate off.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 11:00:12 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

On 26/07/2016 10:29, AnthonyL wrote:
Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to below
-10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

They are normally fairly crude affairs that just rely on the heat from
the motor to dry out the tray. So generally yes it should be empty, but
you may find there are times when you have had the door open for a bit
that you get a surge of water into it and it takes a little while to
evaporate off.


Next time I'll check it before I defrost, or now I know that the whole
unit wheels out readily maybe I'll check in a couple of weeks anyway.


--
AnthonyL

In article ,
lid (AnthonyL) writes:
Our frost-free auto-defrost

These are significantly less reliable than ones you defrost yourself.

Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to below
-10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

No - in humid weather, and/or if you are opening the fridge
or freezer doors frequently, it's quite normal for it to have
condensate in it.

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

Food spillage in the fridge against the cold panel will eventually
get washed into the condensate tray.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether
I'm doing the right thing and if there is something else I should
check.

The sorts of things than can go wrong a
The defrost heater not working (or in humid conditions, not
operating for long enough to clear all the ice, so it eventually
builds up and blocks the airflow).
Air channels getting blocked with ice. If you can leave it off
for a long time with the doors open, that may allow deeply
embedded ice to thaw.
Fan failing, so cold air not blown through freezer.
Thermostats (usually thermisters) which control operation of the
defrost cycle do die from time to time.

Also check things like the doors close properly (check the seal
grips a till receipt all the way around), and that the doors line
up properly (unit is standing correctly leveled on the floor, and
not jarred).
If the thermal insulation is not a closed-cell type (e.g. fibre
matting was used when concern over CFC-expanded foam first arose),
that will become water/ice logged over time, and stop insulating.
Look for any ice or condensation on the outside of the freezer as
a clue.

I have seen one case caused by the fridge light not going off when
the door was shut, and the fridge couldn't handle the heat from
the light.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:11:15 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

snipped

Thank you for the detailed response.


I have seen one case caused by the fridge light not going off when
the door was shut,

How does one ever know this?

and the fridge couldn't handle the heat from
the light.
--
AnthonyL

On 26/07/2016 11:22, AnthonyL wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:11:15 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

snipped

Thank you for the detailed response.


I have seen one case caused by the fridge light not going off when
the door was shut,

How does one ever know this?

and the fridge couldn't handle the heat from
the light.

Most fridges have a physical switch operated by the door - and that can
easily be tested by pressing it manually.

--
Rod

In article ,
lid (AnthonyL) writes:
I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

BTW, don't use beach - it will damage the materials, it's
not a cleaner, and it's anti-bac properties have no lasting
effect. Just wash out.

If you are cleaning any parts inside the fridge or freezer,
use sodium bicarbonate solution. That way you won't end up
with any lingering smells to contaminate the food.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:39:15 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
lid (AnthonyL) writes:
I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

BTW, don't use beach - it will damage the materials, it's
not a cleaner, and it's anti-bac properties have no lasting
effect. Just wash out.


Oops

If you are cleaning any parts inside the fridge or freezer,
use sodium bicarbonate solution. That way you won't end up
with any lingering smells to contaminate the food.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

--
AnthonyL

On 26/07/16 10:29, AnthonyL wrote:
Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to below
-10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

Usually it will take a small amount of water which then evaporates off.
Sometimes the tray is sited on top of the compressor so the heat from
that does the job.


I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether
I'm doing the right thing and if there is something else I should
check.

No - it sounds like a good plan. Drop of bleach won't hurt it and will
help know the bugslime back.


Many thanks.

In article ,
AnthonyL wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:11:15 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

snipped

Thank you for the detailed response.


I have seen one case caused by the fridge light not going off when
the door was shut,

How does one ever know this?

insert small child

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

"AnthonyL" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:11:15 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

snipped

Thank you for the detailed response.


I have seen one case caused by the fridge light not going off when
the door was shut,

How does one ever know this?

You could get real radical and put the phone inside with
the video running and shut the door for a short while.

and the fridge couldn't handle the heat from
the light.
--
AnthonyL

On 26/07/16 11:11, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
lid (AnthonyL) writes:
Our frost-free auto-defrost

These are significantly less reliable than ones you defrost yourself.

I can only attest to a sample size of one but my Miele fridge is still
going happily after about 10 years.

To be fair, nearby is an Electrolux freezer that is 20 years old and
apart from an internal door catch having broken, is still as good as new.

On 26/07/16 11:39, polygonum wrote:
On 26/07/2016 11:22, AnthonyL wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:11:15 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

snipped

Thank you for the detailed response.


I have seen one case caused by the fridge light not going off when
the door was shut,

How does one ever know this?

and the fridge couldn't handle the heat from
the light.

Most fridges have a physical switch operated by the door - and that can
easily be tested by pressing it manually.


Or a magnetic affair...

On Tuesday, 26 July 2016 10:29:07 UTC+1, AnthonyL wrote:

Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to below
-10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether
I'm doing the right thing and if there is something else I should
check.

Many thanks.

Various things can & do go wrong with frost frees. Most likely is just ice buildup blocking things from working. Leaving it unplugged & open for 2 days sorts that out.


NT

On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:29:03 +0000, AnthonyL wrote:

Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240 Fridge-Freezer
wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm weather and so I
raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the upper fridge getting
too cold but the freezer not going down to below -10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out of
its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair amount of
crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of the tubes,
probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in normal
operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether I'm
doing the right thing and if there is something else I should check.

Many thanks.

Just wondering about something.

There is a known problem with fridge/freezers with only one compressor,
when they are somewhere cold.

Because they rely on the fridge thermostat to start the compressor, if the
fridge doesn't need cooling (temperature inside similar to temperature
outside) then the compressor doesn't run and the freezer defrosts. Had
that happen to us once when the fridge/freezer was in the garage over a
very cold winter.

I'm now trying to work out if there is a similar effect in very warm
weather. If the fridge is cooling more efficiently than the freezer, such
that the compressor doesn't run for long enough to get the freezer
temperature down, then possibly the freezer might not be able to keep cold
enough.

I see that you've tried running the fridge colder but only got the freezer
down to -10C. You didn't say how cold it was before you made the
adjustment. If you turn the thermostat to max cold and the freezer goes
below -10C this might be a pointer.

Cheers


Dave R





--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box

polygonum wrote:

On 26/07/2016 11:22, AnthonyL wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:11:15 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

I have seen one case caused by the fridge light not going off when
the door was shut,

How does one ever know this?

Most fridges have a physical switch operated by the door - and that can
easily be tested by pressing it manually.

It's possible for the switch to work when pressed manually, but the
light not turn off when the door is closed because the door is not
pressing the switch far enough. I had exactly this problem with a
fridge in a self-catering apartment on holiday last month. Put a
couple of cushioned plasters on the part of the door that pushed the
switch, problem solved.

How did I know the light was not turning off? Simple: I took out a
packet of ham that had been next to the light overnight, and the packet
was hot.

--
Geoff Clare

On 26 Jul 2016 12:05:29 GMT, David wrote:

On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:29:03 +0000, AnthonyL wrote:

Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240 Fridge-Freezer
wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm weather and so I
raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the upper fridge getting
too cold but the freezer not going down to below -10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out of
its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair amount of
crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of the tubes,
probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in normal
operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether I'm
doing the right thing and if there is something else I should check.

Many thanks.

Just wondering about something.

There is a known problem with fridge/freezers with only one compressor,
when they are somewhere cold.

Because they rely on the fridge thermostat to start the compressor, if the
fridge doesn't need cooling (temperature inside similar to temperature
outside) then the compressor doesn't run and the freezer defrosts. Had
that happen to us once when the fridge/freezer was in the garage over a
very cold winter.

I'm now trying to work out if there is a similar effect in very warm
weather. If the fridge is cooling more efficiently than the freezer, such
that the compressor doesn't run for long enough to get the freezer
temperature down, then possibly the freezer might not be able to keep cold
enough.

I see that you've tried running the fridge colder but only got the freezer
down to -10C. You didn't say how cold it was before you made the
adjustment. If you turn the thermostat to max cold and the freezer goes
below -10C this might be a pointer.


I wasn't really aware that there was a problem until SWIMBO commented
that the ice cream was soft so I think at least until the recent warm
spell that all was ok with the thermostat unchanged from its setting
of 3. So I assume that until recently we were at around -18 to -20
for the freezer and +6 or so for the fridge which is what I would
consider normal.

Anyway its all switched on now so we'll see how it is by the evening.

My stand-by freezer has been working fine at around -20 despite not
having been on since Xmas. But that is a fairly uncomplicated unit
with no fancy auto-defrost/frost free to go wrong.

--
AnthonyL

lid (AnthonyL) wrote in
:

On 26 Jul 2016 12:05:29 GMT, David wrote:

On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:29:03 +0000, AnthonyL wrote:

Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to
below -10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I
moved into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced
up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over
the lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now
have poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether
I'm doing the right thing and if there is something else I should
check.

Many thanks.

Just wondering about something.

I fixed one once that had a motor driven sequencer to stop the
compressor and run a heater once every 8 hours,

"David" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:29:03 +0000, AnthonyL wrote:

Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240 Fridge-Freezer
wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm weather and so I
raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the upper fridge getting
too cold but the freezer not going down to below -10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out of
its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair amount of
crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of the tubes,
probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in normal
operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether I'm
doing the right thing and if there is something else I should check.

Many thanks.

Just wondering about something.

There is a known problem with fridge/freezers with only one compressor,
when they are somewhere cold.

Because they rely on the fridge thermostat to start the compressor, if the
fridge doesn't need cooling (temperature inside similar to temperature
outside) then the compressor doesn't run and the freezer defrosts. Had
that happen to us once when the fridge/freezer was in the garage over a
very cold winter.

I'm now trying to work out if there is a similar effect in very warm
weather.

No there isnt.

If the fridge is cooling more efficiently than the freezer, such that the
compressor doesn't run for long enough to get the freezer temperature
down, then possibly the freezer might not be able to keep cold enough.

I've never seen that happens and we can get 10 days in a row over 40C.

I see that you've tried running the fridge colder but only got the freezer
down to -10C. You didn't say how cold it was before you made the
adjustment. If you turn the thermostat to max cold and the freezer goes
below -10C this might be a pointer.

wrote:
On Tuesday, 26 July 2016 10:29:07 UTC+1, AnthonyL wrote:


Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to below
-10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether
I'm doing the right thing and if there is something else I should
check.

Many thanks.

Various things can& do go wrong with frost frees. Most likely is just ice buildup blocking things from working. Leaving it unplugged& open for 2 days sorts that out.


NT


There is apparently a life problem with US style Samsung fridge
freezers, with failure after 5 years being common.

On 26/07/2016 11:53, Tim Watts wrote:
On 26/07/16 11:11, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
lid (AnthonyL) writes:
Our frost-free auto-defrost

These are significantly less reliable than ones you defrost yourself.

I can only attest to a sample size of one but my Miele fridge is still
going happily after about 10 years.

To be fair, nearby is an Electrolux freezer that is 20 years old and
apart from an internal door catch having broken, is still as good as new.


Reassuring! Having just bought a Miele refrigerator - also have had a
Miele freezer for about 10 years and it still seems as good as new. Just
basic under-counter models - none of the fancy features.

The Bosch refrigerator we bought at the same time as the Miele freezer
was never as satisfactory. Seemed an altogether cheaper construction and
the door always seemed off-straight no matter how hard you tried to
adjust it and level the whole thing. Also, it used to regularly go into
a hyper-cooling phase where the motor made extra noise for long periods
(hours and hours) for no obvious reason. To be fair, it still works, but
we shall be passing it on soon.

--
Rod

They only thing I'd suggest is to look for cracks in the inside of the
fridge that might have let water into the insulation and saturated it, if
that is the case then its pretty terminal in my experience.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"AnthonyL" wrote in message
...
Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to below
-10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether
I'm doing the right thing and if there is something else I should
check.

Many thanks.


--
AnthonyL

In article ,
Geoff Clare writes:
polygonum wrote:

On 26/07/2016 11:22, AnthonyL wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:11:15 -0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

I have seen one case caused by the fridge light not going off when
the door was shut,

How does one ever know this?

Most fridges have a physical switch operated by the door - and that can
easily be tested by pressing it manually.

It's possible for the switch to work when pressed manually, but the
light not turn off when the door is closed because the door is not
pressing the switch far enough. I had exactly this problem with a
fridge in a self-catering apartment on holiday last month. Put a
couple of cushioned plasters on the part of the door that pushed the
switch, problem solved.

How did I know the light was not turning off? Simple: I took out a
packet of ham that had been next to the light overnight, and the packet
was hot.

Spot on - the light was hot.
The switch worked just fine, but the door hinge had dropped
and failed to operate it.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
David writes:
Just wondering about something.

There is a known problem with fridge/freezers with only one compressor,
when they are somewhere cold.

Because they rely on the fridge thermostat to start the compressor, if the
fridge doesn't need cooling (temperature inside similar to temperature
outside) then the compressor doesn't run and the freezer defrosts. Had
that happen to us once when the fridge/freezer was in the garage over a
very cold winter.

I don't think this is true of modern ones, although it was certainly
the case with the early ones.

More modern refrigerants are not as wide temperature ranging as
the banned CFC's were, which does also impose more limited operating
temperature ranges on freezers than used to be the case, but this is
not because of single thermostat/compressor fridge/freezer designs.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, 26 July 2016 10:29:07 UTC+1, AnthonyL wrote:

Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240
Fridge-Freezer wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm
weather and so I raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the
upper fridge getting too cold but the freezer not going down to below
-10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out
of its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair
amount of crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of
the tubes, probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in
normal operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether
I'm doing the right thing and if there is something else I should
check.

Many thanks.

Various things can & do go wrong with frost frees. Most likely is just ice
buildup blocking things from working. Leaving it unplugged & open for 2
days sorts that out.


And maybe a day to get back down to temperature after doing so.

--
Adam

On 26/07/2016 19:18, polygonum wrote:

Seemed an altogether cheaper construction and
the door always seemed off-straight no matter how hard you tried to
adjust it and level the whole thing.

Instructional video at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa7o...outu.be&t=1363

Youtube Video clip from the channel 4 Secret Life Of Machines - The
Refrigerator. Link is to just before the bit with the precision
adjustment of the door.


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 13:42:42 GMT, lid (AnthonyL)
wrote:

On 26 Jul 2016 12:05:29 GMT, David wrote:

On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:29:03 +0000, AnthonyL wrote:

Our frost-free auto-defrost Zanussi (Electrolux) ZNB 3240 Fridge-Freezer
wasn't hitting the right temperatures in this warm weather and so I
raised the thermostat dial which resulted in the upper fridge getting
too cold but the freezer not going down to below -10c

I don't know how old the unit is, it came with the house which I moved
into last October.

I've defrosted it (fridge freezer, not the house!) and pulled it out of
its alcove and the evaporative tray was full, and with a fair amount of
crud in it. I'm guessing that it was full because one of the tubes,
probably the one from the freezer, must have been iced up.


Am I right in assuming that the tray should generally be empty in normal
operation?

I can't readily remove the tray so I've positioned the fridge over the
lip of the back door and got the hose jet into the tray and now have
poured a bit of thin bleach via the inside of the fridge.

I'm going to run a bit of tubing or electrical wire up and down the
tubes to the evaporator to ensure they are clear.

As I've got a spare freezer I'm not in a major rush so before I put
everything back and switch on I'm seeking your advice as to whether I'm
doing the right thing and if there is something else I should check.

Many thanks.

Just wondering about something.

There is a known problem with fridge/freezers with only one compressor,
when they are somewhere cold.

Because they rely on the fridge thermostat to start the compressor, if the
fridge doesn't need cooling (temperature inside similar to temperature
outside) then the compressor doesn't run and the freezer defrosts. Had
that happen to us once when the fridge/freezer was in the garage over a
very cold winter.

I'm now trying to work out if there is a similar effect in very warm
weather. If the fridge is cooling more efficiently than the freezer, such
that the compressor doesn't run for long enough to get the freezer
temperature down, then possibly the freezer might not be able to keep cold
enough.

I see that you've tried running the fridge colder but only got the freezer
down to -10C. You didn't say how cold it was before you made the
adjustment. If you turn the thermostat to max cold and the freezer goes
below -10C this might be a pointer.


I wasn't really aware that there was a problem until SWIMBO commented
that the ice cream was soft so I think at least until the recent warm
spell that all was ok with the thermostat unchanged from its setting
of 3. So I assume that until recently we were at around -18 to -20
for the freezer and +6 or so for the fridge which is what I would
consider normal.

Anyway its all switched on now so we'll see how it is by the evening.


An update and more questions. Fridge/Freezer has been working fine
for a week now. Initially I had the thermostat set at 6 (max) but
that was too cold, down to 5, still very cold and now at 4 so fridge
is at 8c, freezer -20c and seems to have fairly normal on/off cycles.

So I'm not clear on what went wrong and what fixed it.

When I moved the unit out there was a terrible mess underneath - crud
+ maggots which smelt revolting when some of the evaporator tray
contents spilt over. The previous owners had a dog so I suspect some
food got under there. It was enough to impede air flow but I would
have thought there was enough space elsewhere.

The other thought is that I didn't turn the thermostat to cooler in
the heatwave we had so it was still on 3 when getting on for 5 might
have been more appropriate. I can see that this might have caused a
partial defrost but I don't see why it should clog the system us as
per my OP (at the top).

I'm just looking at how to prevent the problem re-arising. Or maybe
the thing just needs a twice yearly manual defrost?


--
AnthonyL

On Wednesday, 3 August 2016 12:55:16 UTC+1, AnthonyL wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2016 13:42:42 GMT, lid (AnthonyL)

Anyway its all switched on now so we'll see how it is by the evening.


An update and more questions. Fridge/Freezer has been working fine
for a week now. Initially I had the thermostat set at 6 (max) but
that was too cold, down to 5, still very cold and now at 4 so fridge
is at 8c, freezer -20c and seems to have fairly normal on/off cycles.

So I'm not clear on what went wrong and what fixed it.

When I moved the unit out there was a terrible mess underneath - crud
+ maggots which smelt revolting when some of the evaporator tray
contents spilt over. The previous owners had a dog so I suspect some
food got under there. It was enough to impede air flow but I would
have thought there was enough space elsewhere.

The other thought is that I didn't turn the thermostat to cooler in
the heatwave we had so it was still on 3 when getting on for 5 might
have been more appropriate. I can see that this might have caused a
partial defrost but I don't see why it should clog the system us as
per my OP (at the top).

I'm just looking at how to prevent the problem re-arising. Or maybe
the thing just needs a twice yearly manual defrost?

Keep thermometers in it & you'll know if it needs adjusting. 8C is to high, fridges should be below 5 or you risk food poisoning.


NT